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Gage rested his hand across the top, his palm open, inviting her to take it. She lifted her hand and put it in his, feeling the warmth of his touch.
“It is going to be okay,” he said.
Constance nodded.
“Look at me. Lift your head. You have nothing to be ashamed of.”
She wanted to argue with him, but he was still her alpha and she had to do as he told her. Looking up, she stared into his beautiful blue eyes. She could spend all day looking into them. They reminded her of the ocean, sharp, clear, deadly.
Gage was a good alpha, soft, gentle, and yet firm. She had never seen him fight but had heard rumors of the days he was a young man, like Tanner. How he commanded attention, earned the respect of the pack, and why they allowed him to take over without a challenge when his grandfather became too sick to rule.
“Your place is right here, by my side, and I don’t want you to forget it.”
“I won’t. I promise.”
****
Later that night, Gage was in his office, dealing with some last-minute emails from his adviser on the stock markets. Being an alpha was a full-time occupation, but he liked to play the stocks. It was how he was able to pay for the life he wanted, the nice house, and to fund any necessary problems the town came into contact with. His father had taught him how to do it, and to do it well. This was the life he knew.
A knock at his door had him looking up to see Tanner in the doorway.
“Come in,” he said.
Tanner walked toward the seat opposite his desk and sat down. “Did you need to do that with Tiffany today?”
Gage finished his email, sending it before closing down his computer. He was done with it for the evening.
He sat back and stared at his son. “You think I didn’t?”
“We both know why you did it,” Tanner said.
“And why is that?”
“To show them that I’m not strong enough to stand against you.”
Gage tapped his finger on his thigh as he looked at his son. “You do not have the power or the authority to remove Connie from this pack.”
“I know that.”
“Yet, people seem to think you have done exactly that. By rejecting her, you have made her life a misery. It must have escaped your notice that in the height of summer, she is wearing thick sweaters.”
Tanner shrugged. “So?”
He smiled. “I seem to recall Connie wearing shorts, crop tops, dresses, skirts, in the height of summer, and yet, this one, she is in jeans and thick sweaters that should be making her sweat, but she isn’t. Do you know why that is?” He knew very well that Tanner was aware of Connie’s clothed state.
His son had rejected her, but the wolf inside him still wanted her. There was a need there.
The alpha in him knew he needed to deal with that. The man, he wanted to squash it.
Sitting back, he felt at war with himself, to do the right thing rather than the selfish thing.
“No, I don’t.”
“She is cold all the time. The warmth of the pack is no longer with her. When she is around me, she can remove the sweater, she feels warm, protected, safe. She belongs. We’re pack animals, Tanner. By you rejecting her the way you did, the town did as well, and because of that, she doesn’t feel part of it. She is freezing cold all the time unless I help her.” Gage gritted his teeth. “Do you think I don’t see the yearning in your gaze? How you’re constantly watching her?”
Tanner stood up.
“Sit down, boy!” He made sure to put every ounce of alpha power behind it.
His son immediately sat his ass down in a seat.
Gage wasn’t in the mood to be playing around, that was for sure. The very thought of doing this, of giving his son a chance to win his mate back, sickened him. He’d never been selfish. Connie made him want to be selfish.
She belonged to him. No one else had a right to her.
She’d come on his tongue. He’d felt her mouth on his dick. The softness of her lips on his. His touch warmed her up. Every single part of Connie belonged to him.
But he wasn’t always a selfish man. He was an alpha first.
“This is going to be the one and only time I offer this. Do you want to revoke your decision?” he asked. “You will need to think carefully. This is a one-time offer. If you say no, then that is it. You don’t get a second chance.”
Tanner shook his head. “No.”
“I told you to think about it.”
“I don’t want her.”
“Then tell me why you were at the fucking library today! Why did you follow us into the diner? Why are you always watching her?”
