The sound of the ocean outside woke me up out of the fitful sleep that I’d forced myself into last night after Zeke had left to join Maverick up into the nest.
I’d figured that I would give Zeke and Maverick the night with Lennon before tagging in and that it would give me the chance to talk to my wayward twin.
But Dallas had gone out to sit with his thoughts on a sand dune and as much as I wanted to knock some sense into him I figuredhe was close to coming to his own conclusions, so I left it be and turned into one of the guest rooms for the night.
Rolling over I checked my phone, saw that it was just after five in the morning, and groaned.
“Just one of these days I’d like to sleep in to ten,” I rumbled to myself, cursing the stupid military training that had been ingrained so deeply into me it may as well have been genetic at this point.
Rolling out of the bed, I stumbled into the hallway scratching my stomach as I stared up at the stairs that led up to the nest.
It was quiet despite the moans that could be heard last night. They must have also finally fallen asleep.
Turning away from the stairs, I headed for the living room where I found Dallas sprawled out in the sunken conversation pit with a book over his eyes even though I knew he wasn’t sleeping.
His posture was too stiff and controlled for that to be the truth. He must have heard me coming and tossed the book on his face to avoid confrontation.
“I know you’re awake,” I said with a sigh. “You might as well stop being such a coward and talk to me already.”
Dallas’s shoulders twitched. There was nothing my twin hated more than being called a coward.
It was why he had broken multiple bones on stupid dares during our childhoods.
Another minute passed before I heard him huff a breath of surrender and let the book slip down his face and his green eyes met mine.
“Well?” I asked, putting my hands on my hips as I stared at him. “Are you going to go up there and tell her how you feel or are we both about to leave?”
“Both?” Dallas frowned, his auburn brows drawing together with confusion. “Why would we both go?”
With a heavy sigh I dropped down onto the couch next to him and tugged him in close. We didn’t hug much these days—something I regretted now as I wrapped him in a bear hug that he seemed to melt into.
With how dominant Dallas usually was it was often easy to forget that I was the older brother in our situation. He was always the one taking care of me: the guy who wore his heart on his sleeve and usually got it trampled on because of it.
Dallas was a tougher nut to crack and had been my protector growing up, so much so that it was harder for me to look out for him when he needed it.
And he really needed it now.
“You and I are a package deal, little brother,” I told him, giving his shoulders a squeeze. “Where you go, I go. If you aren’t ready for all of this, then that’s okay.”
It would break my damn heart, but it would be okay.
“That’s crazy, B,” Dallas said, giving me a shove. “I could never ask you to do that for me. I couldn’t before and I won’t now.”
That was the crux of all of this, I realized as we sat together, the light in the living room growing brighter and brighter.
Years ago I’d gotten close with an omega with an already established pack. She’d wanted me to join and I’d thought she’d felt the same about Dallas too.
That turned out not to be the case and I had broken up with her when she had tried to give me an ultimatum. Her or him. I’d chosen him, of course and we’d made a promise to never let anyone get between us again.
That had been the end of it, or so I’d thought, but Dallas had changed after that. He was more prickly and less trusting of any women that I dated and he rarely dated himself, throwing himself into our work with a vigor that worried me.
I’d always figured he would snap out of it… now I knew better.
HewantedLennon just as much as she wanted him and it was like he was punishing himself by holding himself back. I just couldn’t figure out why he felt the need to.
“You aren’t asking it of me,” I told him with a shake of my head. “You and I came into this shitty world together. Fought through it together and I’ll be damned if we don’t live and die together. Now, are we going to do this? Are we going to go up there and be with our mate? Or are we going to get into a taxi and drive away and try to rebuild our lives again?”
Dallas looked at me, his eyes unsure and vulnerable for a moment as he seemed to weigh both options.
