My smile grows, softening at the thought of my newest Beta mate. Fate may not have written him into our connection, but our hearts have accepted him all the same. “You’re going to love him,” I tell her. “He’s incredibly chill, and he comes from a big family, so he’s used to chaos.”
Hannah chuckles, eyes peeking open a sliver. “Our pack certainly has a lot of drama, doesn’t it?”
It’s part joke, part insecurity. Shep and I both know she feels bad every time someone from her father’s cult tries to reach us. We see it in the way she retreats into herself, and we spend the next day reminding her that their decisions are not hers to bear responsibility for.
“We’ve been video chatting every day,” I admit, directing us away from her guilt and back to hyping Manny up to her.
“You should invite him to dinner,” she suggests, giving my fingers a light squeeze.
Pecking her lips, I agree. It’s time for my Betas to meet, and for Manny to see how well he fits into our pack. Maybe then his reservations will fade.
We’re quiet for a bit. A silence that speaks to the comfort of each other’s company. It shows how far we’ve come in the past several months. The trust we’ve built with the battered woman before me. “Tell me about your family.” Hannah cuddles closer, pressing her head over my heart. She fits perfectly in my arms, head tucked beneath my chin. I imagine meeting Momma Brooke yesterday has her mentally preparing to meet my parents one day.
“I grew up in a small pack, with an Alpha father, an Omega father, and an Alpha mother. They’re loving people, but taught us to be independent from a young age. Work was their priority, but never to the point of missing out on our lives. I didn’t have them at home to play with every day, but they showed up when it mattered, you know?”
Hannah makes a soft noise that I interpret as wistfulness. Even the distance my parents put between us is better than what she grew up with, which makes me sad. She deserved to have parents who loved and supported her, not who beat her and tried to brainwash her.
“You said before you had a brother?”
Pain lances through my heart, weakened after so many years of accepting that my brother was gone. Grief never truly goes away; we learn to live with it. “Everett. He was five when I was born and took his role of protector seriously. It wasn’t a surprise to anyone in our family when he presented as an Alpha.”
“You two were close?” she asks.
“He was my best friend.” Despite the age gap between us, he was always there. To listen, to argue, to hang out. Even when he was at the Alpha Academy, he called me every few days to check in. He scheduled monthly game nights, too, where we could play video games together online.
Sad brown eyes blink up at me. “What happened?”
Life is what I want to say, because if anyone would understand what I meant, it would be her. “After he left the Alpha Academy, he accepted a job as a travel nurse. He loved his job, and I think he hoped that traveling around the country might help him find his pack. A year before I met Shepherd, he was assigned to help for three months at a hospital in North Carolina. He disappeared three days into his trip, and we learned two weeks later that he was kidnapped, tortured, and killed by a newly formed anti-designation group.”
“Oh, Foster, I’m so sorry.” Her arm wraps around my side, holding me tighter against her. I let her warmth seep into my soul alongside the pulse of reassurance that flows down my bond with Shepherd.
“I miss him a lot,” I tell her. “When I’m stressed out or struggling with something, he was the person I always turned to. Everett had a way of making sense of things.”
Lying on our sides, I let her hold me as I pack the grief away until it’s manageable again. When my tears dry, I wipe my face with my hands and rub them down her back. She groans when I reach the muscles above her hips, and I decide it is time to bringour cuddle session to an end. My Beta needs a warm shower, cozy pajamas, and something to eat, and before bed, she needs our Alpha to give her a massage.
Shepherd’s palms soothe the tense muscles in Hannah’s back, filling our room with the soft sound of her groans. My cock strains against my sleep pants, ready to sink back into her heat, but I ignore it. She deserves to be pampered for a bit.
Running a brush through the blonde strands of her hair is hypnotic, melting my body as much as it does hers. “We want to house shop,” I tell our Alpha, fighting to stay awake a while longer.
He glances up from where he is massaging Hannah’s back. “Oh?”
“Pack Wilson has officially outgrown our apartment. Between the new baby and Manny potentially living with us, we’ll be stacked on top of each other.” As much as I would love a puppy pile, I think adding the whole family every night would be too much. Plus, it would be nice to design a bedroom befitting our little princess.
Hannah takes the brush from my hand and motions for me to sit between her spread legs. This was supposed to be about her, so I shouldn’t, but the thought of her taking care of me is too tempting. As long as Shep continues to pamper her, I can accept a little attention, too.
“Do we want to stay in the city, or move somewhere else?” he asks, though we both know the answer. If we aren’t staying in the apartment, moving closer to Omen would make Hannah sodamn happy. And Manny lives in Starburgh, so it would make seeing him easier.
“Wherever you guys want to go is fine with me,” Hannah tells us as she brushes my hair, careful not to pull at the tangled curls.
I can feel Shepherd’s eye roll through our bond, that unique sense of light annoyance.Same. Sometimes it is frustrating to watch my angel hold herself back, not yet accepting that she has an equal say in all the decisions we make for our pack. Her asshole ex was controlling, as was her family, so she isn’t used to being allowed to voice her wants, desires, or opinions.
“Starburgh. So our Angel can be with her sister, and we can court Manny without driving two hours to see him.”
Hannah drops the brush and switches to her fingers. “Did you invite him to dinner?” The way she avoids commenting on my suggestion has me smothering a sigh. One day she’ll get it, and I can’t wait to watch her blossom when she does.
“I was waiting until he video-calls me tomorrow.”
Shepherd pulls away from Hannah and helps us to our feet before climbing onto the bed. He’s shirtless, back muscles rippling as he crawls across the mattress. And his ass—fuck,I want to bite it.
