Page 111 of Claiming Their Omega

“I can imagine.”

I loved my dad. But it changed me. I sometimes wonder what kind of person I’d be if my mom hadn’t died. If I would find words easier, and if I would be able to open up about my emotions like it wasn’t a big deal.

But I am who I am, and there’s no real changing that. I’m just lucky I have the friends in my life that I do, who accept me for who I am and support me.

“I tried to keep to myself. But Jesse, Easton, Hendrix… they drew me in. Wouldn’t let me be a loner. Easton understood. Losing a parent. Being an outsider. Jesse and Hendrix wanted to find ways to make us be happy again. Your brother was a big support too.”

Grace smiles and leans into me. “I’m glad. He’s a good man.”

“He really is. And you’re a good woman. You’ve been kind and patient with me. Even when I’ve been gruff with you.”

“Well, I know you’re just a big old softie beneath.”

Grace bumps our shoulders together and then rests her head on my shoulder. Trusting me. And comforting me, at the same time.

I wrap my arm around her. Her scent envelops me, fresh and familiar, a scent that I’d know in my bones. It soothes me.

“She was an Omega,” I add quietly. “I wanted you, when you were a Beta. It seemed safer then. Something casual. Or that’s what I told myself. But the moment we knew…”

My voice trails off.

“I told myself that letting my pack in was bad enough. They’re family to me. If I lost any of them, it’d feel like losing a piece of myself. I said, that’s it. That’s fine. Dad survived leaving his pack behind when Mom died, after all. But no more. Definitely never falling in love.”

“You told me, outside the bar. You wouldn’t ever fall in love.”

“I wasn’t sure if you’d remember that. You were three sheets to the wind.”

Grace giggles. “I was. But I remember that. I remember because I felt so embarrassed. With how I behaved and how drunk I got.”

“Don’t be.” I pause. “I was wrong.”

Grace frowns at me. “About what?”

“About saying I would never fall in love.”

Grace’s blue eyes are so big and soft. It’s hard for me to find the words to speak, most of the time, but with Grace it’s a lot easier.

She smiles at me, and it’s everything. “I think I was wrong too.”

I pull her into my arms and kiss her.

Chapter 40

Grace

When I step off the bike at Coyote Ridge Ranch, I get a wolf whistle.

“Ha, ha,” I yell.

I know exactly why one of the three other Alphas—I’m not sure which one, since they’re all walking over from the barn—just whistled at me. I look mussed and flushed, and not in the way you get just from riding a motorcycle.

All right, so maybe Cade and I stopped by a lovely overlook just off the trail on the way down the mountain and fucked in the grass. Like any of the other three are any better.

It was so sweet too. Gentle and slow. But no less intense for it. I feel like I finally got to the heart of who Cade is and why he’s so closed off. I mourn the boy that he was, and the person he could have been if he hadn’t been taken away from everyone and taught that love was pain.

But I’m glad that I could help him to realize that love can be joyful too, and that he doesn’t have to live in fear of loss. I’m so glad that he has his pack, and that he gets to be out and about instead of living cooped up and hidden away in that cabin.

“You’re just in time for lunch break,” Jesse says as we all head up into the ranch house, dusting ourselves off. “Although it looks like you two already had a meal of your own.”

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