Thousands of our interactions poured through my head. I thought I’d imagined the look in his eyes, and once I had developed my crush, while I couldn’t stop myself from seeking him out at the store, I had done my best to ignore anything that might indicate feelings.
“I don’t know what to do anymore,” I whispered. “I didn’t have a plan for this.”
Jude gathered me back up, resting his cheek on top of my head. “You don’t have to know what to do. You also don’t have to worry about me. I’ve been waiting for the chance to help you build a life without Tyler dragging you down, and whether you want me there long term or not, I’m still helping now.”
“What do I do about the others?”
“Take it an hour at a time. Usually I would say day, but with the amount of things that have happened today alone, I think we need to go hour by hour.”
I hiccuped, my chest tightened again, and I buried my face against his chest. “I always wanted a pack.”
“Now you can have one.”
“You wouldn’t mind?”
“As long as the alphas you choose treat you like gold, I’m never going to mind. But also, don’t you dare ask my permission for that. We’ve hadonekiss. You’re not allowed to fall back into the pattern Tyler pushed on you. Whether or not you have a pack is up to you, not me.”
“Okay.” I swallowed hard. “I do want a pack, but I don’t know the others yet.”
“You have time to learn them and decide if you want them around.”
A buzzer sounded from beyond the closed door. Shit. Had we been in here so long Leo had arrived already?
“Are you ready to go out there?” Jude asked.
“No, but I can’t ask Leo to come over and then hide in the nest.”
“Sure you can. The others can fill him in.”
I shook my head and slipped my hand into his. “I don’t have a lot of bravery left in me, but I need to know for sure if Leo is a match or not.”
“But not me?”
“I want you regardless.”
I almost wept at the joy that shone out from his eyes. Had anyone ever looked at me like that before?
Jude kissed me softly, first my lips, and then my forehead. “All right. Let’s get you some alphas.”
Ididn’t know what I was walking into, but I needed to see Madison.
The narrow path I had been walking with her was suddenly wide open.
No more Tyler.
And a possible scent match? I’d scrubbed down my skin until it hurt to ensure there wasn’t an ounce of neutralizing washobscuring my scent. I had no idea what hers was, but hopefully she had thought that far ahead as well.
Every second in traffic was agony.
I leapt out of the vehicle when I arrived at the address she’d given me and quickly found the buzzer for the apartment. They let me in, and then I had to wait for the elevator. More agony.
The door eventually opened to two alphas.
The blond of the pair grinned at me. “You must be Leo.”
“Uh, yeah. And you are?”
“Nathan. This is Alve.” He pointed to the Asian alpha next to him in a tidy suit, a stark contrast to the T-shirt and slouched jeans Nathan wore.
