Chapter 25 #2
Gray nodded. “Right. So, you might need more help. If none of the people volunteering work, we’ll hire outside help. A real tutor.”
Connie nodded, eyes shining.
“And where will we live?” Nick asked. For a moment, his eyes darted to me, then went straight back to Gray. “Will we stay here?”
“It is an option,” Gray said. “There are also a couple of families within the pack who offered to take you in.”
“We don’t want to be separated,” Nick stated, his voice firm as he met Gray’s eyes head on. “We’re a package deal.”
I slowly sat down next to Gray.
I felt like an outsider in this conversation, but I didn’t want to leave. Nick and Connie were still a bit wary of Gray. Of any adult, really.
“That might be a bit trickier,” Gray admitted, his hand searching for mine on the hardwood floor. “But not impossible. Oak is taking care of those aspects, but I think he mentioned two families that have space for both of you. You could meet them if you want to. Check if one of them is a good fit.”
Connie looked at me, then at Gray, and then at Nick. His aura was swirling, his face going through a range of complicated emotions until he slid a mask of neutrality into place.
“But we don’t have to, right?” He raised his chin. “You won’t make us go live with a family?”
Gray shook his head. “I won’t make you stay somewhere you’re not comfortable.”
Connie nodded, his pale eyes shiny, his throat bobbing as he pushed his chin forward. “I don’t want to meet a family.”
Nick turned to him. “Connie, we could…”
Connie shook his head. “No. I don’t want to stay with a random family. And I don’t want to stay here. All the shifters… It’s making me nervous.” His eyes filled with tears as he looked at me, eyes pleading. “You get it, right? We talked about it.”
I nodded, my throat constricting. “Yeah. But…” I squeezed Gray’s hand. “There are shifters who are okay.”
Connie let out a small laugh and angrily wiped at his eyes. He looked at Nick, then back at me. “I know. But… I don’t want to go live with someone only to find out they’re not the ones who are okay. And I don’t want to stay here.”
Gray blinked. “I’m afraid your options are limited. If you’re not comfortable with shifters, we can look into maybe finding a human foster family, but…”
Connie shook his head. “No. That’s not what I mean. I don’t want a human family either. I want to live with someone who understands. I want to live with someone who cares about me.” He wiped a couple of tears off his cheek, then looked at me. “I want to stay with him.”
“Me?” I asked, my mouth falling open.
“Nix?” Gray echoed.
Connie nodded, his lip wobbling, his desperation tugging at my heart, urging me to go over and ease his pain. “Please, Nix?”
“I…” I looked at Gray. “It’s not that easy…”
Fuck.
I hadn’t seen that one coming.
Maybe I should have.
But… what did they want with me? They had the chance of having a real family with parents, maybe siblings, aunts and uncles.
Instead, they wanted to stay with me? Or at least Connie wanted to. But me? I couldn’t give them an extended family that welcomed them with open arms. And I wasn’t really parent material. Hell, I was only ten years older than them.
Why would they want to stay with me?
“What Nix means by that,” Gray said and squeezed my hand.
All eyes were trained on him, hanging on his lips, waiting for his next words.
Even I didn’t have a clue what he was going to say.
Neither his aura nor our bond was of any help.
His aura was calm, and an emotion that almost felt like amusement echoed in my chest. Gray cleared his throat.
“What Nix means is that living with him would mean living with me. And living with me means living with the Alpha of a pack again.”
My mouth opened as Gray’s words registered with me. He was casually offering to take them in. As if he’d expected this to happen.
But… he couldn’t have, right?
There was no way he could’ve known.
Connie and Nick exchanged a look. A whole conversation passed between them, then they both nodded at the same time and looked back at Gray.
“That’s okay,” Nick said, his fingers still locked with Connie’s, their knuckles white from how hard they were holding on to each other.
“Connie, I’ll need your verbal consent too,” Gray said, levelling Connie with a serious look.
“I get why you want to stay with Nix. I’m not surprised.
You have both put a lot of trust in him in the past weeks.
But living with him means living with me.
I can’t help the fact that I’m a shifter and the Alpha of this pack.
And I don’t want you to be uncomfortable in your own home. ”
Connie bit his lip. “I’m… I’m fine with that. I know you’re not like my brother…it, it just may take a while until that fully registers with me.”
Gray let out a laugh and nodded. “I can respect that.” He turned to me, eyes filled with mischief. “So, Nix, what do you say? Ready to add a couple of kids to the mix?”
Three sets of eyes locked onto me, two with barely concealed hope and one with amusement. Somehow, he’d known what was going to happen. And somehow, he’d known that I’d never be able to tell them no.
They deserved better than me. After all they’d gone through, they deserved more than a jaded mage who couldn’t help but be wary of shifters. They deserved everything they wanted. But for some reason, what they wanted was me.
“Okay,” I said, the air leaving my body. Gray squeezed my hand encouragingly, sending a wave of warmth and love through our bond. I locked eyes with Connie and smiled at him. “Maybe we can learn to trust shifters together.”
He snorted wetly but nodded with tears rolling down his cheeks. “We can try.”