Page 53 of Tangled Fates

But I had questions I needed to ask.

Answers I needed to know.

“How are you doing with everything, Raven?”

She didn’t open her eyes, but her voice held strength. “Honestly? It’s… a lot.”

“I get that. It’s definitely a lot to learn in such a small amount of time. We have our entire childhoods to learn it, so it doesn’t seem like much in comparison to what you’re experiencing.”

She sighed heavily. “At least someone understands.”

I rubbed my hands up and down her back. “I’m sorry that we kept all of this from you. We should’ve been upfront in the beginning.”

She giggled softly. “It’s not like I made it easy on you guys.”

“But still, we could’ve approached it in a much better way.”

“Hey, you guys needed me to be your Alpha. That was your priority. I get that. There’s nothing to be sorry for. There’s a lot to prioritize right now, and every single bit of it requires everything we can give it. All we can do is pick away at it one at a time and hope that it moves us in a forward trajectory.”

I snickered. “You sound so much like him sometimes.”

“Who?”

I peeked down at her. “Your father. Colin. He spoke like that all the time as our Alpha.”

The pride in her stare was unmistakable. “Thank you. I really appreciate that.”

“But you’re wrong on one account.”

She looked up at me. “What?”

I held her stare captive with my own. “There’s a lot to prioritize right now, yes, but the biggest thing for me is your happiness. Your happiness matters in this, and I’m worried that you don’t believe it does.”

“I think… that’s the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me.”

My forehead softly dropped to hers. “That’s a shame, then. Because that’s just common knowledge around here. Everyone’s happiness matters, including yours.”

Her breath pulsed against my lips. “What if I don’t know what’ll make me happy right now?”

My nose brushed hers. “Then, you take the time when you can to figure out what will. And when you know, you let us know so that we can help you achieve it. You’re our Alpha, and your well-being matters.”

“Am I… just your Alpha?”

I picked up my gaze and held her stare as I turned her words over in my head. Was she seriously asking me that? After she had already captivated me in so many ways? Did she really not know how I felt about her? How she lit up my world simply by allowing me to look upon her? Sure, there were moments where I wondered if Dean’s vision was real. If the four of us were really destined to be together. And with Hudson’s possessiveness along with everything else, I wasn’t sure we could make it work.

But did that mean I wanted to make it work?

Abso-fucking-lutely.

“It’s okay to be confused,” I said as I finally found my voice.

It seemed she had been lost in her own trance, because she blinked a few times before clearing her throat. “Yeah, I know.”

I wanted to know what she had been thinking about, but I simply settled with kissing her forehead. After all, we needed to stay focused, and if we distracted ourselves with such a monumentally important conversation, we’d never make it to Brody alive.

“Trust me,” I said as I pressed my cheek to the top of her head, “when you know? You’ll know. And that’s when you’ll know where to step next.”

“I really hope you’re right,” she whispered.

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