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Chapter Twenty-Four
Enzo
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OH NO.
I can't believe Callan just did that.
It's way too soon to bring that up. And last night when we discussed it, he was completely against it before getting to know her better. He's now known her for half an hour and that's his suggestion? She's going to run. Maybe far. But this is way too fucking last.
She stares at him, completely dumbfounded. “I’m sorry. You want me to bond into your pack? The pack that doesn't even have any bonds yet? We just met, dude. This is a little fast, even for our society."
"I don't mean anything romantic. But you could join our pack without having a relationship like that with any of us. I do." Callan ignores the rest of us gesturing for him to shut the fuck up.
Aurora blinks. ”What?"
"I'm not romantically involved with any of our pack. I love them, and they're my family, but I don't want to fuck any of them."
"Okay..."
Oliver hurries to smooth this mess over. “Callan has jumped the gun here a little, though to be fair to him, there is a time constraint. We hoped to ask you to consider us as a possible pack or at the very least, you could pretend to, to get the assholes from the program and I guess, your mother, off your back. Maybe it would buy you time to figure something else out. If you were interested in actually joining our pack, it's certainly something we can discuss. I know none of us are against the idea. And we're all perfectly satisfied if it remains platonic forever."
I'm certainly hoping for more, but if she doesn't want it, I'd never force it on her. Oliver and Grey feel the same and, apparently, so does Callan.
Fucking hell.
She shakes her head, face lined and pale with stress. “I don't even know what to say to this."
Rose nudges her. “Say yes."
Aurora glares back.
"You don't have to say anything right now,” I say. “But it's something you could consider."
She sets her barely touched drink on the coffee table, careful to place it on one of the coasters. “I don't understand. Why are you offering this?"
Oliver sighs and throws Callan a frustrated glance. “Multiple reasons. It's the right thing to do, though we wouldn't offer if we didn't think you'd fit with our pack. We'd try to help you in a different way somehow. But we do think you'd make a perfect addiction to our pack. You're a kindred spirit. We wouldn't stop you from having relationships outside the pack if you wished. Callan has them, like he mentioned. He just hasn't found anyone who also fits with us yet."
“Also,” I add. “You saved my fucking life. We owe you.”
I hope that’ll put it into context that will make this all more palatable for her. I am grateful to her for what she did, the way she threw herself right into the middle of a bunch of alphas to protect me. And I do want to help her with this awful situation.
But mostly, I just want her.
She tilts her head to the side, looking back and forth between all of us. “What about our scents? How platonic do you think it'll stay when my heat hits?"
I can’t tell if she’s actually considering this or is just satiating her curiosity.
"As platonic as you want it,” Grey says. “We would never take advantage of you in that way."
"Not that we're against things developing beyond a mere pack bond either." I can’t help but add.
I don’t want her to believe we’re just being nice, that we don’t want her.
Callan may have brought this up way too soon, but we’re all ready for this. Maybe not mate bonds yet, but I don’t think any of us would regret pack bonds. We definitely have no problem pretending for a while.
Grey brings the focus back to where we need it. “None of that matters right now. We need to focus on just getting the OCP and I guess, you mother, to back off. If you act like you’re letting us court you and considering joining us, it should help shut them up and buy you the time you need to decide what comes next.”
