Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
ASTER
Reid found me in the stable three days later.
I was brushing Bella, working through her mane with slow, careful strokes, while Hope dozed in the corner of the stall.
The late afternoon sun slanted through the windows, painting everything in shades of gold, and the air smelled like hay and horse and the approaching autumn.
I heard him before I saw him—those heavy, deliberate footsteps I was learning to recognize. My hand stilled on Bella's neck, my whole body going tense, but I didn't run. Didn't flee. Just waited, my heart pounding, as his scent washed over me.
Whiskey and woodsmoke. Leather and something darker underneath. Reid.
He stopped in the doorway of the stall, his broad shoulders filling the frame, his hands loose at his sides.
He was wearing a worn flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, revealing forearms corded with muscle and scattered with old scars.
His dark hair was slightly disheveled, like he'd been running his fingers through it, and the silver at his temples caught the fading light.
"Aster." His voice was low, calm, carrying that steady authority I was starting to associate with him.
He didn't move closer, didn't crowd me, just stood there in the doorway with his dark eyes fixed on my face.
His expression was serious but not stern, his jaw set with determination. "Can we talk?"
I set the brush down on the stall rail, my movements slow and deliberate, buying myself time. My pulse was racing, my palms sweating, every instinct screaming at me that this was it—this was the moment everything changed.
"Sure." My voice came out rougher than I intended, scraping against my throat like sandpaper. I wiped my hands on my jeans, leaving dusty streaks on the worn denim, and turned to face him fully. My chin lifted slightly, a defensive gesture I couldn't quite suppress. "What's up?"
Reid was quiet for a moment, studying me with those dark, patient eyes.
I could see him choosing his words, weighing each one before he spoke.
He took a breath, his broad chest expanding beneath his flannel, and then he stepped into the stall—slow, careful, giving me plenty of time to back away if I needed to.
I didn't. I held my ground, even though every nerve in my body was screaming at me to run.
"I'm not going to dance around this." His voice was direct, matter-of-fact, carrying the weight of someone who had made a decision and wasn't going to back down from it.
He stopped a few feet away from me, close enough that I could see the individual threads of silver in his hair, the tiny lines around his eyes, the way his jaw was set with quiet determination.
"You deserve honesty, and I'm going to give it to you. "
My heart was pounding so hard I could feel it in my throat. I wrapped my arms around myself, a protective gesture, and waited.
"The four of us—me, Nolan, Sawyer, Kol—we've been talking about forming a pack for a while now.
" Reid's voice was steady, unhurried, each word carefully placed like stones in a foundation.
His dark eyes held mine, unwavering, his posture relaxed but alert.
"We've known each other for years. Worked together, built something together.
But we've been waiting." He paused, his jaw tightening slightly, a muscle jumping beneath his weathered skin.
"Waiting for the right person to complete it. "
I couldn't breathe. Couldn't move. Could only stand there, frozen, as his words washed over me like a wave.
"We think that person is you." His voice dropped lower, softer, rough with emotion he was clearly trying to control.
His dark eyes burned with an intensity that made my chest ache, and his hands curled slightly at his sides, like he was fighting the urge to reach for me.
"We want to court you, Aster. Properly. All four of us. As a pack."
The world tilted. I felt like I was falling, like the ground had opened up beneath my feet and I was plummeting into something vast and terrifying and unknown.
"What?" The word came out strangled, barely a whisper, my voice cracking on the single syllable.
I stared at him, my eyes wide, my arms tightening around myself like I could hold myself together through sheer force of will.
My breath was coming too fast, my heart hammering against my ribs. "You want to—a pack? With me?"
"Yes." Reid's voice was certain, unwavering, carrying the weight of absolute conviction.
He took another step closer, slow and deliberate, his scent wrapping around me like a warm blanket.
His dark eyes never left my face, reading every flicker of emotion that crossed my features.
"We've all felt it, Aster. From the moment you arrived. You're what we've been waiting for."
I shook my head, the motion jerky, automatic. My heart was racing, my thoughts spinning, nothing making sense.
"You don't even know me." My voice came out harsh, defensive, the words sharp and jagged like broken glass.
I took a step back, my shoulder hitting the stall wall, nowhere left to run.
My hands clenched into fists at my sides, my nails biting into my palms. "It's been three weeks.
Three weeks, Reid. You can't know someone in three weeks.
You don't know where I came from, what I've done, what I—" My voice cracked, broke on the words.
"I'm feral. I'm broken. I growled at Dan like a wild animal.
Why would anyone want someone like that? "
Reid didn't flinch. Didn't back away. Just stood there, solid and steady as a mountain, his dark eyes soft with something that looked terrifyingly like understanding. He was quiet for a moment, and when he spoke, his voice was gentle but firm.
"You're right." His voice was calm, measured, carrying no defensiveness, only honesty.
He nodded slowly, his dark eyes holding mine with that patient intensity.
"Three weeks isn't long. We don't know everything about you.
We don't know your history, your secrets, where you came from or what you've survived.
" He paused, his jaw working slightly, his hands uncurling at his sides.
"But we know you, Aster. We've been paying attention. "
I opened my mouth to argue, but he kept going, his voice gaining strength.
"Nolan told me about the first time he met you in this stable.
" Reid's voice was soft, almost reverent, his dark eyes never leaving my face.
He gestured toward the stall around them, toward Bella standing patiently behind me.
"He said you were checking on Bella before dawn, before anyone asked you to.
He said when he walked in, you put yourself between him and the mare—a pregnant mare you'd known for less than a day—like you were ready to fight him to keep her safe.
" A ghost of a smile crossed his weathered face, crinkling the corners of his eyes.
"He also said you relaxed when he talked to you like a person instead of a problem.
That you responded to patience, to space, to being given a choice. "
My throat was tight. I couldn't speak.
"Sawyer doesn't talk much." Reid continued, his voice dropping lower, rougher with emotion.
His broad shoulders shifted as he leaned against the stall door, his posture deliberately casual, giving me space even while he spoke.
"You know that. But he told me about the night Hope was born.
Said you stayed calm when three Alphas crowded into that stall.
Said you handed him tools before he asked for them, like you could read the room better than people who've worked here for years.
" He paused, his dark eyes searching my face.
"He also said you ran afterward. That you were scared—not of us, but of how safe you felt.
He recognized it because he's been there. "
The tears were building behind my eyes. I blinked furiously, trying to hold them back.
"Kol came on too strong when he met you.
" Reid's voice softened, something almost like fondness creeping into his tone.
His lips quirked in a half-smile, rueful and warm.
"He knows that. He felt terrible about it.
But he told me what happened after—how you didn't run, didn't shut down.
You just... waited. Gave him a chance to correct himself.
And when he backed off, when he gave you space, you didn't hold it against him.
" He shook his head slowly, wonder in his eyes.
"Most people would have. Most people would have written him off. You didn't."
"That's not—" I started, my voice rough and cracking, but Reid wasn't finished.
"I watched you for three days straight while Bella was close to foaling.
" His voice was low, intense, his dark eyes burning with something that made my breath catch.
He pushed off from the stall door and took a step closer, close enough that I could see the flecks of gold in his dark irises, the tiny scar on his jaw, the silver threading through his hair at the temples.
"You barely slept. You barely ate. You sat in that stall hour after hour, watching over a horse that wasn't yours, on a ranch where you had no stake, for people you'd just met.
" His voice dropped to barely above a whisper, rough with emotion.
"And when I told you that you were safe here, that no one would hurt you—the look on your face, Aster.
Like you wanted to believe me so badly but you'd been hurt too many times to let yourself. "
A tear slipped down my cheek. I didn't wipe it away.