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Plus, I had scented Dio and Sam on him strongly, as if he was taking on their scents. Which was intriguing.
“Fucking hell, you little shits are going to be the death of me,” Dave grumbled, but I felt the tension slowly ease out of his body.
Sam took giant, shuddering breaths as the pressure in the air eased almost instantly. He dropped his head to rest it on my shoulder. “Tell me you’re home for good, Pala,” he asked me quietly with his eyes closed, as if he was shielding himself from my answer.
“I’m sorry I ever left. I don’t plan on doing it again. I’ll stay if you will.” Sam’s sigh fluttered against my neck before something nudging my hip distracted me.
I shifted slightly to find a giant ass dog trying to push past me. He squeezed in between me and Dave and jumped up in the tight space to put his paws onto Sam’s shoulders and lick his face.
“What the hell,” I spluttered.
“Pala, meet Bear. Lexie’s guardian angel and part of our pack,” Dio said with a tense chuckle.
“I thought you hated me, Bear,” Sam mumbled as he nuzzled into the side of the giant dog’s face, earning himself another lick.
“He didn’t hate you,” Dave replied. “Bear just knew you didn’t have your shit handled. He was warning you.”
“And now I suddenly do?” Sam asked, sounding skeptical despite how relaxed his body had become as he leaned into all of us.
“You were in a death spiral with your emotions, but you just pulled up short and shut off your dominance in seconds. You’ve never been able to do that before. I’d say you’re at least on your way,” Dio said.
“Yeah, but that wasn’t me. That was you guys, clearly,” Sam tried to argue as he patted Bear in long strokes down his back, but Dio wasn’t having it.
“Haven’t you been listening to a word we’ve been saying?” Dio asked him, sounding frustrated and gripping Sam’s hair, to force Sam look at him. “That’s the whole point. That’s a pack. It’s not possible to do it on your own. You’ve been trying, and it’s been getting harder. I know. I’ve noticed, and it’s been scaring the shit out of me. Before we got here, I was worried you’d end up feral. If being with us helps, let us help you. We want to help you.”
“Is that why you’ve been pushing me to be with Lexie, because you’ve been trying to build a pack for Sam? So he doesn’t become feral?” Dave asked, a quiet concern clear in his voice.
“No. If I’d known a pack was what he needed, I never would have let them separate us from Pala years ago. I pushed because I sensed when we met that Lexie needed you. When you calmed Sam down the first night, it was more than the dunk in the river. It was you, and I knew we needed you, too.”
Sam looked troubled. I knew he’d always felt like he should take care of us, not the other way around.
“The pack isn’t just about you, it’s about all of us, Sam,” I told him, needing him to understand what I knew instinctively. Wishing I’d been here to say it all along whenever he needed to hear it.
“We’re all stronger together. I’ve noticed it being away from you both. A darkness crept over me slowly. I think we unknowingly started pack bonds back when we were kids. You think you can go off alone to save us, but you can’t. You’d only hurt us.”
Sam looked cut up over my words and three arms twisted in our huddle to grip me, even Dave. Something that didn’t go unnoticed.
“How did you get here so fast, Dave?” Sam asked, as he finally looked at him, a little warily.
“Shit, I don’t know.” Dave groaned. I got the impression from the way he tensed slightly that Dave was a man of action and wasn’t used to analyzing himself. “I felt something drawing me here, and I was hovering at the top of the path, feeling like an idiot and not sure what to do, when I heard you scream.”
“Are you okay with this?” Sam asked quietly. “We’ve all known each other a long time, but you’ve only known us for days, and things have been moving quickly.”
Before Dave could say anything, Dio jumped in. “I can feel you faintly in my bond with Lexie already, Dave. So don’t try any of that too old bullshit you spouted the other morning.”
“Oh, she didn’t seem to mind his age when she had her tongue down his throat and was climbing him like a tree out in the forest earlier,” I said, with a sly wink in Dave’s direction.
Dave shifted on his feet and actually blushed. Seeing a grown man in his forties blush over a woman was cute as heck.
“She kissed you and I missed it? Dammit,” Dio said. “I want to book a front-row seat next time.”
“Calm down, boys,” Dave groaned. “Fuck, okay. I kissed her. I shouldn’t have, not without coming clean first. She may not react well. But she said it was what she needed, and I’m only so strong. I meant what I said about it being up to her. She may not want me in this pack and if she doesn’t, I’ll walk away.”
Dave sounded pained, but raw need also filled his voice as he confessed. If he’d been holding back with Lexie, the time for that had passed. If she wanted him, I’d make damn sure she got him, even if I had to convince him myself. It sounded a lot like Sam needed him, too. A solid relationship with a positive mentor figure could help him overcome his past.
“Dave, you had Lexie’s back out there tonight. You’ve had it for a long time. You’ve been keeping her safe for years,” Dio said, being uncharacteristically serious. “I’ve known you were pack since the moment you ran around that corner the other day and grabbed her as she fainted.”
“Do you want to be in this pack, Dave?” Sam asked, a slight shake in his voice, as if a lot were riding on the answer for him. I noticed Dave didn’t seem surprised at our casual use of the word pack.
