“Hey, sorry. My phone was in my work locker and I didn’t get to it in time. What’s up? I was actually going to call you today.”
I swallowed the explanation ready to tumble out. “Call me about what?”
“Figuring out a schedule for your riding lessons. Things are a bit chaotic at Night of Knights with Chico, Dylan, and Eduardo taking early parental leave since Charlotte’s false labor. I was expecting to be in charge, but not for a few more weeks. Anyway, what were you calling about?”
“Tyler kicked me out.” All the details spilled out about what Tyler had done, and everything that had happened since. I probably sounded a touch hysterical by the time I got to the end of the story.
“Where are you now? Are you okay?”
“I’m at Alve’s apartment. I’m safe, but not particularly okay.”
“If you’re free, get your ass over here,” Nathan said loudly.
“Who was that?” Leo asked.
“One of my scent matches. His name is Nathan.”
“Why does he want me to come over?”
My cheeks blazed with heat. Leo deserved to know, and the curiosity had been prodding at me ever since I’d first caught ahint of his scent. “I think you might be a scent match, too, and we all want to be sure.”
He was silent for so long, I wondered if the call dropped.
“Leo?”
“Send me the address. I’ll shower and head right over.”
“Okay.” My fingers shook as I got the address from Alve and sent it to Leo.
Jude scooted over next to me and wrapped his arm over my shoulders. “Deep breaths, Maddie. We’re going to get it all figured out.”
I leaned into his embrace. Jude needed his scent contained for his job, but that didn’t mean I had to enjoy it, and it certainly didn’t help my curiosity. I didn’t know Nathan or Alve. Having someone like Jude—who I had history with, even if it was in a workfriend capacity—might make all of this easier to take.
Did it even matter anymore? Tyler wasn’t around to lay down his edicts, and neither Nathan nor Alve seemed in opposition to each other. I hadn’t decided on forming a pack with anyone, but if they didn’t mind, then maybe I would ask Jude—scent match or not—if he wanted to give things a go. We might be better as friends, but I wouldn’t know that unless we tried something different.
This was ridiculous. Was I going to fight with myself the entire time? How often could I slip between the sweet fantasy of a pack and the sharp reality I was living in? I craved letting them take care of everything, no matter how much I acknowledged that wasn’t fair.
It wouldn’t be difficult at all to convince myself to let them, to abandon all semblance of independence.
“Don’t feel obligated to help me,” I said firmly. “I know a scent match can trigger an instinctual compulsion, but I promise I don’t expect anything from anyone.”
Nathan stood and parked his fists on his hips. “Yeah, well, expecting it or not, you’re getting it. If you really don’t want us to, then I’ll try to hold back, but if you’re saying that out of any misguided nobility, then I’m not listening.”
I blinked up at him, my lip twitching toward a smile at how confident and intense he could be. “But…”
“I’ve missed opportunities in the past to be there for someone who needed support, and I’m not doing that again. I’d help you with or without the scent match factor, because Tyler is a fucking asshole and you don’t deserve how he treated you. I’m not about to stand by and let you struggle for no reason.”
“Nathan is right, Maddie. Let us help,” Jude said softly. “If you want us to pull back when you’re more settled, we’ll have that discussion then. Tyler kept you financially compromised your entire relationship, and that’s not your fault. We both know you would have done things differently if you hadn’t been worried about exactly this happening.”
“A crisis has different rules than the rest of life,” Alve pointed out gently. “I don’t believe there’s anything wrong with accepting additional support when things are falling apart. I can certainly temper my expectations.”
“Expectations?” I asked.
“I hoped for the chance to get to know you, even if you decided against a life with me.”
His blush was so cute.
I bit down on a whimper. All of them being reasonable made me want them even more. “I’ll think about it. Would you mind if I talked to Jude alone for a minute?”
