"Come in." My voice came out rougher than intended, scraped raw by hours of talking and the emotions I was trying to suppress. The door opened, and Aster slipped inside, a plate in one hand and a glass of water in the other. She didn't turn on the light, just crossed the room in the darkness and set the food on my desk.
"Kol saved you some dinner." She perched on the edge of the desk, close enough that I could smell her — honey and wildflowers and the faint trace of all four of us woven through her scent. "He was worried when you didn't come out."
"I got caught up." I looked at the plate — roasted chicken, vegetables, fresh bread — and realized I couldn't remember the last time I'd eaten. "Lost track of time."
"You've been losing track of a lot of things lately." Her voice was gentle, not accusatory, but the words still stung. "Sleep. Food. The fact that you have four people who want to help carry this weight."
"Someone has to?—"
"No." She cut me off, her hand finding mine in the darkness, her fingers intertwining with mine. "You don't have to do this alone, Reid. You keep saying that to me — that pack means we protect each other. But you don't let us protect you."
I opened my mouth to argue, to explain that it was different, that I was the Head Alpha, that it was my job to carry the burden so they didn't have to. The words wouldn't come. Because she was right. And I was so goddamn tired.
"I don't know how to stop." The admission came out broken, barely above a whisper. "I've been doing this for so long — holding everything together, making sure everyone else is okay. I don't know how to let go."
She stood from the desk and moved around behind my chair, her hands settling on my shoulders, her fingers digging into the knots of tension that had taken up permanent residence in my muscles.
"You don't have to let go." Her voice was soft, her breath warm against my ear. "You just have to let us in. Let us help. Let us be pack." I let my head fall back against her stomach, closing my eyes, feeling the steady rhythm of her breathing, the warmth of her hands working the tension from my shoulders.
"I'm scared." The words slipped out before I could stop them, raw and honest in a way I never allowed myself to be. "Not of Easton. Not really. I'm scared of failing you. All of you. What if I can't protect you? What if I'm not strong enough?"
Her hands stilled on my shoulders, and then she was moving around the chair, climbing into my lap, her arms wrapping around my neck, her face pressed into my hair.
"You are the strongest person I know." Her voice was fierce, muffled against my head. "But strength isn't about carrying everything alone. It's about knowing when to let others help. And we are all here, Reid. Nolan, Sawyer, Kol, me. We're not going anywhere. We face this together. All of us."
I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her closer, breathing her in. Her scent filled my lungs, calming something primal and desperate inside me. Mine. Pack. Home.
"Together." I repeated the word, letting it settle into my chest, letting myself believe it. "Okay. Together."
We sat like that for a long time, wrapped around each other in the darkness of my office. And slowly, gradually, I felt something shift inside me. Not a letting go — she was right, I wasn't ready for that — but an opening. A crack in the wall I'd built around myself.
Maybe I didn't have to carry this alone. Maybe that was the point of pack all along.
When we finally pulled apart, I ate the dinner Kol had made — cold now, but still delicious — while Aster sat in my lap and told me about her day with Kol. The braiding. The conversation. The moment when he'd stood between her and that truck, ready to fight, ready to kill.
"He surprised me." She admitted, her fingers tracing patterns on my chest. "I knew he had depth beneath the sunshine. But seeing it... seeing how fierce he can be when something threatens the people he loves..."
"He's always had that in him." I pressed a kiss to her temple, tasting salt and honey. "He just never had a reason to let it out before." She was quiet for a moment, then looked up at me with those honey-brown eyes that saw too much.
"You all have it." Her voice was soft, certain. "That fierceness. That willingness to do anything for the people you love. It's what makes this pack special. It's what makes me feel safe."
Safe. She felt safe with us. After everything she'd been through, everything she'd survived, she felt safe.
I would die before I let anyone take that from her.
"We should get some sleep." I shifted her gently in my lap, preparing to stand. "Tomorrow's going to be another long day."
"Will you actually sleep?" She raised an eyebrow at me, her tone skeptical. "Or will you lie awake planning and worrying?"
"I'll try." It was the most honest answer I could give. "Having you there helps." Her expression softened, and she leaned in to press a kiss to my lips — soft, sweet, a promise.
"Then let's go to bed." She stood, holding out her hand. "Together." I took her hand and let her lead me out of the office, through the darkened house, up the stairs to the bedroom where the others were already sleeping. Sawyer on one side, Kol on the other, Nolan curled in the center. A tangle of limbs and warmth and scent.
We slipped into bed, finding spaces among the others. Aster settled against my chest, her head tucked under my chin. Sawyer's hand found my shoulder in the darkness, a silent acknowledgment. Kol's warmth pressed against my side. Nolan's even breathing filled the silence.
For the first time in a week, I let myself relax. Let myself sink into the comfort of pack, the safety of home, the knowledge that I wasn't alone.
Tomorrow I would fight. Tomorrow I would plan and worry and try to find a way through this mess.
