I had a lot of that in my life.
I tried to walk on shaky legs, but my knees threatened to give way.
“Here, I’ve got you.” Jayden picked me up and carried me out to their car. He sat with me in the back seat, and Elias started the engine but paused to look at me. “Anathea, we’ll drive you wherever you decide is best, but we’d like to take you home. To our home.”
“Your home?” I repeated in awe. A jolt of terror went through me at the thought but was quickly replaced by a wash of calm.
Me. Calm.
“Okay,” I answered after a pause.
“Okay to coming to our house?” Carter turned to ask me.
“Yes. Yes, please.”
Chapter Sixteen
Jayden
Anathea was in our home.
For the first time, we had our scent match under our roof.
Standing in the foyer, looking like she was afraid to take a step forward.
“Anathea?” I reached for her hand. “Don’t you want to come in?”
“You’re safe here,” Elias said.
“I should probably go home. I’m turning your lives upside down with the chaos in mine.”
“If you do, we are all going along.” Letting her send us away a few hours earlier had been a mistake, but we didn’t want to push so hard she’d push us away. For some reason, the visit from the other pack member had only stiffened her spine. Maybe she didn’t want to put us in danger too?
Anyway, it didn’t matter why she made that decision. We didn’t go home. Instead, we staked out the neighborhood, parking on a low rise where we could see her door and periodically looping the block in case anyone tried to approach from the back or side.
And therein lay our mistake. We must have been on patrol when our omega forgot her promise to stay inside… Or had she? She’d promised to keep the doors and windows locked. And from that, we’d assumed she’d be on the other side of those barriers.
“You really would do that, wouldn’t you? You’d leave this beautiful home and come to my little place and sleep on the floor or the porch just to keep me safe.”
Carter nodded. “Yes, we would. Now, would you like the tour?”
The contrary female nodded, shook her head, and burst into tears. The tour could wait. Elias took her hand and we all ushered her into the kitchen. “Come have a cup of tea.”
She hiccupped. “I don’t want tea.”
“Why did you go to the store?” I asked. Were you looking for the cocoa and bear claw?”
“N-no.”
“Then what was so important that you risked your safety?” I didn’t mention the promise thing, since I wasn’t sure whether she had broken it. “Maybe we have it here.”
“If we don’t, we can get it,” Elias put in.
“I can’t. It’s just so silly.” She looked miserable, and my wolf didn’t like that one bit.
“Nothing is silly, omega. We all make mistakes. Please tell us what you need.”
“You’ll laugh.”
