Page 12 of Wolf Reborn

His brothers called him their alpha. They put him in charge. They had added to their little pack, three omegas and a baby. He would not fail them all the way alphas had failed them in the past.

Hell, Ash’s childhood pack seemed to think he was some kind of creature from prophesy, like that wasn’t both ridiculous and more pressure than any person should ever deal with.

“I know,” Dez agreed after a while, and after at least two strips of bacon. “And so does he. But we all did, too, didn’t we?”

“Did what?”

Dez rolled his eyes and kicked out the chair in front of the extra plate. “Sit. Eat. I can’t lecture you while you’re standing there looking like you’re about to shatter.”

Was he? he wondered.

He sat in the chair and stared at the food. When Dez didn’t say anything, he picked up a piece of bacon and ate it. It crumbled in his mouth. Normally, that was how he liked his bacon. This morning, he wasn’t sure.

“You’ve spent so much time worrying about Miles finding out the truth, we all have, that none of us ever thought about how to deal with it when he found out.”

“He left,” Gavin pointed out, like there were some chance Dez hadn’t noticed.

Dez rolled his eyes and nudged the plate closer to Gavin. “Of course he did. He just found out werewolves are real. And that we’ve been lying to him about it for eight months.”

Gavin finally picked up the fork and started to eat. They had been lying. He had been lying. He had made that choice, and the pack hadn’t questioned it. Well, except for Dez. Dez was the only one who challenged him on anything.

“He’s still Miles,” Dez continued after a few more bites. “For reasons I’ll never understand, he loves you. He’s gonna go home and think. That the world as he knows it is a lie. That you were keeping secrets. And eventually, because he’s a pretty smart guy, he’s gonna put it all together. That’s when he’s gonna come talk to you.”

“Talk to me?” Gavin asked, dropping his fork and staring at Dez. “You didn’t see the look he gave me. You don’t—he’s never going to forgive me, Dez. Never.”

“Bullshit.”

“He thinks I don’t need him. That’s what he said.” Why the hell hadn’t Gavinsaid something? Anything! He slumped forward and pushed his eggs around his plate. “He hates me.”

All the ways Gavin could have done things better came to him. He could have broached the subject months ago. Invited Miles to a full moon run and been honest. Invited him to the pack.

Bitten him.

Could Gavin even bite people? He had serious doubts. He couldn’t become a wolf like the others.

“Wolf who made himself,” indeed. Prophecies were ridiculous.

Still, the fantasy of biting Miles had formed in his mind less than a month after he’d been made a wolf himself. The moment he’d met the man, he’d wanted to bite him.

He wondered if it was a normal part of being an alpha, that every time he spoke to a person for more than a few moments, he started weighing what they would add to his pack. This person was calming, and that one was creative, and the other was wise. Now and then, his mind found one and thought, “Them. They would be a good addition to the pack.”

Of course, he’d never acted on it. Wouldn’t do that unless the circumstances were very, very different than they were.

He’d never had an urge to bite them like he did with Miles, though. Fuck, he’d actually bitten the man. Not to break the skin or anything, but he’d spent so much time with his teeth on Miles’s neck the previous night, it was astounding Miles could believe Gavin didn’t want to turn him.

It seemed to him that he’d been pathetically obvious.

He wanted Miles to be a wolf. He wanted Miles in the pack. He wanted to keep Miles forever.

“What if he never forgives me?”

Dez nudged the plate again. “Eat your damn eggs, and don’t be ridiculous. The guy’s completely in love with you. You give him some time. He’ll be back.”

It was a nice thought, and an oddly optimistic one from Dez. He was usually their little ray of darkness, trying to shed a cloud onto all the pack’s silver linings. Gavin would have expected him to be the first to suggest the possibility that Miles was gone for good.

Maybe this time, that was Gavin’s job.

Why would Miles come back? Gavin had spent eight months lying to him. Everything had been a lie, and Gavin was a goddamned werewolf. He’d almost bitten Miles last night, and he didn’t even know what that would do to the man.

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