Chapter Three
Patch
“This is nicer than my last place,” Flynn says, with a gleam in his eye that tells me he’s joking.
He has to be because his last place was outside the pack house, shacked up with the human he’d been seeing for eight months, until she dumped him last week and he had to come home.
Not that I mind having him here. Alpha Axel has been on me to choose someone to fill Dax’s room, but it’s been tricky to pick another wolf who won’t drive me up the fucking wall.
Plus, I miss him. Dax. Obviously. We still see each other all the time, and he still comes with me to visit my sister, Millie, but it’s hardly the same as it was before he moved in with Vince.
“You’ll live,” I grunt, and Flynn laughs outright, which is a good sign.
I’ve been grouchy for weeks. I’m happy for Dax, of course, though sad that he’s moved out, but it’s not just that.
Am I really considering leaving this pack?
Alpha Axel dropped the ball when it came to Dax, not protecting him from the others who picked on him just for being who he is, but I know, deep down, that’s not his job.
Dax needs a cosier pack, something more close-knit, and even with all the shit Alpha Kieran’s pack seems to get into, at their core, they all look out for each other.
It’s not even that, I realise, as I slope off into the kitchen to make tea. Flynn trots along behind me, apparently oblivious to the turn my mood has taken.
It’s Jamie.
I know I messed up the other night, but I couldn’t take him up on his offer, tempting as it was.
Of course, things with him could be so easy.
They could. It’s not like I don’t find him hot.
Even that thought makes me swallow hard as I imagine his big doe eyes and gleaming blond hair.
I get on with him. The little I allow myself to, at least.
There’s just something missing.
And weirdly enough, sometimes it feels like nothing is missing at all. Like we’re perfect together.
Like he’s my mate.
But that feeling never lasts long. It’s there and gone in seconds, just out of my grasp, leaving me reeling, and I don’t know why, except that maybe whoever my mate is, they’re going to be similar to Jamie, and it wouldn’t be fair to him—to either of us—to start something I know won’t go anywhere, long-term.
“I can fuck off if you don’t want me here,” Flynn says, and I look at him in surprise.
He’s standing in the kitchen doorway, one eyebrow raised, arms crossed over his chest. He’s a big guy, like me—neither of us really has anything on Dax—but his easy smile takes away some of the intimidation his size might inspire, even now.
“It’s not that,” I say, shaking my head. “I’m glad you’re here. Really.”
Mostly because it would have been Flynn or one of the new pups who’s come to London. Alpha Axel made it clear when he told me about Flynn coming back. I don’t want to be a babysitter.
“Good.” Flynn claps me on the shoulder and then squeezes past me, essentially shuffling me away from the kettle. I snort despite myself when he rearranges the mugs, just slightly, and then adds three teaspoons of sugar to his own. “Just a little milk, right?”
“Right.”
Flynn pours a normal amount of milk into my tea, an obscene amount into his own, and then ushers me through to the living room ahead of him, pausing only to let his eyes run over the joking list of house rules Dax and I put up on the fridge a couple of years ago.
He watches as I drop into my usual spot on the sofa, but then instead of taking the other end, he passes me my mug and sits in the armchair.
I frown. “You can sit here, you know. I don’t bite.”
Flynn snorts. I roll my eyes. “Nah. Dax sits there, doesn’t he?”
“He doesn’t live here anymore.”
“Still. He comes to visit, right?”
“Not often.” Though Alpha Axel is allowing it, and I don’t think it’s solely down to the fact that we all know Alpha Kieran is Alpha Deacon’s favourite. After everything that went down with Tamesis, Alpha Deacon is trying to get the packs to work together even more than we did before.
What’s the point of territory in a city like this, after all? Like, it’s fine for us to have our own little areas, but when we can move packs when we’d like and we’re all forced in and out of each other’s territory anyway, why bother?
“So, how much did Axel have to beg you to let me live here?”
“Alpha Axel doesn’t beg.”
“Threaten, then. Pressure, maybe?”
“You’re not as funny as you think you are.”
Flynn gives me a look that tells me he knows I’m full of shit. I sip my tea and wince. It’s scalding, even though I saw how much milk he put in it—the same amount I usually would.
“It was you or a pup,” I admit finally, with a sigh. “Or someone from outside the city, anyway.”
Flynn winces. He doesn’t take anything to heart, which is the thing I like about him the most. Now that he’s disentangled himself from some of the more annoying wolves, he’s much more bearable to be around, which is good, since I’ve seen more of him since taking over Dax’s shifts at the pub.
“Yeah, I might just be the better choice,” he says with a grin. “So, what’s going on with you? Obviously, I am now tragically single, so we should fix that. Any new guys in your life?”
I try not to think about Jamie and immediately fail. “I… No. No one.”
Of course Flynn fixes on the hesitation like the wolf he is, leaning forward in his seat so quickly that tea almost sloshes over the lip of his mug. “Who is he?”
“I just said there’s no one.”
“Yeah, but you were lying.”
“Flynn…”
He holds up one hand in surrender and leans back, and I realise I’m fighting a smile of my own. “Yeah, yeah. Sure. Is he cute?”
“I thought you were straight.”
“I’m not asking if I’d think he was cute. Is he?”
“I—” Fuck’s sake. My wolf twitches with the sudden urge to go find him, but I know when I get there, it’ll just be the same disappointment again.
Jamie’s not my mate. I need to accept that.
“Oh, you’ve got it bad already, huh?”
“What? No. I—”
“Yeah, yeah. That’s how I looked before I moved in with Stephanie.” Flynn lets out a wistful sigh. “She was perfect. So confident, so bossy…”
“Bossy?”
“Let a guy like what he likes,” Flynn says, flapping a hand in my direction. “Anyway. Six months was more than enough, I guess. Maybe we shouldn’t have moved in together so quickly.”
“I thought you lived together for eight months?”
“Hm. That’s my point.” I frown. I don’t think I understand the point at all. “Anyway. Plans. Wingman. That’s what we were talking about. And then when you’re ready, you’ll tell me all about your guy so I can help you win him over.”
“I will?”
Flynn’s grin is wide enough to show all his teeth, and I might be a wolf too, but somehow, I feel like I’m the one about to get eaten up.
“Yeah, you will.”