Page 90 of Faith and Fury

“Must’ve worn her out,” he says. “She’s never asleep before Caleb gets home.”

Maybe he’d sound more concerned if his inner alpha wasn’t glowing with pride. He’s been basking in it since I found him and Faith in the laundry, wondering if he needed a hand with the sheets. Knot-deep inside our omega, he smiled sheepishly and said he’d get onto it as soon as, in his words, “Faith’s pussy loosens its chokehold.”

I wander into the kitchen, sticking Caleb’s dinner in the fridge. Then I get started on the dishes.

“So …” Jaxon drawls, grabbing a beer. “I told her.”

My heart thumps. “You did?”

“Yup.” He cracks the bottle open and hoists himself up on the counter. “Well, I kind of screwed it up, but we got there in the end.”

“I can see that,” I smirk.

“Now whose mind is in the gutter?”

I turn the water off, facing him with earnest. “That’s great, Jax. I’m really happy for you.”

“For us, man. I know it’s not exactly the way we wanted it to go, with Caleb still out for the count, but this is good. She wants us. God knows, if she didn’t, she’d have said so. Signed so?” He sips his beer. “You know what I mean.”

In an ideal world, we would’ve sat down and talked to Caleb about this before leaping to sex-fueled confessions, but every time I broach the subject, he finds an increasingly hurtful way to shut me down.

I promised both my packmates a long time ago that I wouldn’t psychoanalyze them. When I’m in the den, the psychiatrist hat is off.

But all this tension makes me wonder. For Caleb to resist like this, to even lash out … what is he so afraid of?

My phone chimes in my back pocket. I huff, staring down at my wet, sudsy hands, before shifting to Jaxon. “Could you?”

He plucks the phone from my pocket and checks the screen. “Speak of the devil …”

“Caleb?”

“Mm. Says he’s gonna be late—doing some recon with Maverick.”

“Huh.” I go back to washing. “They’ve been working pretty closely these last few days, haven’t they?”

Jaxon grunts. “Fucker’s probably gunning for my spot.”

I roll my eyes. “Not this again.”

“I’m just saying. First he goes for our omega, now he’s worming his way in with our head alpha.” He considers. “Probably should’ve done it the other way around, but then, he never was the sharpest tool in the shed.”

“Hey,” I chide, “I thought you and Mav were on good terms now?”

“Doesn’t mean I want him to join our pack—especially not if we’ve already got Fang to worry about.”

Here we go again. Just when I think we’re getting somewhere, the full reality of our situation comes swinging back around. It’s not just Caleb we have to win over—it’s Fang, too. Then, and only then, will Faith be able to consider us as viable mates.

“So many prerequisites …” I mutter, staring into the sink.

Jaxon perks up. “Huh?”

“I was just thinking about what it takes to be with someone. Love is great, but … it’s just the beginning.”

“I dunno. Seems pretty simple to me.”

I smile. For all the nightmarish stuff he’s seen of the world, my packmate is surprisingly childish when he wants to be.

We try to keep the noise down while Faith sleeps. I know she’s annoyed about how tired she’s been, but the more she rests, the faster she’ll heal.

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