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“And on the way out we got a little closer, kissed, some touching. Nothing else. I swear to you.”
Atlas sniffed at the air again, searching for a lie Colt knew he wouldn’t find. “So, she’s up for this?”
Colt nodded. “She’s nervous, obviously, and after being cheated on recently she wasn’t really looking for anything else. But she knows she has to go with this. You can’t argue with this shit. It’s just the way it is.”
“Looks like it is.”
“But she mentioned something we probably need to deal with.” Atlas narrowed his eyes at him, and Colt took a breath, knowing he had to get this out the right way. “She’s confused by the way you are with her.” He waited for a reaction, but nothing. “She told me about you having dinner the other night, and the thing is—”
“Fuck’s sake, spit it out!”
“Look, you know how you can be. You’ve got a certain way about you, and well, she thought that you didn’t like her. More than that, that you almost hated her or something.”
Atlas raised an eyebrow, and Colt could almost hear the cogs turning in his head. “She said that?”
“Don’t worry, I’ve put it right. She knows you’re attracted to her, and she feels the same thing. Well, not just attraction, you know. The thing between us and her.” He gestured with his hands, pointing back and forth between himself and Atlas. “She was confused when I told her about you too because of how you come off.”
“It’s not my job to coddle people. I’m the fucking alpha,” he said. “But, yeah, I suppose I can see where she’s coming from.”
Colt sighed, feeling the relief of Atlas finally starting to get this and come around to his way of thinking. The last thing he wanted was to be chewing this over for ages, especially with his friend; he knew that was not going to be easy with him.
“So, what you’re telling me is that she’s up for this.” Atlas pulled his beard through his fingers and an excitement of sorts shone in his eyes.
“Yeah, I mean it came as a bit of a shock to her, but she senses it too. If we could just maybe take it slowly, let things work out how they work out.”
“No one else,” Atlas added gruffly. “That goes for us and her.”
“Goes without saying,” agreed Colt. “Like I said, she’s been through a lot, too. We might not know where things are headed, but we don’t wanna fuck things up for her any more than they have been.”
“I wouldn’t,” he snapped.
Colt nodded. “I think aside from all the cheating stuff, she was worried about what would happen if this didn’t work out. She’s already had to leave one pack, and after you gave her safe haven, she doesn’t want to risk being out there alone again. Especially with those assholes out there.”
“Fuck them.” Atlas prowled across the kitchen floor, pacing from one side to the other, his huge chest pushed out and his breathing slow and deep. Colt knew not to interrupt him when he was like this, not unless the situation called for it. For the moment, he knew it was best to just wait Atlas out.
“She doesn’t need to worry about them or anyone else. She’s here now, and if anyone so much as thinks of trying anything, they’ll have me to deal with,” Atlas announced after a few moments of pacing.
It gave Colt even more hope seeing him act this way. He was already becoming fiercely protective of Harlow, and that was a good sign. If he could just drop the whole Atlas thing, maybe they had a shot at this.
“I’ll tell her she doesn’t need to worry,” Atlas said. “And I’ll let her know she got me wrong, too. If we’re gonna do this, we do it my way.”
Colt grinned. “Wouldn’t expect it to go down any other way, dude.”
“So, we do this and see where it goes—no huge commitment except that we are exclusive. If she agrees, we have a deal.”
Colt laughed internally at his friend referring to this as a deal. It was the last way he’d put it and hoped Atlas never mentioned it in those terms to Harlow. He wasn’t quite ready to advise him on that yet, though.
“I’m not used to sharing, but if I’m gonna do it with anyone, I guess it would be you.” Atlas looked at Colt straight in the eye.
Colt raised an eyebrow and did his best to rein in what he really wanted to say, knowing that some quip was not likely to go down well. Instead, he just nodded, understanding what his friend meant.
They were lifelong best friends, alpha and beta. Something had chosen to bring them even closer—call it fate, destiny, whatever. Her name was Harlow, and as confused as he was about all this, Colt knew he needed to follow whatever it was that had been dangled in front of him—them.
“It’s new for all of us, bro. But I suppose I feel the same. I mean, it could work. I think she’ll be okay with it. I really do.” Relief coursed through Colt, and he knew they were on the right track.
It might not be easy; it might take some getting used to. But there was also something so exciting about embarking on this with Harlow, and he couldn’t wait to get started, especially if the previous night was anything to go by.
Atlas nodded slowly, his eyes now glowering. “In that case, there’s just one more rule—first time she comes, that belongs to me.”
