I sighed and opened the door, climbing out and standing in front of the three of them. I opened my mouth to speak, but Logan cut me off, his voice sharp and direct. “Given the way Parker’s treated you, I think it’s more than fair if you ignore him for the next twenty years. But that’s him.Hemade a mistake. Please don’t run fromusbecause Parker has been a royal ass of the highest order.”
“You know”—Avery grinned, breaking the silence that had crept in while I thought things over—“I think the ratio of seventy-five percent good pack members to twenty-five percent butthead pack members is actually not bad numbers.”
I snorted lightly, shaking my head. I should have been screaming at them, telling them to leave—but despite my slowly softening rage, a deep part of me liked having them near.
Logan pulled me into his arms, and I reluctantly melted, swallowed up by his sandalwood scent, warmth, and rumbling purr. “It’s not you guys I’m mad at, or at least not right thissecond. It’s mostly Parker, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s in that pack house. The things he wrote in that contract…”
“Will never fucking happen,” Hunter said firmly, eyes narrowed. “We wouldneverin a million years allow you to sign that thing.”
“Also, most of that contract stuff is actually void. Parker didn’t know we were already bonded when he had it written up,” Logan pointed out as he scooped me off my feet.
I thought about protesting, but traffic was moving a bit and horns were honking. If he wanted to carry me to wherever they’d come from, I would let him.
Avery let his hand rest on my leg where it was wrapped around Logan, keeping his touch gentle as we weaved through cars. “Angel, you should be here with us. We’reyour pack. Wewillwork this out together. If Parker steps one toe out of line, I’m more than willing topunch him.”
Avery’s pointed speech made me roll my eyes, and I cocked my head at him. “You can’t constantly be punching your pack mate, Avery.”
“Says who?”
Hunter shook his head. “Don’t worry, we won’t allow that. What hemeansto say is that we need to work on conflict resolution that doesn’t involve contracts, yelling, violence, or assault of any kind.”
“That’s thebareminimum,” I replied, eyeing him hard.
Logan grumbled, nuzzling my head with his cheek as we skirted over to the highway shoulder. “You’re not wrong. What we’re asking is that you give us a chance—a few weeks to see how you feel. If you still want to turn tail and run after that, then we’ll payfor the private jet for you to do so. We want a life with you, and we’ll do whatever we need to in order to make that happen. If any part of you wants that, too, even if it’s pure curiosity,pleasegive us the opportunity.”
I sniffled, tucking my face against his neck so I didn’t have to look at any of them when I answered. “What if we can’t make this work?”
“No, we candefinitelymake this work,” Avery announced, sounding so sure of himself.
“We’re bonded,” Logan added. “There’s no getting off this train, and you’ll have me ready to help you however you need until the day I die.”
“We don’t want you to feel trapped,” Hunter said softly, his blue eyes snaring into my soul when I glanced in his direction. “We’ll come to a solution together.”
I was bonded and pregnant, and in such a short time, I had grown attached to these alphas.
Maybe rushing back to my fathers wasn’t the best idea. I’d felt like crap while I was there, and now I knew it was because of the bond. Leaving again would only cause Logan and me preventable pain.
God, I wanted to listen to them. I wanted to believe that Parker would come around, that these alphas were the right kind, the ones who actually cared about me, and not just because of the pregnancy or accidental bonding.
“How can I be sure he won’t pull that type of stunt again? How can I be sure that none of you will takehisside? And it’s not just me. There’s the baby to think about. I won’t raise them in an environment where I’m treated like garbage.”
Avery knelt down right there on the pavement, taking my hand as he looked up at me. I knew the streets were dirty, and I could imagine a stain growing on his pants. Something about the fact that he didn’t care about ruining them helped.
“You have my promise that I will always stand up for you, angel. We called out Parker for being an ass, and we’ll do it again if we need to.” Avery turned toward the others, his intensity deepening his voice. “Won’t we?”
“Yes,” both Logan and Hunter answered without missing a beat.
Logan sighed against my skin and whispered in my ear. “I care about you, mama. Dearly. As far as I’m concerned, Parker will be out of the dog house whenyousay so. I have no problem checking his attitude until he learns better. A life without you isn’t an option, so whatever you need to feel safe, consider it done.”
A scoff left me, but it was gentle, almost humorous. It was damn hard to be mad at the three of them when they’d chased after me like this.
We arrived at their car, and Avery rushed to open the passenger door for me. Logan carefully deposited me, belted me up, and kissed me breathless before closing the door. The icy layer of anger that had coated me thawed, and I put a hand on my belly. I wanted my child to have a family, to be raised with the pack that had made them.
We could work on this. I could always leave if Parker didn’t get better, right?
Right.
Logan slid into the driver’s seat, Avery and Hunter piling into the back so we could stop holding up traffic, now that it wasn’t a complete standstill. I bit down on a whimper when Logan laid his palm on my thigh, the warmth of his skin sinking into mine. “Thank you for coming with us.”
