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I refuse the bait and pick up a glass paperweight from the desk and heft it in my hand. “There’s something I’ve been curious about, but I don’t know what to make of it.”
Taylor sits back in his chair, watching me in amusement. “Please, go on.”
“She doesn’t have any mate marks. No pack bonds. Nothing. I can’t smell them, so I looked. There are none.”
Taylor sighs in contentment, which irritates me, but I know not to rush him. “I suspected as much. But it’s good. Confirmation.”
I scowl. “She still has a pack. She said she did.”
“Did she say exactly those words, though?” Taylor asks. He leans forward and rubs his chin.
I stare at him, astounded. “You think she doesn’t have one?”
He shrugs. “Would you ever pack up and move all your ‘worldly belongings’ home, leaving your pack somewhere else?”
I shake my head.
“She uses past tense when she speaks of them.” Taylor frowns. “Plus the obvious. She’s attracted to us.”
“What the hell are you planning, Taylor?” I bark and slam the paperweight back on his desk.
He looks up with a gleam in his eye. “Just helping Bar get back to good health.”
I run my hand over my face. I can’t believe I’m hearing this. I mean, we spoke about it before, but now that we’ve gotten to know her, it doesn’t feel right anymore. “I don’t want this to hurt her.”
Taylor frowns. “It’s not going to hurt her. No, I can’t promise that. It might hurt her, but that’s on her. At least this way, you can feel less guilt about making her choose to betray her pack.”
My rage is building. “I know inside you give two fucks about people, so stop trying to be so cold and clinical. She’s not expendable.”
Taylor leans back, staring at me. “I didn’t say she was.”
“So we just let Bar get attached and then let her walk away?”
“That’s her decision, isn’t it?” Taylor points out.
His callousness is maddening. We both know that what he’s prepared to offer isn’t something anyone with any self-respect would accept.
“What about us? What about Gold?”
Taylor shrugs. “Gold needs to figure this out himself. And you…well, Acton, you’re a big boy, I’m sure you can work out what you want and make the appropriate steps towards that goal. This is a pack, a family, not a dictatorship. And we’re all in agreement. We help Bar whatever way that looks like, and we protect each other. We protect our pack,” Taylor growls.
“You’re playing with fire.” I warn him.
“Perhaps.” His face darkens. “It was my mistake. I assumed. I made a grievous error that almost cost him his life. Almost cost Gold his. I won’t make that mistake again.”
I clench my hands in my fists. “So, what you’re saying is?”
“When Bar is better, Scarlet can go back to her own life, her own pack.” He mutters darkly.
“And if she wants to join us? Join our pack?” I challenge.
He stares at me, a sad, knowing look in his eyes. “Do you want to take that sort of chance? Risk your omega, your pack? Did you feel how strong her bark is? You would gamble Barren’s life on her?”
I swallow hard. I want to say we can trust her; I want to tell him he’s wrong, but I can’t. “This is not going to end well.”
Taylor shrugs. “I’m prepared to be an asshole to save my omega. Are you?”
I stare at him, wondering where and how he got like this. But I know perfectly well. I remember the fear through the bond, the pain. Gold’s rage. The insanity of those next few months dealing with a broken omega and a feral alpha. I remember the fear that we’d lose them both. So I know perfectly well how he got here. Because I’m there.
