Page 185 of Ashley & the A-Listers

“Of course.”

“Great, that’s… good,” Dylan said. “Thanks, boss.”

“Is that all?” Wes asked, in that way that meant he knew it wasn’t.

Dylan winced and rubbed a sweaty hand on his thigh. “I’ve gotta come clean about something.”

Wes cursed. “Christ, Dylan, if you fucking bonded that omega?—“

“I didn’t!” Dylan interrupted. “I… bonded his trainer.”

The silence was heavy, and Dylan shook his head.

“It’s complicated, okay?”

“Isn’t it always?” Wes drawled. “Is it the girl from the news? The alpha?” he asked with a sigh.

Dylan could just see him pinching the bridge of his nose. “Yeah, that’s the one.”

“So you’re in a pack now?” Wes asked.

“If I say yes, what does that mean?”

Wes paused. “For the job, or for your life?”

With a groan, Dylan said, “Both? I don’t know.”

“Well, as for the job, we both know you’re capable. Are you compromised?”

“You know we’re not compatible in that way. I’m still interested in keeping the omega safe.”

“So you can still do your job?”

Dylan swallowed, and a beat passed before he answered. “Yes, sir.”

There was a pause. “You know, it becomes a different kind of job when your responsibility is also your family.”

Dylan turned and glanced through the windows. Ashley and Cam and River were piled on the couch, limbs tangled as they watched a movie. Ashley pulled down one of the colorful blankets she’d been slowly filling the apartment with and draped it across them.

“The stakes are higher,” Wes continued. “The failures hit harder.”

Dylan rubbed a hand down his face. Wasn’t that the truth.

“I feel like I fucked up by letting that pap get close. I didn’t see him, and now Ashley’s all over the news and getting torn apart by rabid fans, and Cam’s team has him doing damage control.” He sighed. “I let them down.”

His mistake had affected all of them.

He hadn’t protected them like he was supposed to. Maybe Wesshouldjust send someone else down here, someone fucking competent.

Wes scoffed. “Your job is to protect his life, not his image. As far as I'm concerned, you’re doing that.” His sigh filled the resounding silence. “I can see that puckered-up expression from here, Dylan. You know I’m right.”

“I guess,” Dylan grumbled.

“Listen, I’m not in the business of making you feel better; that’s what your pack is for. I’m just here to tell you to do your job right, but… you already are. No one has better interests at heart for a pack than a pack member themself, which you are now. So, congrats.”

A shuffle, a murmur of a voice on the other end. Wes’s voice went utterly gentle. He must have been talking to?—

“Now, my beta requests that you quit hogging my time, and I’m inclined to agree.”

---