“Money makes the world go around.” He swirls his finger in the air. “Honestly. You know Kenny’s thinking of applying to come with us when we leave?”
I didn’t think it was possible for me to turn any stiffer. Averting my gaze, I purse my lips as I stare down at the words on the page in front of me. They swim in and out. “Yeah. It’s a good idea.”
He snorts. “Is it? She doesn’t need it. Not like she’ll be working anyway, not once we get set up.”
My grip tighten on the pen. “What?”
“I don’t want my omega working.” He rolls onto his side, propping his head up. He smirks at me. “She needs to be at home. Barefoot. Pregnant, preferably. She’ll have better ways to spend her time than working.”
The book slips out of my hands. “Tell me you’re joking. What thefuck, Brett?”
That’s not the first time he’s made a similar comment. But the first time he’s said it so… openly. “We’reseventeen. And Kenny can do whatever she wants. Where the hell is this coming from?”
We haven’t evenasked her. Not outright. Not yet.
And for the first time, I wonder… if wearethe right pack for her. My eyes sweep over Brett again, my lips pressing together.
He’s… not joking. I can tell. His mouth twists unpleasantly as he shrugs. “What? I just think it’s a waste of time. Not that Theo agrees. He nearly bit my head off when I mentioned it.”
He eyes me expectantly. “You won’t say anything to her.”
It’s not a question. It never is with him, I’m starting to understand. Only demands, commands, statements of fact – at least in his view. Brett’s pale green eyes bore into mine, expecting me to drop my own gaze. I normally do.
But… not this time. My face remains steady, and shock flashes across his face as I hold his gaze. My words come out, quiet but loud enough for the silence. “Won’t I?”
Watch yourself.
“She’s not just yours,” I say softly. “Nor any of ours, Brett. She’s not apossession. You won’t treat her like it.”
I won’t let you.
He’s not the only one with dominance in this pack, future lead or not. Maybe he’s overdue a reminder.
Brett’s face darkens. “She—,”
Our heads both jerk at the enthusiastic knock on the door. “Hello?”
Silence. We both stare at each other. Tension thickens the room.
“Remember your place, Oscar.” Brett’s words are barely a murmur, but they strike like bullets, each one of them shredding something inside my chest. “My parents took you in becauseIasked them to. But they can just as easily rescind the invitation.”
The implication is clear. Something integral…shifts. Something that should feel like brotherhood, and comfort, and familiarity. Something that should feel like pack.
As if a thread between us snaps.
It hurts. But I don’t move, even as the door knocks again. Even as I gather my own ammunition. “You won’t say a single word to Kennedy about her going to college. Oryou’rethe one who won’t be going, Brett.”
Because we both know that without my help, he won’t get through the door.
That’s why I’m here. Why Charles stepped in, pulled me from the grasp of CPS when my parents died and installed me here.
I’m very aware that my presence in this house is for Brett’s benefit. Not that it hurts Charle’s reputation in town, to be seen as the man who stepped in and stepped up.
But I’m not the thirteen year old kid I used to be.
And as I stare at Brett – my friend. My brother. I realize that maybe neither of us are the kids we used to be.
He wavers. But then he’s up, slapping my shoulder with a grin as he swaggers to the door. “Fucking hell, Oz. Don’t be so damned serious all the time.”
