Sloane tries to help Bram eat his lunch, and he has a fit about it the whole time while we get a run down from his doctor. Sloane does a good job holding back tears until the doctor leaves the room.
Bram pets her hair for what feels like an hour before clearing his throat and glancing over at me. “Can I talk to Max?” he asks, and I swallow thickly.
“We’ll be right in the hall,” Sloane says, kissing his cheek and eyeing both of us before leaving the hospital room.
I shove my hands in my pockets and look at the floor, not knowing what to say.
“You saved my life,” Bram says.
“I wasn’t going to leave you there. Even if I didn’t promise Ethan and Sloane.”
“Getting me out of there couldn’t have been easy. You were exposed to the cold water longer in helping me.”
I shrug my shoulders, and Bram sighs.
“I’m sorry,” he says.
I blink and tilt my head at him. “What?”
“I’m sorry for being such a dick to you this whole season. Sorry for thinking you didn’t deserve Sloane. But beyond anything, I’m sorry for thinking you didn’t have good character.”
“You would have done the same,” I say, not knowing how to handle the compliment.
“Is this what being a pack is?” Bram asks with a laugh. “I have to tell you, Connery, apologizing isn’t one of my strengths. Just accept it, and we’ll move on. Really move on this time.”
“You actually mean it this time?”
“How could I not? You saved my life. You protected Ethan and Sloane. If there has to be another Alpha in this pack, I’m honored that it’s you.”
There’s emotion clogged in my throat.
I’m not sure how to handle Bram giving me compliments along with Sloane and Ethan. It’s almost too much. I’m not a hero. I could save him, so I did.
“Are you all doing okay at the house? You can have the secondary guest room until we finish the basement,” he says.
It’s so fucking casual like he has our entire lives planned out. I sit down on the chair next to his bed and put my head in my hands. I’ve never cared about anyone as much as I care about these people, and it’s fucking terrifying. Nothing I’ve ever had has been more precious than this pack, and I could have lost them. Under different circumstances, I could be dead right now, Bram could be dead right now, and our lives would look a hell-of-lot different.
Bram’s big hand pats the top of my head like I’m a dog or he doesn’t know how to console me.
“You did good, Max.”
“We could have lost them. We could have lost everything.”
“But we didn’t. You’ll be medically cleared to play hockey in a week, me, maybe a month. Ethan and Sloane are completely fine. If anything, this woke me the hell up,” he says.
“Is it always going to feel like this, worrying about each other?”
“Probably even worse when we bond with them.”
“Fuck,” I hiss, and he pats my head one more time.
“As soon as I’m medically cleared, I’m going to bond with Sloane and Ethan,” he says, and I pull my head out of my hands and blink at him. He just said it would be worse after we bonded. He shrugs his shoulders and winces. “Not being connected to them, having them be listed as my emergency contacts? I can’t wait any longer. It was torture not knowing if everyone was okay.”
“I’m fucking terrified.”
Bram sighs and shifts back into his bed like he’s tired. “Let me be pack Alpha, then,” he suggests.
“What do you mean?”
