Chapter 25
Ben
Milo looks incredible up there.
Dark suit, easy smile, rolling up his sleeves when someone wolf-whistles. He finds Tessa across the room and winks, and I watch her try to smile back.
But something’s wrong.
“Milo Stone,” she says into the microphone, and her voice is all wrong. Thin. Shaky. Nothing like the confident woman who’s been running this auction for the past hour. “Owner of The Barn Bar, maker of the best cocktails in the county...”
She trails off, and I follow her gaze to where Cara Donovan is sitting. The woman who just won three bachelors in a row. Her paddle is in her lap, but Tessa doesn’t know she’s not going to bid.
Tessa’s terrified someone else is going to win him.
Good thing I have a plan.
“Let’s start the bidding at fifty dollars,” Tessa manages.
Paddles go up. Sixty. Eighty. A hundred. Two hundred.
Tessa’s knuckles are white around her clipboard. She’s watching Cara, waiting for the hammer to drop.
The bidding slows. Mayor Bradley leans toward the microphone.
I raise my paddle.
“Five hundred dollars.”
“Five hundred dollars from Ben Wilson,” Mayor Bradley announces, sounding amused. “Do I hear five-fifty?”
Silence. No one’s going to bid against me. Half the room knows Milo’s my best friend, and the other half is too stunned to react.
“Going once... going twice...”
Tessa’s still staring. Her knuckles are white around her clipboard.
“Sold! To Ben Wilson for five hundred dollars.”
Milo’s jaw drops. Then a grin spreads across his face—slow, delighted, like he’s just figured out what I’m doing. He tips an imaginary hat at me from the stage.
One down. One to go.
Elijah takes the stage looking like he’s being led to execution. Shoulders hunched, jaw tight, hands shoved in his pockets. He hates this. Hates being the center of attention, hates being looked at.
When his eyes find mine in the crowd, I give him a small nod. Trust me.
He doesn’t look reassured.
“Elijah Smith,” Tessa says into the microphone. Her voice is steadier now, warmer. “Master craftsman, creator of the beautiful stage we’re standing on tonight...”
The bidding starts low. Fifty. Seventy. A hundred.
“Two hundred.” Maeve Bennett’s voice cuts through the room.
I look at her. The bakery owner is smiling sweetly, paddle raised.
“Three hundred,” I counter.
Elijah’s head snaps toward me. Surprise flickers across his face, then understanding. Then something that might be relief.
“Three-fifty.”
“Four hundred.”
“Four-fifty.” Her eyes are twinkling. She’s enjoying this way too much.
“Maeve.” I give her a look. “Come on.”
“What?” She blinks innocently. “It’s for the roof fund, Ben.”
“You know exactly what you’re doing.”
“I do.” She raises her paddle again. “Five hundred.”
I groan. “Six hundred.”
“Six-fifty.”
The crowd is loving this. People are cheering, laughing. Someone yells “GO HIGHER, BEN!”
“Maeve.” I turn to face her fully. “Please.”
She holds my gaze for a long moment. Then her expression softens.
“I think the community center has enough money now,” she says. “Make your final bid, Ben Wilson.”
Relief floods through me. “Seven hundred dollars.”
“Seven hundred dollars,” Tessa repeats. There’s something in her voice I can’t name. “Going once... going twice... sold. To Ben Wilson.”
The room erupts in applause.
Twelve hundred dollars. Worth every penny.
I’m making my way toward the stage when someone grabs my arm and spins me around.
Bea.
She’s grinning like a maniac, her three alphas hovering behind her. River looks amused, Grayson smug, Seth entertained.
River catches my eye and gives me a nod—one alpha to another, one friend to another. We’ve been close since high school, and watching him end up with my sister was strange at first, but now it just feels right.
“Benjamin Andrew Wilson,” she says, her voice dripping with glee. “Did you just spend twelve hundred dollars buying your packmates at a bachelor auction?”
“Maybe.”
“Maybe.” She laughs. “Oh, this is beautiful. This is the best day of my life.”
“I’m glad my romantic gestures amuse you.”
“Amuse me? Ben. Do you have any idea how long I’ve waited for this?
” She’s practically bouncing. “Years. YEARS of you teasing me about every crush, every date, every awkward moment with an alpha. And now?” She gestures at the stage, at the crowd, at me.
“Now you just made a complete fool of yourself in front of the entire town for a girl.”
“I didn’t make a fool of myself—”
“You bid against Maeve Bennett for seven minutes straight while the whole room cheered.”
“It was three minutes, tops.”
“River timed it.” She looks at her alpha. “How long?”
“Six minutes forty-two seconds,” River says, not even trying to hide his smile.
“Six minutes and forty-two seconds,” Bea repeats. “Of you and a sixty-year-old bakery owner having a bidding war over our broody woodworker friend.”
“She was driving up the price on purpose—”
“Obviously she was driving up the price on purpose. That’s what makes it hilarious.” Bea throws her arms around me, squeezing hard. “I’m so proud of you. And also I’m never letting you live this down.”
“I figured.”
“I have so much material now. So much.” She pulls back, eyes bright. “Remember when you gave Seth my exact coffee order so he could impress me? Hazelnut latte, extra shot, oat milk?”
“I was being helpful.”
“You were being a meddling menace.” She grins. “Remember when you cornered Grayson in the driveway for the ‘protective brother talk’ and he just stood there looking bored?”
“He wasn’t bored. He was intimidated.”
“He texted me afterward and said ‘Your brother’s protective. I respect that.’ That’s not intimidated, Ben. That’s amused.”
“Whatever.”
“And remember when you texted me asking ‘which one are you into? taking bets’ like my love life was a sporting event?”
“I was showing interest.”
“You were being nosy!”
“The point is,” Bea says, poking me in the chest, “you’ve been the overprotective big brother my entire life. And now I finally—FINALLY—get to watch you be the lovesick idiot who spends a month’s rent on a romantic gesture.”
“I own my cabin. I don’t pay rent.”
“That’s not the point.”
“It’s a little bit the point.”
“It’s really not.” She’s grinning so wide it looks painful. “Welcome to the other side, big brother. It’s fun over here.”
Grayson steps forward. “For what it’s worth, that was smooth as hell.”
“Thanks.”
“Expensive,” Seth adds. “But smooth.”
River just nods, that quiet solidarity between alphas. “She looked happy. Tessa. When you won.”
I glance toward the stage. Tessa’s still there, talking to Mayor Bradley, but she’s looking at me. Even from across the room, I can see her smile.
“Yeah,” I say. “She did.”
“Go get her,” Bea says, shoving me toward the stage. “And Ben?”
“Yeah?”
“I really am proud of you.” Her voice is softer now. Sincere. “You deserve this. All of it.”
“Thanks, Bea.”
“Now go. Before I start crying and ruin my makeup.”
“You’re wearing makeup?”
“GO.”
I find Tessa backstage with Milo and Elijah already there. She’s still holding her clipboard, but her grip has loosened. She looks... lighter. Like a weight’s been lifted.
Milo is shaking his head, a disbelieving grin on his face. “You absolute madman.”
“You said trust you,” Elijah adds. His voice is dry, but there’s warmth underneath. “You didn’t say you were going to buy us.”
“Surprise.”
“Twelve hundred dollars, Ben.” Milo laughs. “You could’ve just told us the plan.”
“Where’s the fun in that?”
“Hey,” I say to Tessa, stepping past them.
She turns. Her eyes are shining. “You spent twelve hundred dollars.”
“Maeve made sure of that.”
“Ben.”
“Tessa.” I step closer, taking the clipboard from her hands. “I had a plan.”
“You bought them. Both of them.”
“I bought us.” I take her hands. “A pack Valentine’s date. You, me, Milo, Elijah. If you want.”
“If I want?” She laughs, half sob, half joy. “Ben, I was up there terrified. Every time that woman raised her paddle, I thought—”
“Cara wasn’t going to bid on them. She came back for other people.” I squeeze her hands. “Your alphas were always safe.”
“I didn’t know that.” She looks at Milo, at Elijah, back at me. “I finally understood why you refused to do the auction. You couldn’t stand the thought of someone else winning a date with you.”
“No. I couldn’t.”
“I feel the same way.” Her voice breaks. “About all of you.”
“Good.” I pull her close. “Because you’re stuck with us now.”
“No take-backs,” she whispers.
“No take-backs.”
The auction winners have an hour to claim their prizes before dinner is served.
We find our table near the back—one of the special “winner’s dinner” tables set up for the bachelor dates. There’s a little card in the center that says “Reserved for Ben Wilson + Guests” and I have never been more grateful for my mother’s meddling.
Across the room, I spot Cara Donovan at another winner’s table with Theo, Lucas, and Nate.
They’re all sitting stiffly, barely looking at each other.
Nate is staring at his water glass like it personally offended him.
Lucas keeps running his hand through his hair. Theo’s arms are crossed, his jaw tight.
Whatever Cara was hoping for when she bid on them, that’s not what’s happening at that table.
“That looks... tense,” Milo observes, following my gaze.
“They were supposed to be a pack in high school,” I say quietly. “Everyone thought they’d end up together. Then Cara left for college and never came back.”
“Until now.”
“Until now.”
Tessa squeezes my hand under the table. “That’s sad.”
“Yeah.” I turn away from Cara’s disaster and focus on my own table. My pack. “But that’s not our problem tonight.”
The servers bring out dinner—the good stuff, filet mignon and roasted vegetables and bread that’s still warm from the oven. Milo makes a show of cutting his steak with exaggerated care.
“So,” he says, leaning back in his chair. “What exactly are the terms of these dates you bought us for?”
“Terms?”