“I never wanted to burden you with a bond you might not feel. You left for the rodeo, and I was happy for you. I understood the pack life was ending, and you were doing what you had to do to survive, but the second you came back, I came for you.”
“Maybe if you stop assuming you’re a burden…” Jesse says, but when Major slices him a look, he raises his palm in surrender. “Just a thought.”
“I don’t like the idea that I’m failing. I try to make sure—”
“It’s not working.” I’m blunt and back to the subject before I have to return my thoughts to what he just revealed.
“He’s right. It doesn’t feel like a pack bound, Major.” Jesse finally speaks up. “It’s in an Alpha’s nature to protect, but you leave us in the dark. And now that we have an Omega…” His eyes close for a brief second. “Even if it’s temporary. It's dangerous not to include us in every decision. She needs each of us, all three. That’s why the pack exists.”
Major clicks his jaw, and for a long moment, I think he’ll walk away like he does when things get uncomfortable, but he doesn’t. He surprises me by nodding and breathing out his tension.
“I never meant to fuck up this pack.” His eyes burn into mine. “That we are three parts of. You’re my fucking pack, Derrick.”
If it’s uncomfortable enough, Jesse’s eyes find mine. “You've always been part of the pack, Derrick. And it’s fucked up that you haven’t realized that.”
The silence is fucking painful, but I finally clear my throat, squaring my shoulders. “If I’m part of the pack, I’m done with this bullshit of being kept in the dark. All or nothing, Major.”
My brother’s calculating gaze hits mine as he takes everything in. I wait for him to deny our accusations, but he surprises me by dropping his head, shoulders down, and nodding.
“I never wanted things to get this bad,” he says, and I hear the regret in his tone.
“It’s alright.”
“Now, hug it out.” Jesse chuckles.
I flip him off. “It doesn’t solve all our problems. Veda is still upset.”
“She’ll feel better when she meets her pack,” Major says, and I start to think that if we repeat the words enough times, we’ll start believing it.
“Maybe she made her choice.”
Jesse’s bold words ring in the kitchen, an echo of Veda’s own words. I did all I could to brush that aside and forget, there’s too much hope in a simple word. Choice. It’s not fair to even entertain the thought.
“I’m not dismissing her wants,” Major says carefully. “But scent-matching is different. She’s going to feel a pull she can’t control.”
“And what’s the probability that she scent-matches with us?”
I don’t even realize the question comes out of my mouth until it’s out there.
“It’s low,” Major finally says. “After so long with us. After what you all”—he clears his throat—“shared.”
Damn, I’m not even going to pretend I feel guilty. He doesn’t know about my stunt in the woods. I decide to take that secret to the grave.
“It’s not impossible then,” Jesse says, getting up and stretching out as if this conversation is not life-altering.
“Not impossible,” my brother grits out.
Jesse nods and grabs his guitar from where it was resting against the far wall. With a lazy smile, he says, “I can work with that.”
He moves away, strumming a song I’ve never heard before as he goes. Hope dares to grow inside at the same time awareness prickles my skin. I give my brother one last nod before moving outside.
My heart pumps with adrenaline like I ran a mile to get here. I need space, so I choose the back trail leading to the Golden Acre, my chest hurting with everything I’m keeping within. Major’s words replay in my head. I tried to act casually, but it feels good to know they accept me as a packbrother. That they don’t care I’m a broken man who lost it all.
Then Jesse’s optimism hits me at once, and the idea that maybe—just fucking maybe—we can scent-match with Veda feels like a ball of warm light spreading from my heart all the way down to my toes.
I’m smiling like a fool, deciding to nurture that good feeling instead of rejecting it. One chance in a million to have her is better than none. Before I realize where my feet led me, I’m right in front of Storm.
As usual, she regards me with suspicion, her black eyes shining as I come closer.
