Page 77 of Omega Rock

Leo opens his mouth to reply but ends up just shaking his head instead.

Wes clicks his tongue. “Leo, your health matters more than this tour or band. I don’t need to tell you that, but I am. I told you I wouldn’t treat you like Lost Time did and that’s real. But so is how this industry works. So.” He sighs again. “Knotty Tour is done. I’m not planning you all another tour just yet, or signing you to next year’s Knotty Tour or anything like that, because if we’re being honest with each other, I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

“But you want our album?” Mia asks in such a small voice. I understand. She gave up being a solo act for this. How different would the last weeks have been for her if she never signed to Exit Fate?

Wes nods. “Yes, I want the album, but as before, there’s no set due date.”

“We’ve got half an album written as it is,” I say. “It’s a full record, not an EP’s worth.”

“Good.” Wes pulls out his phone. “Then I’ll let Carnation Studio know you’ll get in contact with them to get a recording schedule down butafterLeo gets treatment back home. You hear me? Treatment first.”

“Of course,” I say.

Wes types out a message and then shoves his phone back into his pocket. He takes a long look at each of us in turn. “I know you’re all talented and dedicated to music, to this band, and to your pack. But I’m responsible for putting you together and into these situations the last few weeks. Maybe I pushed you all too far, too soon. And I get to live with that. But I also wonder if maybe you’re simply not ready yet.”

His words are each like a stab into my chest.Not ready yet.I’ve been ready my entire life. This isn’t my first rodeo, or Leo’s, and maybe that’s the point.

All this experience and this is what has happened.

Noah and Mia have even less experience.

And Mia’s career might be tainted for all of this from such a young age.

Wes pushes off of the side of the tour bus and straightens. “We’ll get the tour bus back home as quick as possible. Leo, get your treatments set up and sorted. We’ll all check in with each other in a few months, and remember, Carnation Studio is yours to use when you want. Until then, rest foremost. Record, too. But rest.”

And then Wes leaves. Silence falls between us all again, but a single feeling comes out of it.

Resolution.

One look at each of my bandmates, at my pack, solidifies it for us all.

We’ll recover ourselves, and then we’ll record the best album Wes has ever heard. Even if it feels like a third chance at this career is one chance too many.

But it’s not just about our careers, it’s about our pack. And that is the single most important thing to all of us right now.

We pack up, collect our driver, and start heading home.

ChapterTwenty-Six

MIA

It’s beentwo weeks since we left Knotty Tour with our tail between our legs. Sable was there to welcome us when we pulled up outside of Carnation Studio to unpack the tour bus and part ways temporarily. Within two days, though, the pack collected back at Aiden’s apartment where I swiftly turned his bedroom into our nest and the rest of the space was rearranged to fit our writing mission.

Leo has had a few infusions since our return and is due another next week. I’m just happy to see him getting the medical attention he needs and letting us take care of him around it all. Aiden’s really stepped up in this regard.

By the end of the two weeks, all of my alphas’ parents have stopped by to check in on them all. Sable has visited a few times with Seth in tow. Things between them are heating up, and she looks so happy.

On this particular afternoon we’re very deep into writing, with our first recording day scheduled for tomorrow, that it surprises all of us when there’s a knock on Aiden’s door.

“Wes, maybe?” I ask as he heads over to answer it.

Aiden shrugs. “No idea. He said he’d contact us in months, not weeks.”

But it’s not Wes on the other side of the doors when Aiden opens it. It’s my parents.

“Hi?” Aiden asks, and then his eyes go wide. I look just like Mom so it must register quick.

Mom looks over his shoulder to me. “Hi, honey!”

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