Chapter 26
Hunter
Iwatch the car drive off in silence with Zachary. Guilt shreds my insides. I’ve wrecked this for everyone and destroyed a chance at happiness for the two guys I love most in the world.
She said we would see her again, but she could change her mind or it was a lie so we would let her leave in peace.
I thrust her into scent matches, and she never wanted a pack.
What if she never wants us? What if we spend the rest of our lives devastated by the loss of our omega? There’s no getting over that.
No getting over her.
Zachary must see the pain on my face, because he throws his arm around me. “Buddy, it’s going to be okay,” he says. “You heard her, she just needs time. This week has been a lot for all of us.”
He leads me to the stairs and we head up together but stop at the entrance of the plane when we see Alric. He’s hunched over in his seat, hands clenched around his head, muttering to himself.
Oh hell, I broke him.
Alric looks up with tears in his gray eyes. “Why the fuck did I do that?” He stands quickly. “I need to apologize. Fuck! I was so upset she would drop us like that. I love her, I’m in love with her. I need her to know that.” His chest heaves.
He pulls out his phone and calls her, cursing when it goes to voicemail.
My stomach rolls with nausea from my remorse. “I’m sorry,” I say, voice cracking. I turn to flee. I can charter my own flight home. Alric has already gone through so much, I despise myself for adding to that.
Zachary flings his arm out over the door, blocking my escape. “Nope, we’re all in this,” he says. “We’re a pack, that means we stick together. Good times, shit times. All of it. Madi is the only one allowed to leave.” He spins me around and pushes me down into a seat.
If she rejects us, we’ll never get over it—we’ll all die broken alphas.
How could I be so careless? I’ve ruined our lives. It would have been better to never have known what she is to us. “I’m so fucking sorry I brought her here. You must hate me! I hate myself.”
“Don’t you dare fucking say that,” Alric exclaims. “We could never hate you, and I’d rather live a hundred lives knowing she’s my scent match, no matter what happens.
Even if we never see her again, for one week she was ours.
If that’s all we get, it will have to be enough.
Knowing my scent match even exists is enough.
If you hadn’t brought her, we would have spent a lifetime searching for someone without knowing we already lost our chance.
Hunter, she was never going to see any of us again after last week.
We’re right back where we would have been—at least now we still have a chance. ”
The relief of his words is so comforting that my confession comes tumbling out.
“The three of us have been friends for so long, starting a pack was such a natural path of our friendship.” I bare myself open.
“Alric, you bring the power and influence to this pack, the anchor of our group. And Zach, you’re the heart of us and the brains of the operation, balancing us all out.
Both of you have always been smarter than me, and you always seemed to have your lives together, even when we were silly college kids.
I thought that maybe, if I brought in the perfect omega to this pack, then I might finally be worthy of being in it. ”
Zachary sits down and wraps his arm around me. “Hunter, you’re just as important to this pack,” he says.
Now that I’ve started, I can’t stop. “You know I struggled to make friends growing up. I had too much energy. Always all over the place, making mistakes. Everyone thought I was kind of stupid, actually. Then I met you guys and you were so much cooler than I was. I was so damn thankful we became friends. You never seemed to mind all the chaos I brought to our lives, and for the first time as a young adult, I finally made real friends.” I admit, “I watched you grow into these strong, successful alphas, and sometimes I still feel like that insecure freshman, wondering where I fit in. I felt like something was missing from our lives, but I thought it was my fault, that I wasn’t bringing enough to this friendship or pack.
I realize now the sensation that we weren’t complete…
it’s because we didn’t have an omega. Because we didn’t have Madi yet. ”
“Yes, we were missing her,” Alric corrects me, “but not because of your imaginary failings. You deserve to be in this pack just as much as either of us, and you damn sure don’t need to earn your place as our friend.
” He comes to my other side and joins Zach in our embrace.
“We love you and you’re a packmate for life.
I have the legal documentation in my inbox to prove it. ”
We all laugh. I’m so fucking grateful for them.
I wipe at my eyes. “What are we going to do about Madi?”
Zach looks thoughtful for a moment. “We move forward as if she agreed to be our omega, so we can be who she needs when she returns. She’s not ready for a bond yet, but we can be her friends for a while.
No pressure. After the launch, we go into full omega prep mode. First, we need to get a pack house.”
She loved the one from earlier, we need to make sure it has the perfect nest for her. If she takes the job Alric offered, she’ll need an office. We know she loves pink, so we can go to the nesting boutique and buy one of everything for her.
“I love her, too,” I whisper. “I think I always have.”
They both nod. At least they know exactly how I feel. We’ll never be alone in that.
I stare out the window, wishing the car she left in would appear again. “I think she might love us, too. She’s scared and overwhelmed, but this can’t be one-sided. She needs to admit we mean something to her, too. What we need to do now is be ready for that moment.”
We spend the rest of the flight discussing all the ways we’ll be the perfect pack for her. She just needs to come home.