Val slips out of Luc’s hold, and all my pack now face me.
“Hard to say, Syl,” Kaiden answers.
I nod. “So she could be flirting with other people?”
The second I say it, I realise I don’t like that idea, and the way my pack growls indicates they don’t either.
“Why would you even say that, Syl?” Luciano stares at me, hard.
I frown. “Because she could be. As Kaiden said, we’re not committed. She could be flirting or even fucking—”
“Shut the fuck up, Syl,” Luc growls, pupils wide.
I do, because I’ve made my chest hurt.
“Sorry,” I eventually say.
Luc sighs, moving to take the stool beside me. “No,I’msorry, hermano.” He looks straight at me. “Don’t ever let me speak to you like that again.” Then he shakes his head. “And you’re not wrong about Revea, Syl. It’s just…”
“We don’t want to think about that,” Val finishes, voice low.
“We don’t like imagining Revea with… others,” Kaiden clarifies.
Which makes sense. Picturing Revea even speaking with another alpha makes my chest ache.
“Maybe we could just ask her not to,” I suggest.
“This is the hard part of liking someone.” Luc smiles sadly. “We’re in this weird limbo of inexclusivity. Right now, isn’t the time to ask.”
“Well, when is?” I ask, but no one replies. I frown, looking to our pack alpha. “Do you need to be physically intimate with her first?”
Kaiden coughs out a laugh. “Sylvan, there isn’t a protocol for this type of thing.”
“But we all have been, only you haven’t, and you’re our pack alpha.”
Valentin shifts in his seat. “Sylvan…”
My frown deepens. “You should have rutted her the day you met—”
“Okay!” Luc cuts in with a loud clap. “I think we need to stop this conversation before our pack alpha barks your ass into doing fifty push-ups.”
I look to Kaiden and see I have indeed angered him. His jaw is set, eyes darker than usual.
I’ve angered my pack quite a bit tonight. Maybe I should remain quiet for a while.
We’re all silent. I wait, but no one says anything. Maybe they need some space from me. That happens sometimes. I overwhelm people. Annoy them.
After a few more seconds, I pick up my laptop and move onto the living room sofa.
Later in the evening, I think my pack feels bad about something because they’ve ordered my favourite food rather than Valentin’s, even though it’s his night to choose.
They’ve all ended up on the sofa with me, drinking and watching a sports game I have no interest in.
But I’m feeling much better because Revea’s now awake and she’s been messaging in the group chat. Written ones, even though I prefer the ones with pictures.
Whenever I open my phone, I see the one she sent me from the first-class pod I upgraded her to.
I’m glad she listened and decided to keep sending more. I have a folder for her now.
