The fact that he hadn’t immediately said no, thatIhadn’t immediately refused, proved how far gone we were for our mate.
Josie’s smile fell slightly, and I felt Theo’s regret through the bond.
“Why wouldn’t it be?” she asked in a small voice.
“It might look suspicious for us to host two alphas from Sol,” Theo mumbled, running his hand through Josie’s hair in a silent apology.
“But Sam’s my childhood friend. I don’t think that’s weird.” Josie’s lower lip trembled and she looked away.
“Sweetheart, don’t cry. We’ll figure this out,” I said, giving her leg a squeeze.
“Am I putting you in danger?” she asked, her voice hitching on a silent sob.
“What?” Theo asked. “Of course not. Why would you say that?”
“Glen hates me,” she whimpered, tears rolling down her face in earnest. “Having me as part of your pack puts a target on your back.”
“You’re not justpart of our pack,” I growled. “You’re our mate, our omega. If anyone has a problem with that, they can go fuck themselves. You’re ours, understand? And if you want to see your friend, we’ll make it happen.”
“Are you sure?” she asked, looking worriedly at Theo.
He took a deep breath before forcing a smile. “Yes, angel. Why don’t you let them know?”
She hesitated for a moment before picking up her phone and sending a text.
“Thank you so much,” she said smiling, but she was still a bit subdued. I wanted her bouncing excitement back.
“When will they get here?” I asked.
“Tomorrow afternoon, and then they have to leave the following morning,” she responded. Then she said almost shyly, “I’m excited for you to meet them. I haven’t even gotten to meet Gerald in person.”
“We’ll have a great time,” Ben said, wrapping his arm around her. “I’m excited to meet them.”
This time Josie’s smile seemed more genuine.
“Okay, I’m going to go get dressed,” she said, kissing each of us before heading up the stairs. We all watched her walk away.
“Why are we letting them come?” Theo asked, keeping his voice low as he turned towards us.
“Why wouldn’t we?” Ben asked. “He’s Josie’s friend.”
“And he protected her,” I added, clenching my fists. I wished I could have been the one to protect her, to save her from Glen fucking Jacoby.
Theo looked away, running his hand over his face.
“Theo,” Ben said, worry in his voice. He moved to the other side of the couch, pulling Theo in for a hug. “It’s going to be okay.”
Theo returned the hug briefly before pushing himself off the couch.
“I’ll go see what we need for the guest room,” he said, stalking out of the den.
“I think he just needs time,” I said to Ben, who was biting his lip and staring after Theo.
“Yeah,” Ben said with a sigh. He turned back towards me. “Nice hair, by the way,” he teased, his lips quirking into a wide smile.
I pulled out my phone to look at myself in the camera. I huffed out a laugh. Josie had done a French braid down the top of my scalp and tied it off at the back of my head. I would have gotten beaten up for wearing my hair like this growing up. I found myself not caring. My omega, my mate, had done this for me. I ran my fingers down the neat braid, the look growing on me. And now her scent was woven into my hair, into my very soul.
ChapterFifty-Four
