Chapter 47
“Ican’t get over how little they are.” I held Emilia, Charlotte’s only daughter, while she nursed baby DJ in her rocking chair.
Marcelo was sound asleep in the bassinet next to her, milk-drunk and chubby cheeked.
Emilia probably couldn’t see much of anything, but I tried to angle her so she could look out the window at the horses running around outside.
“I know,” Charlotte said gently, stroking DJ’s fuzzy hair. “They’re so much smaller than my older boys were. I guess they have to be, with three of them in there.”
“Do you think our kids will be best friends?”
Charlotte’s gaze fastened on me. “Madison? Are you…?”
“Yep. Almost two months along now.”
Charlotte burst into tears, holding her free arm open for me to lean down into a hug. “I’m so happy for you. I don’t mean to cry. I think the breastfeeding hormones might be worse than the pregnancy ones when it comes to that.”
“Cry all you need to. I don’t mind. Ava did too when she found out.”
Charlotte sniffled, mopping her cheeks with a tissue. “I can’t believe how much everything has changed for you. I hoped for it, but…” She lost herself to a fresh surge of tears.
“I should have listened to you a lot sooner.” I puffed out a breath. “I guess I’m as stubborn as fate, so things had to happen the way they did.”
“I might know a little bit about being stubborn,” Charlotte said with a laugh.
“If you need anything, or have any questions, please don’t hesitate.
You kept a lot back to spare me stress, but we’re friends.
I want you to give me the stress. I’m not here only for the fair weather, I’m here for the storms, too, like I know you would be for me. ”
That got my tears going, too. We were both sniffling away, telling each other how much we appreciated the friendship, when Dylan appeared at the door with smoothies and already cut up steak dinners.
“Talk about service.” I chuckled as Dylan set the plates down within reach for both of us.
“Not like she can easily handle a knife and fork when there’s a baby on the titty.” Dylan beamed. “Gotta help our girl where we can, and since you’re hanging onto a baby, too, inside and out, you get treated to the same service. Congrats by the way. Your guys are terrible at keeping secrets.”
“Thank you. And that’s okay, I already told Charlotte and they had permission to tell you today.”
“Good to know. Eat up, ladies. I’ll bring up dessert in a bit.” Dylan left us in peace and I settled onto another of the rocking chairs after pulling it closer to Charlotte’s.
“You’ve got a whole paradise out here.”
A person might never guess Las Vegas was so close with how wild it was outside her windows.
“It’s honestly everything I ever dreamed of. A house on a ranch, kids everywhere, a pack who loves me. I couldn’t ask for anything more. Fate did an amazing job.”
“I was terrified at first, when fate ripped the rug out from under me.”
“Me, too.” Charlotte speared a bite of steak with her fork, chewing thoughtfully.
I went for the loaded baked potato first, my stomach rumbling now that it knew food was incoming. “This is delish.”
“Dylan has gotten really into barbecuing,” Charlotte explained. “I’m not complaining, though.”
“I wouldn’t either.”
When Emilia started fussing, we traded babies. I got in some practice burping DJ while Emilia ate. Marcelo was still adorably sleeping each time I looked in on him. They were so cute I could hardly stand it.
“We’re happy to babysit anytime,” I told Charlotte. “I know it’ll be a while yet before you’re ready to leave them, but the pack could probably use some practice.”
“I’ll definitely take you up on it. Are you all planning on parenting classes?”
“Honestly, I haven’t looked into it yet. I figured I would learn from the best,” I said, gesturing to her and holding my breath when DJ combined a burp and spit up. I tossed the burp cloth into their laundry hamper and cradled the baby close while I wiped his little face. “My dude, that was gross.”
“Just wait.” Charlotte laughed again. “That’s probably the lightest of the horrors you’ll get to experience.”
“I would ask for details, but then I wouldn’t be able to eat my steak.”
“Good choice.” Instead of listing the horrors, Charlotte talked to me about the earliest days with her babies, what I could expect, and how bonded scent matches could help alleviate pregnancy symptoms. I listened, already planning nursery options in my head.
I had my pack, but having Charlotte too made me feel a lot better about the journey I was on. I had spent so much of my life denying the things I truly wanted, and once that leash was off, I had grabbed all of it at once. Thankfully, it had worked out.
“We’re going to have so many babies in the family,” Charlotte commented. “Ava is due right away, and yours will be here before we hit any first birthdays. I’m so excited! I had a hard time making mom friends back in New York. Ava’s been a godsend, and now I have you, too.”
“Thanks for laying the groundwork so I don’t have to flounder in that department. I definitely need to get to know Ava better. Maybe Tyler will move and it won’t be weird to visit her.”
“Oh, right. I forgot they only live a few houses apart. I could see how that would be uncomfortable. Have you thought about a pack house? She could come visit there.”
I had too many things to update her on. While we scarfed down our food, I showed her pictures of the house we had a pending offer on. It unfortunately got her crying again, but she replenished herself with long drinks of water from the bottle on her snack table.
We would get to move in soon, and then I could decorate to my heart’s content.
Alve had already organized and paid for the pack apartments to be packed up and tucked into storage in the meantime.
Movers would have a busy day, but I was so fucking jazzed we would get to have a home so beautiful together.
All my years of quiet hopes had become reality.
Some mornings I woke heartbroken thinking it had all been a dream, until I registered the warmth of my pack surrounding me.
I wasn’t sure how they managed to be even better than the fantasies, but I knew for certain that they were who I’d always been waiting for.
“What’s your plan for the rest of the day after this?” Charlotte adjusted Emilia, kissing her forehead.
“I got an email from Tyler’s mistress,” I confessed. “I’m going to see her before I go home.”
Charlotte gaped like a fish. “You think that’s a good idea?”
“Not really, but I’m curious what she has to say.”
“Fair. I would be, too, in your shoes. I had Ava around to answer all my questions, so I won’t tell you not to go, but be careful with your heart, okay?”
“I will. I don’t think there’s anything she could say that would hurt me at this point.”
Charlotte pursed her lips, cradling her baby. “I guess you’ll find out.”
“Hey,” Jenna said shyly, rising from her seat at a small café table tucked into the corner. “Thanks for meeting me.”
My pack had cautioned against it, but when she had emailed my OHI account, my curiosity had won out. “What did you want to talk about?”
“I’m sorry.” The words tumbled out of her, her shoulders tightening, her gaze stuck on the floor. “I was a huge cunt and you didn’t deserve that.”
“You’re right, I didn’t.” I sat carefully and Jenna sank into her chair opposite me.
“Everything made so much sense before I ran into you, and after that, it was like a different thing unravelled every day.”
“I’m confused about what part of sleeping with my partner at the time made sense.” I didn’t say it particularly sharply, but she wilted nonetheless.
“That part was dumb. He was going into business with my pack, and I didn’t realize how good of a liar he was until it was too late. He’s charming when he wants to be, you know?”
I unfortunately did know. “He is.”
“He sucked us all in. The sob story was pretty intense, honestly. He told us he couldn’t leave you because he felt too guilty, that you were completely dependent on him and refused to do anything to change that.
He said he wanted a pack, but you only wanted him and he didn’t know how to cope being the only one to help you. ”
I sat, slack-jawed. “That’s not true. He didn’t even want me to have my own bank account. Anytime I brought up getting a job or a pack, he kicked up a huge fuss until I dropped it.”
Jenna’s eyes shone. “I fell for it for too long. After I saw you at the restaurant, I realized how much better you looked. I’m not saying that as a dig.
I think I’d just never seen you look happy before.
Not really happy, anyway. Once I started to think about things, Tyler’s stories fell apart.
It didn’t make sense to me that he would be so full of rage over you stepping out on him when from the beginning he’s been claiming he wanted you to leave.
Finding a pack would’ve been the perfect solution for both of you, so of course that only made me more confused, because he said you didn’t want one. ”
Fury bubbled up at all the lies Tyler had spun. “I always wanted a pack. Tyler was too insecure to let me have one.”
Jenna nodded slowly. “That day we ran into you at the arena was awful. I’d never seen him so mad, and he took a swing at one of my alphas. I asked him why he was so bent out of shape over you leaving, and I think the only reason the truth came out was because he was so stirred up already.”
“What did he say?” I dreaded the answer as much as I was desperate to know.
“He said”—Jenna clutched her coffee cup, staring at the liquid inside—“that you couldn’t leave him before he left you. That you weren’t allowed to leave until he was done with you.”
Tears slipped over her cheeks and I found myself reaching to comfort her despite everything.
“That’s when I knew,” Jenna continued. “He was playing all of us, having his cake and eating it, too. I’m so sorry.
We all felt so bad for him when he told us you kept denying him community over and over, draining him with your needs.
Obviously, looking back, I know that was a pile of shit.
My alphas have said I have a bit of a superiority complex, and I can’t fault them for thinking that.
I really liked feeling like I was better than you.
Tyler probably knew that. I was the perfect mark for him to manipulate and get my pack on board.
I don’t know if we were just a business deal to him, or what was going on, but it’s over now. ”
I absorbed every word, her explanation spiraling in my brain. I managed to force one word out. “Over?”
“We’re not registering him as a pack member, he’s not moving in, and my alphas have pulled out of the business deal.”
Was it petty that a part of me was happy Tyler’s whole world had crumbled after all he had done to me? Maybe, but I felt it anyway.
“He might be homeless now, too,” Jenna added.
“What?” My voice cracked on the question.
“He was selling your place to move in with us. That deal already went through, so I guess he’s shit out of luck.”
“I’d feel bad for him, but I don’t.”
Jenna let out a sharp laugh. “I don’t feel bad for him either.” She slid a small envelope across the table to me.
I looked at her curiously, opening it to reveal a check. “What’s this for?”
“My nest.”
“Jenna…”
“No, you have to take it. You did an amazing job, and I thought at the time you were doing them purely for the love of it. I had no idea Tyler wasn’t letting you earn a living from it. You should be. Maybe you don’t need it anymore, but it’ll help my guilt. A little bit, anyway.”
I did want to start my own business, and if Jenna’s guilty conscience wanted to fund that, I was going to let her. “Thank you.”
“You’re a way better person than I am.” She let out another sharp laugh. “If I were in your shoes I’d have probably tackled you and poured my coffee on your face. I appreciate your restraint.”
“I’m not letting either of you off the hook,” I said slowly, gathering my words. “Tyler pulled a lot of shit and you knowingly did something that would hurt me. The fact that fate intervened and gave me a scent-matched pack doesn’t take away from any of that. I hope this is a lesson for you.”
“It sure as hell is.” She dabbed her tears with one of the café napkins. “You’re doing okay now?”
“I am.”
“We should get together with the girls. What are—”
“No,” I cut her off. “You proved we’re not friends, and while I appreciate your apology, you can’t ever walk back from what you did. I agreed to meet you to hear you out, but this is where it has to end.”
She wilted again, nodding solemnly. “That’s fair.”
I felt a little guilty. Maybe she thought she could fix it all, but I couldn’t allow it.
I was done letting people who would hurt me be in my life.
Cutting someone out always left a little blood on both parties, but I had people who loved me, and I would heal.
She would, too, but she would do it away from me.