“Or the last time you saved mine—there in that very same locker room minutes earlier,” Dash said.
Jackson flinched.
“I’ve never truly thanked you for what you did,” Dash mumbled.
“Don’t,”Jackson snapped. He scratched his head, running his palm over the soft waves there, his gaze on the floor. “Don’t thank me for that.”
Awkward silence filled the space between them.
“I wish it hadn’t happened,” Dash said.
Jackson’s gaze flew to his. “What happened brought you here.Where you belong.”
Where you belong.Dash sighed, hearing his own words parroted back at him. He also hadn’t missed what had sounded like the hard edge of pain in Jackson’s voice.
“Do you plan on reclassifying now?” Jackson asked.
Dash narrowed his eyes, remembering the conversation they’d had before he’d left the Guard. Jackson had offered to ‘do right by him’ and become his mate, as if that would’ve made things any better between them.
Workingsoclose for so long had built a bond. They’d had to put their lives in one another’s hands over and over again. He could see how Jackson might easily confuse that bond for intimacy. There’d been times he’d felt a similar confusion in the heat of the moment. But once the haze had cleared, he’d realized Aiden and Jackson were his brothers,notpotential partners.
His love for them was familial and nothing more.
And now, even that felt lost. If Jackson couldn’t see reason, there might not be any point in trying to salvage their friendship. Not if it would be filled with jealousy and recriminations.
“I might have omega insides, but I’m an alpha, Jack. I refuse to relinquish that and become something I’m not in the eyes of this province.”
“So… you’re saying you don’t care about this man enough to make the two of you legal?”
That statement was a punch to the gut. Could he really stand before a judge and declare to the entire world that he was an omega—and not the alpha he was?
He’d refused when the Black Guard had passed him the paperwork, ripping it up and tossing it in the garbage on his way out the door. He was an alpha, regardless of what anyone claimed.
Yet in that moment, he had to consider it. What would he truly lose? Omegas had rights in Fort Seattle that they didn’t have elsewhere. Sure, the way he looked would still cause problems for them. He didn’t look like an omega, so there would be stares and potentially even confrontation and legal issues, but itwasa path to being with Emerson legally.
He’d only have to lie to the world about who he really was. As long as Emerson still treated him as an alpha, did the rest matter?
A lump formed in his throat. It did matter. Maybe it shouldn’t, but it did. He identified as an alpha and he didn’t want to pretend he was something else for the rest of his life.
“No witty comeback? Will the wonders never cease,” Jackson murmured.
Dash shook himself from his thoughts.
“Or are you actually considering it?” Jackson asked, his brows furrowing deep.
Dash met Jackson’s gaze, unwilling to answer.
“Wow,”Jackson said, the sound near a whisper. He winced, shaking his head. “Maybe this guy really is it for you.”
“I’m not going to discuss my relationship with Emerson with you,” Dash said. “You’re here to help with my case. Nothing more.”
Jackson’s jaw clenched and he glared at Dash. “It is what it is, then.”
Dash’s next breath was difficult to drag in. “It’s not the way I want it, but clearly it’s the way itneedsto be.”
Jackson laid his file on Dash’s desk and rapped his knuckles over the cover. “I’ve got some errands to run. I’ll be back for this later.”
Dash watched him depart. Before Jackson could open the door, a comment sprung from his lips that he couldn’t hold back any longer.
