“Nobody is taking this away from you,” our omega piped up. “Conrad’s right, we have some influence and connections. I’ve always hated my last name because I’ve always been seen as Conrad’s sister or my dads’ little princess, but they’re about to learn who the real Lana Flynn is if they don’t back the fuck off.”
“Has anyone ever told you you’re hot as hell when you’re feisty?” Mason asked, rushing over and stealing a kiss.
“Can you guys not?” My brother groaned.
“No promises,” Mason said, kissing me again. Every time they kissed me like this, I melted a little more.
Conrad cleared his throat. “Actually, that is something I wanted to talk to you guys about. I just didn’t think it was the time.”
I glanced over, worried now. What did he have to say that would affect us?
“I’m moving out.”
I felt the blood drain from my face. My hands started to shake, my breathing erratic. I hadn’t realized how badly I’dimmediately spiraled into panic until his hands were on my cheeks, his comforting smell filling my lungs. Macadamia nut cookies, warm and soothing.
“Lana, breathe.” It was a barked command. He was the only alpha who ever did it to me, and only in moments like this. “Let me finish explaining before you freak out, please.”
“Sure. Yeah,” I said in a shaky voice, my vision tunneling until I got a hold of my breathing.
Wilder pulled me closer, lifting me up and setting me on the counter, wrapping his arms around me. I looked at my brother as I let my mate hold me, his comforting scent helping calm some of the initial panic.
“I’m not leaving you, and if you tell me not to right now, I’ll throw the idea out. But we need to face reality. You’re packed up, baby sister, and I don’t want to see or hear anything that happens between you guys.”
Okay. That was a fair reason for leaving, and somehow something I hadn’t considered until now.
His expression softened when he saw the understanding dawn on me. “No hard feelings. I’ve got a place I’ve been eyeballing downtown. They’re holding it for me while I decide what I want to do. I just happened to see the advertisement and went on a whim, but I really do feel like this is for the best.”
I wasn’t stupid enough not to see the truth behind it. We were packed up now, and we did have to be careful about when Conrad was home. At the end of the day, that mattered. My brother deserved to be comfortable in his house as much as we did.
“I never came here to chase you off.”
He looked at me and let out a soft laugh. “Of course you didn’t.”
Still, the idea of Conrad leaving scared the shit out of me. He was the one who saved me, and as eager as I was to figure out what it meant to be a pack, it was another leap of faith.
“Before we go any further with this conversation,” my brother said, voice hard. “Let me make it very clear. If you ever pull the kind of shit that awful pack did, I will castrate you with a rusty knife.”
It was a threat, but not one of them looked nervous, and honestly, that was reassuring. I knew as well as they did that we belonged together.
“You know we would never hurt her,” Cade said. “In fact, we will do everything we can to make sure that she’s not only safe and cared for, but loved.”
That answer seemed to satisfy my brother.
“Which means,” Cade continued, turning to the rest of us now. “We get to go house hunting. It’s time for a real packhouse.”
“Don’t worry,” Wilder said, squeezing me even tighter this time. “This time you get a choice. We want a house that makes our omega happy. ”
That sounded wonderful. The idea of no one knowing my new address was also reassuring.
This could be our fresh start. A way to move forward as a real pack.
Chapter
Thirty
Lana
Tears streamed down my cheeks while my pack closed ranks around me. My chest ached sharply as I watched my brother drive away, his truck loaded with all of his things.
