The tension slowly dissipated as Aspen recalled her early years of learning to skate. I loved that she could laugh at herself so freely. Honestly, I just loved that she was so full of life. It reminded me that I’d let my own light dull over the years.
Yes, I loved my work and the magazine I’d built from the ground up, but I’d let it overwhelm every other facet of my life for far too long. I hid away and lost myself a bit.
With her… that all changed.
My attention stayed on Aspen as she skated out onto the frozen pond. There were others there, along with our pack, but she was all I could see.
Her dark hair fanned behind her as she skated across the ice, doing a small spin as her laughter filtered through the air. It cut through the crowd.
“You going to join her?” North asked as he and Jack prepared to face the ice. I nodded, following them out. They were like baby deer, falling all over each other.
I, on the other hand, had been skating in the city nearly every year. Usually on Christmas when I was alone. It felt like a little slice of home.
There was no talent, but I knew how to move on the ice without hurting myself.
Aspen skated over, phone out, videoing the other two bumbling around and falling again. I skated to her side, earning a scowl from the others.
“Are you kidding me?” Jack protested as he tried and failed to stay on his feet.
“Catch up if you can,” I called out as I took her hand and skated away, rounding the rink as the cold wind blew past us.
“I almost feel bad for them,” Aspen said as she tucked her phone away and focused on me. Just like that I was warm again, the feeling spreading through my chest and outward until I felt whole.
All my worries faded in the depths of those blue eyes I was quickly becoming addicted to.
Screams from behind us had me turning around to see that our pack tried to reach us and failed, causing several other skaters to fall as well.
“Maybe this was a bad idea,” I mused.
“Nope, it’s perfect,” she said, her hand squeezing mine. “I’m having a great time and they’re fine, just a bit of a bruised ego.”
“I think it got his mind off of things, though,” I said as we skated over to help.
“Up you go,” Aspen said as she helped North to his feet, and I helped Jack, who looked like he’d rather melt into the ice itself than try again.
“Slow and steady,” I said as I held him up. My brother let out a breath as I released him. He focused on staying upright, but the more they kept their hands to themselves, the better they did.
Soon we were all four skating slowly. I had a feeling it was driving our free-spirit crazy to go at their pace, but the more we talked and joked back and forth, the more settled my alpha felt.
They were my pack and doing this, forming this connection, keeping them on their feet, filled me with a satisfaction I hadn’t realized was missing before.
By the time we took off our skates, my hands were numb, but I was happy. North and Aspen were teasing each other and rewatching the video she took.
“It’s going to be fine, brother,” Jack said gently. I glanced up, quirking an eyebrow. He rolled his eyes. “We may have been seperated, but I know you. You’re overthinking again.”
“I am,” I admitted. “But I think this helped.”
“It will only get better. This is just the beginning. We were meant to be a pack.”
Apparently, I just needed a little reminder. Now, I was positive he was right. No matter what North’s results said, we were going to be just fine.
North
My leg bounced up and down incessantly, making the chair shake. Jack rested a hand on one knee while Aspen simply joined me in my anxiety.
“You know it’s going to be fine either way, right?” Jack asked. He was trying really hard to act like it was no big deal, but the truth was this was ahugedeal.
If this test came back that I was an omega, it meant that at any moment I could go into a heat. We’d all have to figure that out and Christmas plans would go up in flames.
