Chapter 26 Cain
All Calliope wanted was our alpha home. Dax had been a poor replacement for Ayden, still learning about us. Truthfully, I missed him just as much as she did. There was only one place he could have gone, his parents’ pack. That deduction led me to standing on the pack’s doorstep at the ungodly hour of six am, hand raised to knock.
The door opened before I could make contact. I was greeted by his alpha father, Connor. “Cain, you’re here early. I don’t think Ayden is up yet.”
“So, he is here.”
He shook his head before moving to the side. “You’d better come inside. We can have coffee and talk.”
I followed him into the house. It was a large cabin that was set high on a mountain outside of Asheville. As a result, there was an absolutely breathtaking view of the Blue Ridge Mountains from the kitchen. That was the view I was treated with as I came into the room. It was set up so you could see the mountains from anywhere in the room. His omega mother, Ruth, had a coffee pot in her hand. Spinning, she pulled another mug from the tree behind her and poured me a cup. Sliding it across the table, she smiled at me as she asked, “How are you, Cain?”
“Missing my alpha,” I grumbled.
She stared at me bewildered, her gaze flicking over to Connor. He came around the island, taking her into his arms. When she was situated, he spoke again. “I thought you and Calliope broke up with Ayden?”
“Why would I break up with someone whose mark I wear?”
“You’re bonded to my son?” Ruth’s voice shook as she stared across the open floor plan to the door to Ayden’s room.
“Calliope is too.”
“He doesn’t know how you feel.” Connor made a statement out of it.
“Neither of us know how he feels. It’s like the bond—”
I was searching for a way to describe the lack of connection I felt, but the bond was still there, I knew that. “Is dormant?” Connor asked.
I nodded. “That’s it exactly.”
“You’d better tell me what happened.”
I debated how much of what happened I was willing to share. Taking a deep breath, I started to explain. “Calliope’s heats have been getting worse since she started hormones. It got really bad there for a while—we nearly died. We needed back up. Me and Ayden talked decided we would try and find someone before her next heat.”
“I think I know where this is going,” Ruth murmured.
I sighed. “I found someone, an alpha. It was hours before the worst of it hit, and we were just relieved to have the help.”
“Calliope took to the new alpha, didn’t she?”
“She did. Pretty quickly, actually.” I chewed on my bottom lip, not wanting to tell them all of it. “I kind of like him too.”
“There’s something you’re not telling us.” Ruth was pushing, and I let her.
It was better if I just spit it out. “I may have allowed Dax to mark me.”
“I assume Dax is this other alpha?” Connor’s voice was dripping with disappointment, whether it was aimed at me or his son was still to be seen.
“He is.”
“Tell me, Cain,” the older alpha stared down at me, “Are you trying to replace my son?”
“Why would you even ask me that? You of all people know how much he means to me.”
“Ayden, get your ass out here right now!” His bark slammed into me and his wife, making us sit bolt straight in the chairs.
The door flew open, and Ayden growled at his father. “It’s entirely too early for you to be screaming at me.”
“Care to tell me why you’re here and not working things out with your pack?”
“They broke up with—” His words were cut off when Connor shifted, letting Ayden see me standing there. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m here to bring you home.”
“You have an alpha at home.”
“Do you seriously believe some reporter can replace you?” I snapped.
“Come and sit, so we can talk about things.” His mother stepped between us before anything happened. I was tempted to knock his ass out and drag him out of here. We moved until we were sitting at the island, a cup of coffee in front of both of us. She lifted a finger and aimed it at Ayden. “You lied to me.”
“I did no such thing.”
“You lied right to my face.” She wasn’t taking any of his shit. “If Cain broke up with you, why did he show up here?”
“I don’t know.”
“Let’s start with why you think they broke up with you.” Connor’s voice was calm, it was just how he was, calm and steady. “Because Cain looked rather relieved when I told him you were here.”
“They chose another alpha over me.”
“We did no such thing.” An ache I my chest told me it was affecting me more than I realized.
“Don’t interrupt.” Connor pierced me with his gaze. Turning back to Ayden he nodded. “Continue.”
“Dax came in, and everything changed.” He was too calm, like he had already pulled away. “We didn’t even get a chance to settle into the brand-new bond before there was this new alpha that both of them liked.”
“Is that true?” Ruth asked.
I sighed. “I suppose it might seem that way.”
“Twenty-four hours,” Ayden barked at me. “You gave me one day before everything changed.”
“Alpha.” I couldn’t help the desperate way it came out.
“I know we needed help for Calliope, and I accepted that.” He was getting more enraged with every word he spoke. “But then it was over, and he didn’t fucking leave.”
“Wasn’t that the point?”
“Calliope hasn’t touched me since she spent all night fucking him. You and I haven’t spent even a second alone, save for our conversation in the car. You glued yourself to his side, flirting with him the whole time.” I was fighting not to cry at this point. It had only been three days. Two of them he hadn’t even been there. He was definitely overreacting, but I couldn’t figure out what had set him off. “We haven’t slept together since before Calliope’s heat.”
“It’s only been three days.”
“What does time matter?” He seemed to have run out of steam, sitting there with defeat in his eyes.
Connor stared at Ayden in shock. “It’s only been three days?”
When Ayden didn’t respond I answered him. “Calliope’s heat ended right around seventy-two hours ago.”
Connor went to his son and placed a hand on Ayden’s shoulder. He waited until Ayden looked up at him before speaking. “Son, is this about Sabrina?”
That’s when it hit me—I knew about Sabrina. She was the omega that Ayden’s former pack ended up with. Neither of them cared for each other, and Ayden got pushed out. I wanted to kick myself for not seeing it earlier. Thinking back to how he was during the heat, distant, not really in the room with us. At some point he had shut down the bond and never opened it back up. “I guess. I don’t like feeling second best.”
“You are anything but second.” My heart ached that he felt this way. My mind was turning trying to puzzle out any way out of this. It was my fault for jumping on the first offer of help. Maybe I should have tried to find a beta. It didn’t even matter anymore. I couldn’t let this tear our pack apart. “I’ve known from the second I laid eyes on you that you were mine. The only alpha that would be my everything. I don’t care what happens between the pack and Dax. If I have to pick between you two, I choose you. Every. Single. Time.”
“I fucking love you.”
“I love you too, Alpha.” I went to him, wrapping my arms around him from behind so I could whisper in his ear. “Come home, we need our alpha.”