Page 92 of Beginning Fate

“You did? What?”

“You and your friends have this sense of Pack that I’ve never experienced before. Tonight, I felt like I was a part of that and I liked it.”

“You’re my mate,” he replied, as if it really was as simple as that.

“I know.”

“You and I are Pack too. Because of that it includes my brothers and your sister. Maybe sometimes dysfunctional, but I wouldn’t change that for anything. This is our family, Lauren. And sure, someday we’ll leave here and set our roots in an actual Pack. Maybe that will be New Orleans or New York, or just maybe it’ll be something entirely different.”

“Together?” I asked.

“Together. And if that means leaving here now, that’s okay with me. I don’t need this place anymore. I just need you.”

“I discovered something else tonight,” I confessed.

“You did? What’s that?”

“I walked outside and found some asshole making out with Kylie. She had tried to tell him no; he kept at it until I saw red and stopped it. But she really didn’t need me to intervene. She had things under control, but I didn’t want to believe it. It’s hard to let go. But I have to. For once, I need to put myself first and do what makes me happy.”

His face fell. “Where the hell does that leave me?” he asked.

I could feel his panic clearly, and I smiled.

“I can feel your heightened emotions, too, remember?”

“Don’t change the subject, Lauren,” he said, stopping and setting me back on my feet. “Kylie may not need you as much as she once did, but you’re her sister. She still needs you in her life.”

“I know that.”

“And I sure as hell need you in mine.”

“Well, I hope so.”

“What?” he groaned in frustration. “Are you going back to New York or not?”

I shook my head. “No. I told you. I need to start living for me now.”

He growled. “I want that for you. I really do. I know you deserve that, but where the hell does that leave me?”

Denny

Chapter 23

All this talk about Lauren needing to live for herself scared the shit out of me. I knew she’d been living her life for Kylie. Everything she did was for Kylie. I loved that about her, but also knew it wasn’t healthy. She deserved a life of her own. She should have someone looking after her the way she took care of her sister.

Not someone. Me.

Dammit, I wanted to be that for her.

She stared up at me with big eyes that blinked twice.

“I already told you I’m not going to return to New York. At least not right away.”

“So you’re staying here?”

“Yes,” she said confidently.

“For Kylie?”

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