Page 77 of Pack Larsen

“No, Sunshine,” Rage answers instantly, followed by Haze’s agreement, “Nowhere close, gorgeous.”

“Speak for yourselves, assholes. I’m pissed I had to sleep alone last night,” Munro grumps, and when I pop one eye open, I actually find him scowling at me like an asshole. I narrow my eyes on him, feeling prickly and still lacking the right amount of sleep, and he points a dangerous finger at me. “Don’t give me that look, princess. The woman I love ran away and decided to sleep somewhere else last night, only for me to find her sprawled over the omega and not in my bed. I’m allowed to be pissed.”

I relax only a fraction, because hearing the L word is officially my kryptonite. And, you know what, I really did mean it when I told Aero that I’m ruined. I’m so ruined that Alek kicked me out, told me to figure my shit out, and quit wasting time. I’m so ruined that I couldn’t even sleep without them. I’m so godsdamned ruined that I came crawling back at two o’clock in the morning just to find one of them and actually sleep, my eyes so sore from crying, and my heart aching, and pathetically homesick for my pack.

Rolling my eyes at the beta, catching his lips twitch only once, I mutter, “I came back, didn’t I? Quit your bitching. It’s too early for it.”

A deep, bone-tired sigh sounds from the doorway of the living room before Pace finally steps inside, and he lowers himself cautiously to the coffee table before his golden-honey eyes meet mine. My entire body tenses, through no fault of my own, and Pace catches the movement and winces before he softly, so painfully softly, asks, “Think you might consider hearing us out now?”

It’s the defeated look that blends heartbreakingly into hope that has me finally sitting up, Aero helping me into a seated position beside him. With a kiss to my temple that I don’t knock away like I probably should, he says, “I’ll get you some juice and bagels.”

He’s hurrying off to the kitchen before I can protest, unsure whether or not I’ll be able to eat anything with my stomach turning into knots, still feeling the pain today as fresh as I had yesterday.

Clearing my throat, I nod slowly and gesture to the alpha who claimed he wanted to bond with me and took a check from my mother instead. “Floor is yours, alpha.”

His eyes flash with momentary heat that sparks a flame in my chest, but I pretend it’s heartburn while I watch him as he watches me. From his back pocket, Pace produces a slip of paper. The very same one he accepted from my mother, and he places it gently in my lap without taking his eyes off me for a second. They’re as intense as they usually are, burning into me like a brand.

Breaking his gaze, I look down at the paper and instantly feel sick. Because that there is not twenty thousand fucking dollars. Shutting my eyes tight, I drop my finger onto the paper with a bit of a petulant stab, and mutter, “So, that’s more than I was expecting, too. Response valid.”

“We didn’t go there for that, Tink,” Pace promises, and my eyes open to find his boring into me. Licking his lip, he slides from the coffee table until he’s quite literally on his knees before me, points at the paper, and declares, “That? That means nothing to me. You know why?”

I feel like I might, but I’m stubborn and still nursing a really big wound, and so I shake my head. Like he knows I’m only being petulant, Pace’s lips twitch and he leans in closer to confess, “Because I have a woman, an omega, that I love right here, who is worth more than all the money in the world. That right there is a lot, but it doesn’t touch the sides of what you’re worth, Silver.”

My entire body stills as I stare at Pace, tears filling my eyes for a whole new reason than they had yesterday. Pace slowly smiles, and he hesitantly drops his hands to my thighs, before he says, “I wasn’t lying about bonding with you, Tink. I want that more than anything in the world, with you and no one else. I knew it weeks ago, because I spoke to Meemaw and asked for her blessing.”

Swallowing hard, my heart officially hammering rapidly against my rib cage, I ask, “When?”

Pace shrugs. “At the charity benefit when you were making out with Munro.”

The beta snorts before he takes a seat beside me, close enough that I feel the warmth of his body and can smell the faint notes of pine and citrus. It only distracts me for a second before I blow out a harsh breath and shake my head, rubbing my temple when an ache forms behind my eyes. “So, why did you take the money?”

Pace rubs my legs, dragging his warm palms up and down my thighs, as he explains, “I was too busy chasing after my girl to realize I still had it in my hand. Silver, we went there to make sure your mother wouldn’t bother you again. We want you to have a comfortable life without that woman hanging over your head, so Aero and I went to warn her away. You walked in just as she wrote the check and handed it to me. I never would have taken it, not in a million years.”

My eyebrows pinch as my thundering heart calms a little. “You… you were warning her away from… from me?”

The twins snicker, Munro sighs as though he can’t believe he’s found love with a dumbass, and Pace’s smile grows wider. “Yeah, I was, because one day, hopefully soon, we’re going to form bonds. Down the line, sometime in the future, we might have little Silvers running around the house. For all of that, I don’t want that woman to be a source of worry for you. No more random fucking meetings with packs that don’t stand a chance. No more petty bidding wars that make her feel good. No more bullshit and poison. I wanted us to start our lives together knowing that she wasn’t going to be a problem, and that you could finally let go and be who you want to be, with us by your side and that woman nothing but a bad memory.”

I’m struck stupid, rendered speechless, and I can only stare at Pace as the tears finally fall down my face. Sniffling and voice strained, I check, “So, I have been a dumbass?”

“Yeah,” Munro answers the same time the twins say, “No.”

Pace looks at the ceiling as if he’s praying for patience, but his lips are twitching more now, like he’s not trying too hard to keep his feelings bottled. Just then, Aero comes back to the living room carrying a plate of toasted bagels with cream cheese and a glass of apple juice, eyeing the scene before him before raising his eyebrows. “Does she know that we were threatening her mother now or…?”

“She knows,” Pace confirms, dropping those eyes back to me and my heart pieces itself right back together, glued together with the love I feel for them. I’m such an idiot. Alek was right, I was being stupid. If I’d taken a moment to stop and think, instead of reacting on sight, then I would have had this story hours ago and I certainly wouldn’t have had to go through the chaos of emotions that had me crying for hours on end. I wouldn’t have had to try sleeping alone for the first time in weeks, wouldn’t have had to doubt everything I thought I knew or understood about what was happening with my pack, and certainly wouldn’t have felt like my whole world was falling apart.

With a little whimper, I’m hauling myself from my seat and launching myself at Pace before I can talk myself out of it. My arms are banded around his shoulders, my face tucked into his neck, and my tears are soaking into his shirt in a matter of seconds, and it takes my alpha a moment to wrap me in his arms.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper against him, inhaling his smoke and leather scent in deep waves, shivering against him when one of his hands sneaks beneath my shirt and he holds me close.

“Don’t be sorry, Tink. I get why you thought what you did, and I don’t blame you. I’m just glad you’re home where you belong,” Pace rasps, dropping his head to my shoulder. “You’re our woman, Silver Gage. Our omega. We’re not giving you up without a fight, you hear?”

I nod against him, feeling emotional and so fucking lucky that they’re mine. That they still want me to be mine after my dumbassery.

Eventually, I pull back, my face wet with tears that Pace wipes away with a smile and a fond shake of his head. I trap his hands against my cheeks, his large hands framing my face, and I feel the love for this man explode in my chest. My breath escapes my lungs with the feeling that comes over me so suddenly, and I finally confess, “I love you, too, by the way.”

“Damn straight, you do, Tink,” Pace teases, grinning big now, the brightest smile I’ve ever seen on his face. It lights his features up so beautifully and I inhale sharply at the way his honey-gold eyes sparkle with the love that practically radiates from him as he watches me. “You’re ours, okay? We might not have a lot to offer, but we will love you harder than anyone ever has before. We’ll look after you, make sure you’re loved, cared for, and protected at all costs.”

“Okay,” I breathe, accepting that I’ve been a total dunce, and accepting that this pack, my pack, are the best things that have happened to me.

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