Page 86 of Talk About… History

This was nothing like the cold tables I had grown up with—it was messy and chaotic, and I loved every second of it.

“How were the edits today?” Arden asked Avery as he got to work serving her plate and then his own.

Ford sat next to me, doing the same for my plate. He cast me a look that told me I couldn’t hide away from this forever.

It wasn’t intentional, but we had kept our distance as our pack was coming together—or maybe while we were getting our lives together. Who really knew?

Everything in the last few weeks had been a whirlwind.

“Don’t think I missed that dessert comment, beta. You let me know if you want your alpha to join in,” Ford whispered as he leaned in, his voice a low growl.

It was crazy how he could be light-hearted and fun with Avery, but the moment he was with me, he was this dominating alpha.

I fucking loved it. Keeping my eyes on his, I swallowed hard and nodded.

“Maybe we could use a little help.”

I’d never been with a man before—hell, I’d never been with an alpha at all—and the idea of having Avery at my side, letting Ford tell us what to do, just felt right.

Ford released me from his gaze and tapped my plate, reminding me to eat.

I’d barely finished chewing my first bite when Arden cleared his throat. I glanced up to find his eyes locked on me.

The bite I just swallowed threatened to come back up. Something about his look told me this was not going to be just a light-hearted conversation.

“Forgive me if I overstepped, Cohen, but I did a little research,” he began. His voice was careful and measured like he was talking to a skittish animal.

“My uncle?” I asked, my heart stopping completely as I waited for the rest of the news to hit me.

“Yes,” he agreed. “It seems your aunt never thought to put any restrictions on his visitation. I may not have used my doctor credential, but I posed as your lawyer, seeking visiting hours and seeing if the patient was accepting them. And he was. I asked them not to tell your aunt so it could be a surprise, but the picture they painted me of that man... they said he was desperate to have a visitor, Cohen, and he talks about you all the time. I think we should go before she figures it out. I don’t think your aunt was being truthful with you at all. If we don’t act soon, she might get desperate and do something worse.”

I tried to take a few breaths to swallow down the nausea and panic, but it was useless. Ice ran through my veins now, dizziness making it hard to focus.

It wasn’t until Ford let out a growl, yanking my chair back and kneeling in front of me, his large hands framing my face, forcing me to look at him, that I realized how bad I’d gotten.

“You listen to me right now,” he said, his voice hard, leaving no room for argument. “I want you to take a breath, right now.”

It was as if I couldn’t even resist him—sucking in a big breath and then letting it out.

“Now another,” he demanded.

Again, I complied, my head clearing a little bit, but my heart was still racing, my breathing too fast.

“We’re going to figure this out, but you are fine, your uncle is fine, and we’re going to get answers. Right, Arden?”

“Yes,” Arden said, his voice just as firm.

“Listen to me, beta. You’re going to sit down in that chair, you’re going to take a breath, get a drink of water, and re-center yourself so he can finish telling us everything he learned. Do you understand?”

I swallowed hard and nodded, trying to curl my fingers into a fist, but my hands were shaking too much.

Maybe there was always a small part of me that suspected something was wrong—that my aunt, who’d always been a bit of a gossip and a narcissist, was pulling more strings than I thought.

Now, I just felt like the worst nephew in the history of the world. My uncle, the one person in my life who had always cared the most about me, who I strived to be like, was suffering and I did nothing.

The scent of cranberries, fig, and warm spices filled my senses, calming some of my panic. My hands instinctively encircled the omega that had crawled into my lap.

“Hey, it’s going to be okay,” she promised.

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