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Once everyone was again out of earshot, Gray turned back to Avery. “If your brothers had said something to the wrong person, they would’ve been devastated to know they were the one who’d gotten you jailed. I couldn’t let that happen.”
He knew Gray was right. He’d made them all complicit in his lies. Lies he could so easily stop now that he recognized the truth.
But the minute he opened his mouth, he would lose the new life he was building for himself. Was it selfish to want to be more than a papa, raising a family? Avery looked away and saw Wilder staring at him across the yard. Longing flooded him.
More drops of his slick emerged.
The call to yield was growing within, regardless of the drugs he used to hide what he was.
Again, Avery dragged his gaze away, his heart pounding in his chest. “I did this to help my brothers. To make sure we didn’t struggle.”
“And now your circumstances have changed,” Gray said. “Even if you won’t admit the bond between you and Wilder… Rohan’s a good provider. He’s never once had an issue with Lake and Auggie being here, and has gone above and beyond to be a parent to them both.” Gray paused. “Andhe has said he would make sure you were provided for, too. That you could return to the Omega Quadrant until you met your alpha, if you ever decided this was all too much.”
“I don’t want to go stew in the OQ, waiting for some alpha to come. Why can’t I make a life of my own?”
Gray eyed him a moment. “You should be. Weallshould be. You, your brothers, me… any omega who wishes it…”
“Then why are we once again arguing about this?”
“You’ve seen the omegas who come out of the prisons. The damage it does to them mind, body, and soul. I don’t want to end up with an empty shell for a nephew.” Gray turned a little more to stare at Avery. “I promised your papa I would always protect you and your brothers if anything would ever happen to him. I worry about you, Avery.”
Avery chuckled inwardly, remembering Brett’s words from the day before. Now he was on the receiving end of the same worry and he better understood Brett’s anger.
“Also, it’s not just your life you’re sacrificing,” Gray added. “How will this impact Lake and Auggie? They’ve already lost your parents. Don’t let them lose you, too.”
Pain sliced through him at the mention of his parents. “I’ve been careful. For four years, I’ve been careful. Iwon’tget caught.”
“So you keep saying. I just don’t understand why you continue to put yourself in danger when you don’t have to anymore.”
Avery looked away.
“I want to hear the truth, Avery. Don’t continue to say you’re doing all this for your brothers. If you were, you’d have stopped by now. Don’t play the martyr. You’re out to prove something… and it’s wholly for yourself at this point. Not them.”
Avery lifted his gaze to his uncle’s.
What had started as a way outhadevolved into a new journey. One he didn’t want to end. “Maybe it is. Maybe itisall for me… but I’ve succeeded in a world that said I shouldn’t have been able to. Omegascanbe more than wombs with legs.”
Gray snickered, likely remembering the words he himself had spat at Avery’s papa and father’s funeral. “Of course we can. We’re strong—stronger than any alpha can even imagine.” He turned to look at Avery. “Don’t think I’m not rooting you on, every step of the way. I’m just terrified of where this journey leads. Hoping for a happy ending that I don’t know you’ll find.”
“So, you’d rather me give up and give in? To letthemwin?”
Gray cringed, shaking his head. “No. It’s not in your nature. We both know that. I just wanted to hear you be honest about why you were continuing to put yourself in jeopardy. It’s not for your brothers. It’s foryou.”
“Fine. You’ve made your point. Happy now? It’s for me.Selfishold me.”
Awkward silence hung between them for a few seconds.
“You’re not being selfish,” Gray said. “Maybe you are, I don’t know, but maybe we all need to be a little more selfish and demand what we deserve. Maybe I’m just jealous that you have this strength I don’t. A strength that I fear, too. Because I worry what that strength will do to you.”
Avery gazed at Gray, knowing his uncle was stronger than the man realized.
“I’ll be happy when you’re safe. I don’t see that happening anytime soon though,” Gray said, carefully adjusting Jasyn in his arm.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to take the baby?” Avery asked.
His uncle shook his head. “The minute you move him, he’ll wake up.”
Avery smiled a moment, watching Jasyn conked out on Gray’s shoulder. He brushed some of the babe’s hair from his forehead, peppered with sweat droplets. “Idocome bearing some good news.”
