"Yes. No. Yes. Fuck, I don't know."
I pick up the phone and read Ben's response.
"Thank you. That means everything. There's a family day here on day twenty-one. This Thursday. I know it's last minute but I'd really like you guys to be here if you can. No pressure though."
I read it out loud.
Sharon's hands grip her knees. Her knuckles go white.
“Two weeks from now,” she says.
"It is," Pine confirms.
"Do you want to go?" Cassian asks.
"I don't know if I'm strong enough to watch him fail again," Sharon says.
"You're stronger than you think," I say.
"But what if I don't go and he actually succeeds and I missed it? He’s your brother, I shouldn’t be stopping you from doing what you want to do,” Sharon says.
“We have to protect you.”
Sharon shakes her head. “I want to go," she says finally.
"Of course," Pine says without hesitation. "We'll drive up Thursday morning, do the family thing, drive back that night."
Sharon nods.
"Text him back," I say. "Tell him we’ll be there.”
She takes my phone and types.
"I'll be there Thursday. Looking forward to seeing your progress."
Simple. Supportive. Non-committal.
She sends it and puts the phone down.
"Thank you," she says quietly. "For telling me. For not making the decision for me."
“We’ll do anything for you. Anything,” Cassian says firmly. By the time we pull into Pine Hollow, Sharon's shoulders have relaxed slightly. She's still processing but she's not as tense.
The house looks exactly like we left it yesterday morning. Warm and welcoming.
Inside, Sharon immediately collapses face-first onto the couch. Her voice is muffled.
"I just planned a wedding, and had an amazing night with my three alphas."
"You're allowed to feel overwhelmed," Pine says, settling next to her. His hand finds her back and starts rubbing slow circles. "You don't have to have everything figured out immediately."
I settle on her other side while Cassian disappears into the kitchen. Within minutes the smell of coffee fills the house. The man's solution to everything is caffeine, and honestly he's not wrong.
"Talk to me," I say, my hand joining Pine's on her back. "What are you feeling?"
"Everything," Sharon says into the cushion. "I'm feeling everything. Hope and fear and guilt and anxiety and love and exhaustion and about seventeen other emotions that don't have names."
"That's a lot," I say.
