I’ll need to text him later and fill him in.
“Plus,” I say as I stand at his side, staring down the hallway with him, “you ever tell an Omega in pre-heat to slow down? You know she’ll smile, nod, and run herself into the ground, anyway.”
That gets a growl bubbling up the back of his throat. Maybe I can provoke his Alpha enough to?—
Something clatters from the kitchen.
A sharp curse follows it.
Walker and I move at the same time.
We round the corner just as Lia stumbles back from the counter, one hand gripping the edge for balance. Flour dusts the front of her shirt. Her face is pale beneath the flush of heat, and when she straightens, she sways.
“Hey,” I say, closing the distance in two strides. “Sunshine.”
“I’m fine,” she insists automatically, even as her knees threaten to buckle.
Walker’s there immediately, one hand steadying her elbow, the other hovering at her back without quite touching. His voice is calm, firm. “When was the last time you ate?”
She opens her mouth before she closes it, like she’s thinking twice about lying to us.
Good girl.
“I forgot to stop for breakfast, I think,” she admits quietly.
The scent of her hunger curls sharper in the air, threaded with exhaustion. My Alpha bristles, every instinct screaming to fix this. She needs rest. She needs food. She needs a moment off her feet.
Walker doesn’t hesitate.
“You’re coming with us,” he says.
Her head lifts. “Walker?—”
“No,” he interrupts, gentle but unyielding as he reaches out and places his hand on her shoulder. “You’re coming to the restaurant, you’re sitting down, and you’re eating before you do anything else. How can you expect to finish your baking when you can’t even stand? You know I’m right.”
She looks between us for a while, like she’s trying to come up with an argument to refute Walker’s words.
“Come on, Sunshine,” I coax as I reach out and tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. “It’s just some food. You’ll be back cooking in forty-five minutes, tops.”
I catch the faintest flicker of relief before she nods. “Okay.”
“Okay,” Walker says as his hand moves to the small of her back. “Come. Let’s get you some nourishment.”
She follows him effortlessly. My heart takes flight when she looks over her shoulder, searching for me. It has nothing on the way my heart slams against my chest, however, when she graces me with her little smile. Like she’s relieved to still find me there.
That’s pack behavior right here, whether she knows it yet or not.
The reality slams hard against my chest. After years of living on the streets, after years of being alone, after years of struggling to find my footing in a place I could call home… I have a family.
Oh my god.
I finally have a family.
I quickly pull out my cell phone and send Eli a short text. He needs to be part of this. If we’re going to be sitting down for some lunch with Lia, then our entire pack needs to be present. We need to start spending some time together, just us.
Like a family should.
Lia
