"Then at least you'll know you tried," I say. "And we'll know we gave you every chance."
Ben moves toward the door like he's walking through water. Slow. Uncertain. When he reaches it, he stops and looks back at us one more time.
"I hope you're happy," he says. "I hope she's worth it."
"She is," I say without hesitation. "But this isn't about her. This is about you making terrible choices and us finally deciding to stop enabling them."
Ben leaves without another word. I watch through the window as he gets in his car, sits there for a long moment with his hands on the steering wheel, and then drives away.
The three of us stand there in Grandpa's living room, and nobody says anything for a while. The weight of what just happened sits heavy in the air between us.
"That sucked," Jett finally says.
"Yep," I agree.
"But it was necessary," Pine adds, his voice steady. Certain.
I pull out my phone and start texting Sharon. She needs to know what happened, and that the wedding is officially canceled, that she doesn't have to worry about him showing up and causing problems anymore.
More importantly, she needs to know that none of this is her fault. That Ben made his own choices, and we made ours,and she was just the catalyst that helped us see clearly what our brother had become.
My phone buzzes with her response almost immediately:Are you okay?
I smile despite the heaviness in my chest. That's Sharon. Always thinking about other people first. Always worried about everyone except herself.
I will be,I text back.Coming to get you in twenty minutes. You can help me not think about this for a while.
Pizza?she responds.
And brownies,I confirm.
Deal.
I pocket my phone and look at my brothers. "I'm going to get Sharon and take her somewhere that isn't here. You two good?"
"We're good," Pine says. "Go take care of our omega."
Our omega.
That's what this whole mess with Ben has really shown us. That Sharon isn't just someone we're attracted to, but someone we want to claim, if she’ll let us. Ben was right about one thing. We did choose her over him.
We just chose right for once.
I grab my jacket and head for the door. Behind me, I hear Pine and Jett starting to clean up the folder, putting away the evidence of our oldest brother's downfall. Tomorrow we'll make sure Grandpa is settled and secure.
But tonight, I'm going to pick up Sharon, feed her pizza and brownies, and make sure she understands that she's not alone in this. That whatever happens next, we're in it together.
Because that's what pack does.
And whether she's ready to admit it or not, she's already ours.
18
PINE
"Hey," Sharon says as she walks into my studio, and her voice carries with it the kind of warmth that makes everything else in the room feel irrelevant.
"Down boys!" I shout as Vale and the other unbounded alphas still lingering around the shop start moving toward her like she's a three-course meal they've been waiting to devour. Their pupils are dilated. Their scents spike. Their bodies go rigid in that particular way that suggests they're about one moment away from losing whatever thread of control they're holding onto.
