Page 292 of Labor of Love

“Maybe you shouldn’t assume things. Why don’t you just ask?”

“Sure, I’ll just ask, and then he’ll tell me, ‘No, Tyler, I have no desire to be the Alpha Mate. You’re out of luck.’ What then?” Fuck, it hurt to even say those words out loud. My greatest fear just laid out bare into the universe.

“You know that isn’t how it works. My guess is Theo doesn’t think he deserves to be Alpha Mate.”

“What? Theo is amazing. Everyone thinks so.”

“Yes, he is. But I’ve heard the conversations he’s had with Luca. He doesn’t realize how important he is. He thinks the pack thinks he’s an airhead. And perhaps he thinks people won’t respect you if you take him as a mate.”

I groaned. “That’s ridiculous. Everyone loves him. He is the linchpin of this pack. He holds us together.”

“I know that. You know that. And the whole pack knows that. But does Theo?”

Could that be what was holding him back?

“Talk to him,” Raphael said.

“And get my heart stomped on? No, thank you.”

Although, even as I said it, I knew I didn’t have a choice. We couldn’t keep going on like this. I needed to know for sure where his head was at. We were both adults, very grown up now. There was no reason we couldn’t talk this out—even if it meant learning something I didn’t want to know.

3

THEO

“Is everything all right?”

“What?” My friend Luca stared at me. His head tilted to the side in question. Despite the fact that he was a human—one of the few within the pack—he reminded me of a wolf right then.

“I’m sorry. I missed what you said.”

“I asked if everything was all right. You’ve been quiet now for at least five minutes, staring off into space, and you haven’t touched your cinnamon roll. That’s not like you.”

My cinnamon roll was more of a cinnamon pile of mush now that I had mindlessly torn it apart with my fork. I hadn’t even taken a bite. I sighed. “Just... things.”

“Care to share with the class?”

I looked around. When you were in a group of shifters, you always had to be aware of who was nearby and who could hear what you had to say. Shifter hearing picked up even the softest whispers. Thankfully, the diner was relatively empty. I still didn’t feel comfortable sharing what was on my mind.

“Just thinking about some things.”

Luca raised a brow. “Thinking about Tyler?”

“What? No! Why? Why would you ask that? Why would I think about Tyler?”

Luca’s face twisted in amusement. “Right. Because that was very convincing. All right, I’ve been dropping hints for a while now hoping that you’d confide in me about this whole situation with you and Tyler, but seems like you are playing this close to your chest. What’s going on with you two and when are you going to admit that you’re mates? And feel free to tell me to mind my own business if the subject isn’t something you want to discuss.”

I snorted. Admitting we were mates wasn’t the issue. It was acting on it.

“I—he’s not—” Ugh. The time for honesty had come. Luca was too good of a friend not to confide in about this. “Tyler is my mate. I’ve known that for a long time. I also know he’s too good for me. Tyler is… so many things. Amazing. Perfect. He deserves so much better than me.”

Luca’s brow furrowed, and that tilt to his head was back. This time it was in confusion. “What the fuck are you talking about? You’re too good for Tyler. He’s lucky to have you. Have you ever thought about telling him how you feel?”

“What? No, I can’t do that. I mean, he knows that he could do better. He has to know.”

“You’re fucking crazy, Theo. Tyler doesn’t think that. You two are not as subtle as you might think you are. The pining between you two is becoming so obvious even Raphael picked up on it.”

My phone rang, thankfully bringing me out of this conversation, because if it went on any longer, I was going to confess everything and probably end up crying in my friend’s arms.

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