Page 22 of Possessive Alpha

So complicated I’m not sure I can make sense of what I’m supposed to do. Only that I need to watch out for my little sister, and I can’t do that if I’m busy falling in love with an alpha who is settling here in Dawley when Clara is getting ready to tell me she wants to leave.

Her happiness comes first. Always.

“I don’t think it’s as complicated as you believe,” Regan says in the same quiet tone.

I shake my head. A wind blows the loose strands of my dark hair into my face, and I tuck it behind my ear, wishing I’d thought to tie it back.

I wasn’t paying attention, and I haven’t been since Ty turned up to Dawley. I’m in a constant state of confusion. Or maybe it’s nervous excitement. I’m not sure if I’m nervous I won’t see Ty, or that I will. And I’m excited about those same things.

Behind us, a soft thump warns Ty is back to digging. And it is painful not to turn around and watch him. Part of it is his soul calling to mine, as is the way with a mated pair. But not all. I want him. Of course I want him. But isn’t that selfish? Shouldn’t Clara be my priority?

I took her away from our old pack, promised I’d always keep her safe.

And nearly killed her.

I need to remember what’s important. Clara.

“Martha?” Regan’s gentle touch on my arm returns me to the present. She frowns in concern. “Are you okay?”

No matter what I told her, she would know I’m not okay. Only an omega can feel the disharmony in a person and untangle the darker webs inside them. Not heal. That isn’t what they do. At least, that’s what Mom told Clara and me.

She would have told us both more if she hadn’t died before Clara’s gift revealed itself.

Our mother was an omega, and so is Clara. As the years pass, her senses about people are sharpening. She can read them in ways she couldn’t before, and the last time she did, she saved both our lives.

But that’s a secret we keep to ourselves. Omegas are rare, and I have no wish to shine a light on Clara and put my sister’s life at risk. So I keep quiet, and so does Clara, until we find the pack we want to stay with.

I’d thought that place was here, had been ready to speak to Clara about asking Regan to mentor her, until Clara started showing all the hallmarks of getting itchy feet.

So we won’t stay. I’ll have to figure out a way of getting Clara the information she needs to be the omega she doesn’t know how to be yet.

I flash Regan a smile. “Good, thanks. How about I help you with the baking this afternoon?”

Regan studies me for a beat, not buying my bright smile. “I won’t say no to the help. I’m getting sick of speaking with contractors and so is Jackson, but you wouldn’t know it with all the meetings he’s set up.”

“He’s taking a lot on with these cabins,” I say.

“Not really,” Regan denies. “This is home, and we knew right from the start we were going to make it home for as many people who needed one.”

Leaving is going to hurt so much.

“Well.” My smile is the weakest it’s ever been. “You do a lot for everyone, and I’m sure they’ll all appreciate it.”

Her gaze sharpens. “They.”

“And me,” I quietly add.

For the short time I’ll be here.

She nods, her eyes drifting over my shoulder.

It’s what compels me to turn.

No, that isn’t true. It’s the gaze boring into my back. I turn, suspecting I already know what I’ll find.

Ty has abandoned his task to watch me, and he’s frowning. I don’t know how, but from way over there, he seems to know that I’m not okay.

Part of becoming mates is forming a deeper, richer connection. Some of that comes from opening up to each other, sharing our lives together. Ty biting me at the junction of my neck and shoulder, leaving me with a visible sign to all shifters that he’s claimed me, is another part of that.

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