Six #5
“It’s like Merritt said—because the magic responded to us, to our family,” he told the others.
“Uncle Abel is the alpha, and Justin is the son of the alpha, and Aunt Narah is the alpha mate, but me and Cole, we’re sons of an alpha too, so that’s what happened.
The pull from all of us made the magic work. ”
“That’s exactly it,” I said approvingly. “That pocket was drawn to the power of your family.”
“How come it didn’t bring your family to you?” Evan asked me. “Your family must be stronger than ours.”
Abel cleared his throat. “Young man—”
“It’s not my land. It’s yours. I don’t have any scraps of magic sitting around on mine.”
“You’ve checked?”
“Teague checked a long time ago.”
“That’s good, then.”
“I would love to hear more about this Teague,” Abel told me.
I just smiled politely before Cole took hold of my shoulder.
“If you’ll all excuse us for just a minute.” He tipped his head toward the door.
When I got up, Justin quickly stepped around in front of Cole, blocking him in.
“I think anything you have to say to Merritt you should say in front—”
“I don’t want to talk to Merritt about leftover scraps of magic or bones or ghosts,” Cole told him. “I need to apologize again.”
“What?”
“You see how you don’t understand what I’m talking about? That’s how you know it’s none of your fuckin’ business,” Cole stated, his voice icy.
“Yeah, but—”
“Just move.” Cole shouldered past his cousin, tugging me after him. Once we were outside the room, he walked me halfway down the hall and then rounded on me. “Listen, I’m sorry again for how I acted on—”
“You need to be more careful or you’re going to get in trouble. You can’t blow off the alpha’s son like that. Abel will lose his shit.”
“I don’t care. What’s he gonna do to me? And fuck Justin. He thinks he’s too good for you, the precious son of the alpha, but he doesn’t want me near you either? That’s some bullshit.”
“You sound jealous.”
“I’m the son of an alpha too,” he rumbled, slipping a hand around the side of my neck at the same time as he stepped in close to me. “I’ve never been jealous of him.”
“I was the one who pointed out that, being the son of a true alpha, you—”
“I know, I know. And again, I was a dick about it and I’m sorry.
The problem is that I’ve been thinking about all this a long time, and other members of the pack are asking me questions, and I don’t wanna be disloyal, which makes everything hard, but…
putting something off doesn’t mean it goes away.
This decision is always hanging over me. ”
“It must be hard.”
“I have to figure out my life, and there’s a lot of pressure to make the right choice.” He dragged his thumb back and forth over my jawline. “But as I said earlier, I’m sorry I got upset with you about it. You were just trying to help.”
I stared up into those gorgeous gunmetal eyes of his, noticing the silver flecks in them as well. “You don’t need to be sorry, it’s none of my business.”
“It is your business,” he argued, moving a piece of hair that was tangled in my lashes out of the way.
“No, it’s—”
“I want it to be your business, because I, me, Cole Swann, want to be your business. I want your help with everything, so don’t give up on me ’cause I made a mistake and lost my temper, all right? Please, Mere.”
It would be so clean if I cut all ties with him right then and there.
Honestly, there was no place for me in his life, not really.
He was going to have to lead the pack someday, probably sooner than he thought, and he would need someone to stand beside him, to help guide the pack, and most of all, to give him an heir.
I was always logical, never wishful or deluded, and to change now simply because—
The gentle brush of his lips over my forehead brought me instantly out of my thoughts to focus on the beautiful man smiling down at me.
“Your brain is running at a thousand miles an hour, I can tell. But before you start doing all my thinking for me, deciding what I need in my life and who’s best for me, maybe you’ll let me sit and talk to you for a bit.”
“It’s not…smart,” I told him.
“I disagree. I think having you invested in me, in my future, is the smartest thing I’ll ever do.
” He took a deep breath. “But at the moment, I just want all your attention. The whole time I was walking down your steps the other day, I kept thinking, ‘this is so stupid, why are you leaving that man when all you’ve wanted since the first time you saw him is to just sit and watch his mouth move when he talks to you?’”
“Cole, you—”
“Just let me have a do-over.”
“You were clear,” I told him. “And change is hard, so I get why—”
“Please, Mere, just give me a chance to fix what I broke.”
“You didn’t break anything, you just gave me the reality check I needed.”
“Nope.” He suddenly grabbed me, crushing me to his chest, his arms wrapping me up tight.
After a few seconds, I couldn’t stifle the laugh, and I snickered into his shoulder. “What’s your plan here?”
“To hug you until you stop talking about what I didn’t mean and start thinking ‘God, he’s a pain in the ass, but damn, I sure do like being held in his arms.’”
I liked it a bit too much. “This is not a good idea.”
“You never know unless you try.”
I couldn’t really argue that point.