Chapter 13
Talia
Istared at Jace, trying to process what he’d just said. That there were no rules. That I could have multiple relationships. That pack dynamics were normal here, not something shameful or greedy or wrong.
It sounded too good to be true. Which, in my experience, meant it probably was.
“I want to trust,” I said suddenly, the words escaping before I could stop them. “I want to believe that this could work, that I could have feelings for more than one person without it being some kind of character flaw.”
The confession hung between us, raw and vulnerable. I pulled my knees back up to my chest, making myself smaller again. Safer.
“But I don’t know if I can trust my own judgment anymore,” I continued, the words coming faster now.
“Because I trusted Vincent. I thought his attention was flattering, that his interest in my career was genuine. I convinced myself that someone that successful, that respected in the industry, couldn’t possibly be manipulating me. ”
My throat tightened, but I forced myself to keep talking. Jace deserved to understand why this was so hard, why the idea of wanting three different alphas felt less like possibility and more like proof that something was fundamentally broken in me.
“And the worst part is that I knew better. I had friends who warned me, who said something felt off about how possessive he was getting. But I ignored them because I wanted so badly to believe that someone saw value in me.” I pressed my palms against my eyes, trying to hold back tears.
“So how do I know I’m not doing the same thing now?
How do I know I’m not just so desperate for connection that I’m reading kindness as something more, turning normal friendships into romantic feelings because I’m too damaged to understand the difference? ”
“Talia.” Jace’s voice was gentle but firm. “You’re not damaged.”
“Yes, I am.” The words came out harsh, bitter.
“I’m a thirty-one-year-old omega who can’t figure out basic relationship dynamics.
Who spent three days hiding in the forest because I was too confused and overwhelmed to face the people who’ve been nothing but kind to me.
Who apparently can’t spend time with one alpha without developing feelings for two others at the same time. ”
I lowered my hands and looked at him, needing him to see how serious this was. “That’s not normal, Jace. That’s not healthy. That’s someone who’s so broken from what happened in Chicago that she doesn’t know how to function anymore.”
He was quiet for a moment, and I braced myself for agreement. For the inevitable realization that I was too much work, too complicated, too fundamentally messed up to be worth the effort.
Instead, he said, “Tell me about them.”
“What?”
“Tell me about your feelings for Hollis and Cassian. What draws you to them? What makes you want to spend time with them?”
The request caught me off guard. I’d expected judgment, maybe pity. Not genuine curiosity about the very thing I was most ashamed of.
“I don’t know if I should,” I said carefully. “Talking about other people while I’m sitting here with you feels wrong somehow.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s disrespectful. Because you’re being so kind and patient with me, and I’m essentially telling you that you’re not enough. That I need more than what you’re offering.”
“Or,” Jace said slowly, “you’re telling me that different people meet different needs, and that’s okay.”
I wanted to believe him. God, I wanted to believe him so badly it made my chest ache.
But decades of conditioning told me that wanting multiple people meant I was greedy, indecisive, unable to commit.
That healthy relationships were about finding one person who completed you, not collecting a group of people who each offered something different.
“Hollis makes me feel safe,” I heard myself say.
“Really, deeply safe in a way I haven’t felt since before Chicago.
When I’m at Pine & Pages, sitting in one of those reading chairs with tea and a book while he works nearby, my whole body relaxes.
Like I can finally stop waiting for the other shoe to drop. ”
Jace nodded, encouraging me to continue.
“He never pushes. Never demands more than I’m ready to give.
But he’s always there, steady and patient, offering support without making me feel like I owe him anything in return.
” I paused, trying to find the right words.
“It’s like he understands that healing takes time, and he’s willing to let me move at my own pace. ”
“That sounds like exactly what you need right now.”
“It is. But then there’s you.” I looked at Jace, taking in his ranger uniform and the way he sat on this log like he was part of the forest itself.
“And you make me feel alive again. Excited about things, curious about the world, brave enough to try new experiences. When we’re cooking together or talking about foraging, I remember who I was before Vincent.
The person who loved learning, who found joy in discovery. ”
Something shifted in Jace’s expression, something warm and pleased that made my heart skip.
“And Cassian,” I continued, the words coming easier now.
“Cassian makes me feel competent. Valuable. When he talks to me about business plans and marketing strategies, when he offers to connect me with investors, he treats me like a professional. Like someone whose skills and knowledge matter. Not just an omega who needs protecting, but a chef with real talent who deserves success.”
I stopped, suddenly aware of how much I’d revealed. How completely I’d exposed the tangled mess of my feelings for three different men.
“That sounds terrible, doesn’t it?” I said quietly. “Using different people to meet different needs. Treating them like they’re interchangeable parts in some system designed to fix me.”
“No,” Jace said firmly. “That sounds like you’re being honest about what you need and where you’re finding it. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“But I can’t have all three.” The words came out flat, matter-of-fact. “That’s not how this works. Eventually I’ll have to choose, and someone’s going to get hurt, and it’ll be my fault for being too confused or too greedy or too broken to make a clear decision.”
“Says who?”
The question echoed the one he’d asked earlier, and I realized I didn’t have a good answer. Not one based on reality, anyway. Just fear and old programming and Vincent’s voice in my head telling me I was too much trouble, too demanding, too fundamentally flawed to deserve what I wanted.
“Vincent used to say I was high-maintenance,” I admitted. “That I required too much attention, too much validation, too much emotional support. That any alpha would get exhausted trying to meet all my needs.”
Jace’s jaw tightened, and I saw anger flash across his features before he controlled it. “Vincent was wrong about a lot of things.”
“Was he, though?” I pulled my knees tighter to my chest. “Because here I am, needing three different people instead of being satisfied with one. That kind of proves his point, doesn’t it?”
“No.” The word came out hard, uncompromising. “It proves that you’re a complex person with multiple needs, and that’s completely normal. Especially for someone who’s healing from trauma.”
“Or it proves that I’m so broken I can’t function in normal relationships anymore.”
Jace was quiet for a long moment, and I watched emotions play across his face. Finally, he said, “Can I tell you what I see when I look at you?”
I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear this, but I nodded anyway.
“I see someone brave enough to leave everything familiar and start over in a place where she doesn’t know anyone anymore.
I see a chef who’s so talented that people remember meals you cooked years ago.
I see someone who talks to birds and remembers childhood promises and gets excited about foraging for mushrooms.” He paused, making sure I was really listening.
“I see someone who’s healing, not someone who’s broken. ”
“Those aren’t the same thing?”
“No. Healing means you’re in process, moving forward, working through difficult stuff. Broken means you’re permanently damaged beyond repair.” His voice softened. “You’re not broken, Talia. You’re just learning how to trust again after someone taught you that trust was dangerous.”
I wanted to believe him. Wanted to accept that maybe my feelings for three different men weren’t evidence of fundamental damage but simply honest responses to people who treated me well in different ways.
But there was still that voice in my head, Vincent’s voice, telling me I was asking for too much. Wanting too much. Being too much.
“What if I hurt them?” I asked quietly. “What if I let all three of them care about me, and then I can’t handle it and I run away again? What if I’m not actually capable of the kind of relationship any of them deserve?”
“Then we deal with it,” Jace said simply. “We talk about it, we adjust expectations, we figure out what works and what doesn’t. That’s what people do in relationships. They communicate and adapt and try to meet each other where they are.”
“But what if where I am is too complicated? Too messy?”
“Then it’s too complicated and messy. That doesn’t make it wrong. You don’t have to be perfect Talia. You don’t have to have all the answers straight away.”
I studied his face, looking for signs of doubt or frustration or the kind of carefully controlled patience that meant someone was reaching the end of their tolerance. But all I saw was genuine acceptance. Like he really meant what he was saying.
“I don’t understand you,” I said finally. “I don’t understand how you can be so calm about all of this. About me having feelings for other people while I’m sitting here telling you I also have feelings for you.”
“Because your feelings for them don’t diminish your feelings for me. They’re not in competition. They’re just different things that exist simultaneously.”