30. Cohen
Cohen
T here was something surreal about walking into my house and finding more than just two dogs waiting for me.
Instead, I was met with the scent of my pack, my mate’s scent the strongest. From the heavy fog of pheromones in the air, it had definitely been an eventful evening for them.
“Hey, guys, there are groceries in the trunk,” I called out. All three of my other packmates immediately went outside to grab the rest. My omega tried to pass by, but I wouldn’t let her, snatching her up and burying my head in her neck, breathing her in like I hadn’t just seen her a few hours earlier.
“Why do you smell so delicious, omega?” I teased.
She let out a small, half-hearted laugh. “I’m pretty sure I don’t have to explain that one to you, beta,” she shot back.
God, I loved the playful side of this omega. It felt like we didn’t get to see her walls come down often, but when we did, she was incredible.
“This house feels better when you’re here,” I admitted, still soaking her in and refusing to let go just yet.
The other guys didn’t protest. They just carried the groceries around us, giving us our moment.
“What are we making?” Ford asked, his stomach rumbling loudly as he passed. With a chuckle, I let her go, following him into the kitchen.
“I figured we’d do something easy—alfredo, garlic bread, and salad tonight,” I said as I started to unload the bags. “Plus, a little white wine to go with it.”
“Oooh, where are the glasses?” Avery asked, turning my way.
“Cabinet above the sink,” I said. She reached for it, but before she could stretch on her tiptoes, Arden was there, pressing himself against her back and grabbing enough glasses for everyone.
Her face warmed, but she didn’t say anything in protest. A small smile formed on her face, and I noticed she didn’t pull away from him this time. I wasn’t sure what exactly had changed this afternoon, but I was grateful for it.
This felt like a real pack now. The disconnect that had been haunting us—the wedge between us—was a lot smaller now.
“I’ll be on salad duty. You do not want me near your stove,” Ford admitted, grabbing the lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, and toppings.
It was strange for the beta to take the lead, but this was my kitchen. I started directing everyone—helping Ford find the large bowl for the salad, setting aside the ingredients and measuring them out for the alfredo sauce. I put Mason on shredding the Parmesan while Arden stepped in to slice up the chicken.
“We need some music,” Ford declared, putting on some folk-style pop music that Avery immediately started singing along to. Apparently, he’d already found her favorite genre.
“Wait, why is it so quiet in here?” I asked, glancing around for my dogs.
“They caught the scent of a rabbit in the yard earlier,” Avery laughed. “They wouldn’t come in.”
Shaking my head, I went to the door, opening it and let out a sharp whistle. Lola and Molly came bounding up the steps, breathless, tails wagging furiously. They greeted me long enough to get a scratch each before they were back off into the yard.
Nothing really came between a beagle and a trail—except maybe food. I knew damn well the next time we opened the door, they’d be running inside, excited for dinner.
Between the music and the light conversation, the kitchen was quickly full of life. I had known I wanted to be part of a pack my whole life. I always knew it was going to be different from what I grew up with.
It wasn’t going to be a cold, spacious house with superficial pack members that I barely knew.
No, I wanted this life—the one full of laughter and conversation, discovering little things about each other and committing them to memory, inside jokes, sneaking bites to the beagles.
I wanted all that, and it was starting to happen right in front of me.
“Hey, you okay?” Avery asked as she danced past, pausing for a second to study me.
“Just appreciating this pack thing, you know?” I said quietly, giving her a soft smile as I tucked a loose strand of her black hair behind her ear.
“It’s weird, isn’t it?” she said, just as quietly. “But kind of nice.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” I said, brushing a kiss over her lips because I couldn’t stand to not touch her, to not kiss her for a moment longer.
“I think I know exactly what I want for dessert,” I teased, letting my fingers ghost down her hips.
Her breath caught before she let out a little chuckle and pushed me away. “You can certainly have that for dessert, but I need to eat first,” she said, dancing away from me again to join Arden in seasoning the chicken and getting it in the hot pan.
It wasn’t long before we had a full spread laid out on the table and two beagles begging at our feet.
This was nothing like the cold tables I had grown up with—it was messy and chaotic, and I loved every second of it.
“How were the edits today?” Arden asked Avery as he got to work serving her plate and then his own.
Ford sat next to me, doing the same for my plate. He cast me a look that told me I couldn’t hide away from this forever.
It wasn’t intentional, but we had kept our distance as our pack was coming together—or maybe while we were getting our lives together. Who really knew?
Everything in the last few weeks had been a whirlwind.
“Don’t think I missed that dessert comment, beta. You let me know if you want your alpha to join in,” Ford whispered as he leaned in, his voice a low growl.
It was crazy how he could be light-hearted and fun with Avery, but the moment he was with me, he was this dominating alpha.
I fucking loved it. Keeping my eyes on his, I swallowed hard and nodded.
“Maybe we could use a little help.”
I’d never been with a man before—hell, I’d never been with an alpha at all—and the idea of having Avery at my side, letting Ford tell us what to do, just felt right.
Ford released me from his gaze and tapped my plate, reminding me to eat.
I’d barely finished chewing my first bite when Arden cleared his throat. I glanced up to find his eyes locked on me.
The bite I just swallowed threatened to come back up. Something about his look told me this was not going to be just a light-hearted conversation.
“Forgive me if I overstepped, Cohen, but I did a little research,” he began. His voice was careful and measured like he was talking to a skittish animal.
“My uncle?” I asked, my heart stopping completely as I waited for the rest of the news to hit me.
“Yes,” he agreed. “It seems your aunt never thought to put any restrictions on his visitation. I may not have used my doctor credential, but I posed as your lawyer, seeking visiting hours and seeing if the patient was accepting them. And he was. I asked them not to tell your aunt so it could be a surprise, but the picture they painted me of that man... they said he was desperate to have a visitor, Cohen, and he talks about you all the time. I think we should go before she figures it out. I don’t think your aunt was being truthful with you at all. If we don’t act soon, she might get desperate and do something worse.”
I tried to take a few breaths to swallow down the nausea and panic, but it was useless. Ice ran through my veins now, dizziness making it hard to focus.
It wasn’t until Ford let out a growl, yanking my chair back and kneeling in front of me, his large hands framing my face, forcing me to look at him, that I realized how bad I’d gotten.
“You listen to me right now,” he said, his voice hard, leaving no room for argument. “I want you to take a breath, right now.”
It was as if I couldn’t even resist him—sucking in a big breath and then letting it out.
“Now another,” he demanded.
Again, I complied, my head clearing a little bit, but my heart was still racing, my breathing too fast.
“We’re going to figure this out, but you are fine, your uncle is fine, and we’re going to get answers. Right, Arden?”
“Yes,” Arden said, his voice just as firm.
“Listen to me, beta. You’re going to sit down in that chair, you’re going to take a breath, get a drink of water, and re-center yourself so he can finish telling us everything he learned. Do you understand?”
I swallowed hard and nodded, trying to curl my fingers into a fist, but my hands were shaking too much.
Maybe there was always a small part of me that suspected something was wrong—that my aunt, who’d always been a bit of a gossip and a narcissist, was pulling more strings than I thought.
Now, I just felt like the worst nephew in the history of the world. My uncle, the one person in my life who had always cared the most about me, who I strived to be like, was suffering and I did nothing.
The scent of cranberries, fig, and warm spices filled my senses, calming some of my panic. My hands instinctively encircled the omega that had crawled into my lap.
“Hey, it’s going to be okay,” she promised.
I took one more deep breath of her scent before finally looking at Arden again. “Thank you for finding that out for me. You didn’t have to do that.”
“I did,” he said, almost confused. “We’re a pack. I protect those I care about, and that now extends to all of you. This was something weighing heavy on you—I could see it the first time you told us about it. So, just like I did with her, I made it my mission to figure this out.”
“Thank you,” I said again, not knowing what else to say. “Did you find anything else out?”
“No, but I did set up a meeting tomorrow morning.” Then his mood seemed to sour, his eyebrows furrowing as he turned his gaze to Avery. “Speaking of meetings, I set one up at the end of the week for you. Do you think you can make it at 2:00 on Friday? The Network representative is going to be there.”
It was my turn to comfort Avery. Her body tensed, but Ford and Mason reached out, each taking a hand while I hugged her from behind.
“Yeah, I can do it, but do I have to be alone?”
“No, absolutely not. They would never fault you for having your pack there. If you think you can speak freely in front of us, then we will be there.”
“I think I’d like you all there,” she said, glancing back at me. “Do you think you could close the shop for a little bit?”
“Of course,” I said, not even considering an alternative. If she wanted me to be with her I wouldn’t dream of being anywhere else.
“Thank you,” she managed before letting out a sigh. “It’s going to be a long week. It seems we’ve got a road trip tomorrow, I’ve got a meeting with Mayor Adams and the council on Thursday, and now Friday is going to be this. Can we please do something fun this weekend? I’m going to need to decompress.”
“Fun, you say?” Ford grinned. “Leave it to me and Mason. We’ll have something planned. Anybody have any hard nos?”
“I’m game for whatever,” I said. Avery nodded along.
“Anything to distract me and decompress after that, and I’m there.”
“Just keep it safe,” Arden said, giving them both a side-eye before tapping the table with his knuckle. “Now, everybody eat before it gets cold.”
I bit back a chuckle, finally releasing Avery so she could go back to her own seat next to Arden. He’d taken on the unofficial leader role of our group, looking out for all of us, making sure our needs were met.
Mason seemed to be protective as well, but in a different way. Whereas Arden would make sure things were taken care of, Mason would fight your battles for you.
Ford was the levity—the one who brought the humor and the smiles, lightening the harder situations like this.
And I hoped I brought the balance, helping calm her and the others—though tonight they were then ones calming me.
Either way, if there was ever a sign from the universe that this was right, tonight was it. I was already feeling amazing about them, but the moment he found a breakthrough with my uncle, set up a meeting… I knew that I was no longer alone.