AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I would have! Being in line for Alpha of your pack is your birthright; you’re giving that up like it’s nothing.” My heart pounds so hard a rush of blood whooshes through my ears, and I can barely hear over it.
“It’s not nothing, Quinn. Give me your hand.” Ian turns his hand over to offer me his palm. The driving urge to touch him wins out over the more stubborn parts of me, and I unfist my hand to put it in his. He squeezes me tightly. “It had to be my decision so that a week from now, or a year, or ten years, or however long, you can’t wonder if you pressured me into giving it up. I needed to make sure you knew it was a choice I made all on my own.”
Emotion wells in my throat, making it difficult to swallow as I track the sincerity in his warm brown eyes. He sucks his bottom lip into his mouth, biting down on it as he stares earnestly at me. Sucking in a shuddering breath, I use my free hand to swipe at my cheeks as uncontrollable tears break free from the corners of my eyes.
I’m stuck between thinking it’s one of the kindest things anyone’s ever done for me and being terrified that he’ll wind up regretting the decision later. The thought of facing resentment from him later in life turns my stomach.
“What if this doesn’t work out?” I whisper in a watery voice.
“It will.” He smiles at me with the ease of someone who really believes that, and some of the tension in my body loosens with the relief of seeing the man I’ve grown accustomed to staring back at me. “I’m not going anywhere,” he adds.
“No more making big decisions like that without telling me,” I warn him as I turn my head and wipe the tears away on my T-shirt. His smile brightens, and he barely manages to get a nod in before I yank my hand out of his so I can throw my arms around him, practically falling into his lap on the floor.
He holds me for a moment before nudging me back into my seat. “You need to eat breakfast. We’re going to have some long days ahead.”
I frown at him as I right myself in my seat, and the confusion I feel must be clear on my face.
“We talked this morning about our next move while we let you get some sleep,” Willem explains. “We think—if you agree—that the next best place for us to go is somewhere for training. Any of us can hold our own okay, but we need more than decent defense skills if Jakob is going to keep coming after you. Besides, it’ll be too crowded this time of year at training camps for anyone to sneak up on us.”
It’s smart, and it’s clear that they’ve thought this through. Pride swells in my chest as the warmth of contentment spreads through my body. The fact that they’ve all fallen in so well together, easily compromising and making plans that are best forallof us, is more than I could have hoped for.
“I think that’s a good plan.”
Mason stands abruptly, his chair slamming into the wall behind him with the force of his movement. I open my mouth to ask if he’s okay, but he storms out of the room wordlessly. I stand up as if to follow him, but Ian blocks me.
“He needs a little space right now,” he says with a grimace.
“What? Why?” I twist my hands nervously in front of me, still desperately wanting to follow.
Ian glances away sheepishly, reaching up to rub the back of his neck as his shoulders stiffen.
“Do you want me to tell her?” Willem asks hesitantly.
“No, it should be me,” he says with a sigh, shaking his head and dropping his eyes to the ground between us. “Abdicating my spot in line for Alpha had an unintended consequence… Mason is now first in line to take over for our mother’s packandfor this one now too.”
Which means he has to decide if he’s going to do the same as Ian, twice. Giving up not just one birthright—but two.
“Oh no,” I whisper.
“It’s okay. He’ll figure things out for himself, okay? He just needs room to think about what decision he’s willing to live with.” Ian rubs my arms comfortingly, but I can tell he’s still uncomfortable.
I’m sure he feels guilty, but I think it’s better not to get involved. The twins need to work that one out for themselves, and I’m not ever going to take someone’s agency away from them.
I blow out a long breath and drop back into my chair, reaching toward a platter of biscuits. Hopefully, he’ll have worked through his emotions by the time I’m done eating. Because that’s about as long as I think I can keep myself from going after him.
We spend the time I’m eating talking about potential training grounds to head to. One of the best is down south near the Florida panhandle, and I think it’s really our only option—if we’re facing an asshole like Jakob MacKay, we have to prepare ourselves with the best training we can get. The only problem is that the most obvious path to the training ground is too exposed. If we want to go all the way down there, we’re going to have to take our time and cover our tracks.
I’m not complaining about the time it will give me to keep exploring things with the guys, but I can’t ignore the pang in my chest knowing it’ll be that much longer before I get to return home.
“There are other options,” Willem says as Ian stands to take my finished breakfast plate to the kitchen, like he can tell where my mind has wandered.
“Not good ones,” I point out ruefully.
“Whatever you want to do, we’ll make it work. Training is only one idea.” I know Willem is willing to bend over backwards to make me happy, but it’s not necessary. We have to do this.
“Training is the right choice. What if Jakob shows up with more people next time? His position as Alpha seems to be at stake; I don’t think there’s any line he won’t cross to get what he wants. And I don’t want to worry about any of us getting hurt.” I would never be able to live with myself if any of them became casualties of my refusal to accept Jakob as a mate.
I stand up and pace, trying to assuage the restless feeling in my chest. It doesn’t do any good; I don’t think I’ll feel at ease until we end this.
