16. Cole
Chapter 16
Cole
As soon as I hear Shiloh chatting with her grandmother, I make my way back to her room and plop down on the bed, smacking Jonah’s ass harder than necessary. He wakes up with a grumble, his irritated gaze locked in on mine. I shoot Mack a text, telling him to come and meet us in here.
“What the fuck was that for? Where’s Shiloh?”
“Helped her in the shower. She’s on the phone with her Gran,” I say, shifting the pillows behind me and crossing my ankles, making myself comfortable. I’ve never spent any time in this room, but I have to give credit where credit is due, Claire can decorate the hell out of a bedroom. “Things with her ex-pack are worse than I thought. She didn’t really say much, but her reaction when I asked how they treated her wasn’t great. I think we need to take things slow with her.”
Jonah groans and cuddles the pillow under his head.
“Maybe she needs the opposite,” he suggests.
“I gave her phone back.”
He raises an eyebrow at me. “And?”
“She scrolled, didn’t seem upset or happy, just asked to call her Gran and to have her over.”
“She didn’t say anything about them?”
I shake my head. “No. She didn’t say much at all. I mean, fuck, she just broke up with a pack and went through a rough heat, it’s a lot. The last thing she needs is all of us going full Alpha on her ass and making her feel like she needs to make a decision so quickly.”
“What if you’re wrong?”
“What if I’m not and you scare her off before we even get a chance?” I counter.
An exacerbated sigh from the doorway has us both turning to see my brother leaned against the frame, looking at us like we barely have two brain cells to rub together.
“What if we just ask her?”
“Ask her what?” I ask.
“If she’s ready for another pack to court her, or if she needs time. Maybe lay it out there that we’re interested but willing to take it as slow as she wants. Fuck, ask her if she still has feelings for her old pack and if she’s ready to move on. We all agreed to help her with her heat no strings attached,” Mack says, sounding way too fucking smart.
“Seems he got all the brains,” Jonah mumbles, cuddling into Shiloh’s pillow.
I nudge him with my foot. “Stop inhaling her pillow.”
“Can’t,” he groans.
“So, who’s going to talk to her?” I ask and then my brother clams up.
“We’ll do it together. Tonight at dinner, we’ll be honest about our intentions and give her time to process. She wouldn’t have agreed to move in if she wasn’t at least somewhat interested, right?” Jonah asks, sounding uncharacteristically insecure.
“Right,” Mack and I agree in unison, even though there’s a sinking feeling in my gut.
She looked through the contents of her phone way too quick and there’s so much about each other we don’t know. Telling her how we feel will only make things worse or maybe she’ll think we’re nuts for moving so quickly.
Our plan to tell Shiloh our intentions and to reassure her all go to shit as we sit down for dinner and a skeptical old woman sits with us. I told her that she could invite her Gran over; I guess I just wasn’t expecting tonight.
She must be in her seventies, though she looks like she’s in great shape. Her hair is dark brown, with gray strands throughout, and she’s dressed rather casually with a black sweater and slacks.
Shiloh changed into a dress and I’m trying to contain my disappointment that she’s no longer wearing my shirt. She holds her maroon cardigan against her chest as Jonah adjusts the chair so she can properly have her leg elevated.
“Are your legs cold? Do you need a blanket?” Jonah asks Shiloh.
“If you don’t mind,” she replies and Jonah quickly runs out of the room and pulls out a white cashmere blanket, placing it over our Omega’s legs.
Shiloh’s Gran taps her wine glass, looking at us all with a level of skepticism I should’ve anticipated. Of course she’s leary of us. The way we met was bizarre by anyone’s standards, especially considering she’s a Beta who doesn’t have the same drives.
“Thank you for joining us, Gretchen,” Jonah says, taking a seat next to the older woman. Mack and I sit opposite of them and Shiloh sits at the head of the table with her leg propped up.
“Well, I had to meet the Alphas who convinced my granddaughter that living with them was a better option than living with me.”
“Gran,” Shiloh hisses.
“What? You were supposed to fly home, spend time with me, and get back on your feet after being with those bastards. What am I supposed to think when captain green-eyes over there calls me and says you went into heat and he’s going to take care of you? Then I get a call saying you’re fucking injured but are staying with them while you recover. This is all extraordinarily fast, even for Omegas and Alphas,” Gretchen says, taking a sip of her wine.
Jonah clears his throat. “I was the reason for her injury. There was no other option besides us caring for her post-heat.”
“So what is this? Shiloh isn’t looking to play house with a bunch of rich assholes again.”
“Gran, fuck’s sake,” Shiloh hisses.
“No, Shiloh. You called me how many times from LA crying? Telling me how they weren’t treating you right, while not directly telling me the situation? I just don’t want to see the same cycle happen again. You don’t know these men or their intentions.”
I take a deep breath and try to not let the older woman frustrate me; I suppose, in a way, she’s forcing the conversation that we already planned to have with Shiloh.
“Gran, I’ve been awake for a total of ten hours since I got here. I invited you over here because I miss you and I wanted you to see that I was safe. What happens between me, Cole, Jonah, and Mack is my business.”
Gretchen takes a sip of her wine, looking properly chastised by her granddaughter.
“I just want the best for you. Shiloh deserves the best,” she says, directed at us this time.
“I appreciate that, Gran, but I’m a grown woman.”
Gretchen reaches out and grabs her granddaughter’s hand. “Shiloh, honey, I know that. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have come in here cynical. I’ve just been worried about you over the past week, and I’ve missed you.”
“Then let’s plan some time together. You know that’s part of why I wanted to move back, to spend more time with you.”
“I know, sweet girl,” Gretchen says, giving her hand another squeeze and turning to look at Jonah. “What is it you do, Jonah?”
Jonah shifts in his chair and I’m not sure I’ve ever seen him nervous about impressing someone. The man has been in high society all his life, but this old school grandma is the one giving him a run for his money.
“I run a branch of my family’s company out here. I also help as needed with my mom’s non-profit.”
“Which is?”
“The Omega Fund,” Jonah replies.
Both Gretchen and Shiloh look impressed and the large Alpha seems to let go of some of his nerves.
“I assume you no longer have a job?” Gretchen says to me and I smile.
“We’ll see how my meeting with my lawyer goes tomorrow,” I reply.
Shiloh grimaces at the end of the table, and I just give her a wink.
“What about you, pretty boy?” Gretchen asks my brother, and he clears his throat, his neck pink with embarrassment.
“I work from home. I work in online advertising,” he says, which isn’t completely true, but clearly he didn’t want to explain what a streamer is to a person of Gretchen's age.
“Well, you must have a golden coin hidden somewhere, Shy, you know how to find the rich ones.”
“Jesus Christ, Gran.”
The older woman shrugs and finally smiles, laughing at how uncomfortable she just made all of us.
“I have bingo next week. Think you can join me?” she asks Shiloh.
My Omega smiles widely and nods. Jonah or Mack are going to need to go with her. The idea of being around a bunch of old women might just send me over the fucking edge.
“Yeah, I’d love that.”
“So, are you all Eagles’ fans?” Gretchen says.
When Jonah grimaces next to her, she tsks. “Well, now you’re my least favorite.”
We laugh and the tension dials down a serious notch as we joke and enjoy the evening. But the best part is watching how comfortable Shiloh gets.
She smiles as her Gran talks. Her long brown hair falls behind her when she tilts her head back and laughs. Time has been moving at a warped emotional speed, and getting to see this side of her reassures me that she should be ours. I want to see her this happy all the time, and maybe I’m delusional, but I think we can do it.
Gretchen hugs Shiloh, and I walk her out to her car. She’s quiet for a long moment until we reach her forest green Subaru.
“I meant what I said at the table. She deserves the best, and after tonight I think you could give her that. Please, be patient with her. She’s not easy to get to know, but I promise when you do finally meet the real Shiloh, she’s the best thing that could ever happen to you.”
“I agree. We plan on making our intentions known tonight,” I promise her.
“Her last pack,” she says on a sigh. “Nevermind, that’s her story to tell. I’m the only person who has been consistent in her life and I don’t know how much longer I have on this shit hole planet we all live on. I just want to make sure that if I were to die tomorrow, she would be taken care of.”
It’s grim, but I understand where she’s coming from. It’s the same reason I left the Air Force and took custody of my brother. You don’t want the people you care about most to be left behind.
“As long as this is where Shiloh wants to be, we want her here.”
“Good. Well, goodnight,” she says, tilting her head and getting into her car.
Now that the inquisition is over, it’s time to lay out our intentions to Shiloh. Let’s just hope that she doesn’t call her grandmother to come back and pick her up.
I take a few steadying breaths as I walk back into the house and go up to the kitchen. They’ve moved over to the living room, Shiloh’s legs on Jonah’s lap, while my brother stares at them, and I wonder if he’s just as nervous as I am.
Shiloh gives me a small smile as I take a seat on the other side of her.
“Thanks for being such good sports about my Gran. She can be very vocal about her opinion.”
“She just cares about you is all that’s what family does. Though, I might have to start liking the Eagles to get back in her good graces, which feels like a crime,” Jonah says, and Shiloh scrunches her nose.
I clear my throat, looking over at my brother and Jonah.
“We want to court you,” Mack blurts out, and Shiloh blinks at him.
I pinch the bridge of my nose, that absolutely was not as tactful as I wanted it to be.