He looked away, jaw tightening. “You all stood up to Cale, even though you were outnumbered. That—that sort of… I don’t know what to call it, but I admire the hell out of it. And I know I’m not like the rest of you, not yet, maybe not ever, but I’ll work at it, I swear.” He paused, shaking inside because he’d made such a mess of this and he wanted it so badly. “I want to be part of what you have here. What you are.”
Matt leaned back in his chair, his expression unreadable. “What do you bring to the table?”
Colby flinched. That was the question, wasn’t it? What did he have to offer? Nico’s voice slithered into his mind, smooth and poisonous.Pretty,but dumb as shit.Good for one thing only.
His jaw clenched. No. Not here. Not anymore.
“I’m not afraid of hard work,” he said, voice hoarse. “And I can hold my own in a fight. I’d never let anything happen to Tristan. Or anyone else here, if I could stop it.”
Matt gave a faint nod. “That’s not nothing.”
Colby swallowed. “But I’m not much good for anything else.”
A short silence followed, before Matt stood and moved around the desk. Colby stiffened instinctively, but all Matt did was stop in front of him.
“I think you left a couple of things out,” Matt said. His voice was still low, but something warm flickered in his eyes. “Honesty and heart. We don’t take those for granted here.”
Colby stared at him, his throat working.
“You can stay,” Matt said. “You can be one of us, so long as neither of those things changes.”
Then he offered his hand.
Colby looked at it for a second that felt too long, before he reached out and gripped it. Matt’s hold was steady and sure. Alpha strong, but not domineering. He nodded, unable to trust his voice, but he was certain Matt saw the depth of his gratitude.
Matt held his gaze for a moment longer, then gave a short nod. He turned back and sat down once more, signaling the conversation was done. “You’ll need to talk to Jason to get on the kitchen chore rotation. The rest, we’ll sort out later.”
Colby blinked. “Right. Of course. I—thank you. Really.”
“Just keep bringing what you’ve brought this week,” Matt said, without looking up. “That’s all I need.”
Colby backed out of the room carefully, not sure whether he was walking or floating. He’d barely made it two steps down the hallway when a Tristan-shaped blur launched at him.
“You asked, didn’t you?” he demanded, arms locked tight around Colby’s ribs and nearly knocking him off his feet.
Colby couldn’t stop the laugh that burst out of him. “Yeah. I did.”
Tristan leaned back enough to look at him properly, eyes shining. “And?”
“He said yes,” Colby said, dazed.
“Fuck, Colby.” Tristan kissed him right there in the hallway, quick and hot and smiling into it.
Colby had never been anyone’s good news before. It knocked him sideways, how much it meant to be met with joy.
“I knew he would! You’re pack now.”
Colby’s throat tightened again. “Yeah,” he said, and it didn’t even sound real. “I guess I am.”
Chapter Thirty-six
TRISTAN
The world felt golden. Sunshine filtered through fall leaves, a light breeze stirring them with the faintest of rustles. Colby occasionally brushed against him as they loped side by side through the woods.
He darted behind a tree, pounced out at Colby with a gleeful snap, and was rewarded with a mock-growl and a gleam of mischief in Colby’s eyes. They wrestled, then ran again—two wolves playing like pups in the dappled afternoon light. It was better than anything Tristan could have imagined.
And then it shattered.
