Page 18 of Fractured Fang: Omega

I turned back to the two people who had witnessed what just transpired and likely could guess why especially since Gabe used my name in his final words before he bolted.

Maybe I should just go after him.

“So,” Jasmine said. “You and Gabe?”

I nodded. “He wants to—”

She held up a hand. “Say no more. We know a little something about keeping things quiet.” She smiled at her mate. There was a story there, but honestly, I didn’t even care about it. Not now. Not when my mate was so distraught.

I sat down feeling as if I were helpless at that moment. I could do nothing to help what my mate was going through, and I desperately wanted to know more about his comment about the past four years, but what had happened? What was he running from?

“Mom and dad will come around. I don’t know why they give him such a hard time. If they could just see how amazing his work is,” Jacob said.

“They’re scared,” I said. “They’ve seen what happens when a pack deems a person useless to them. It’s no different than how Troy felt when he got here.” That didn’t make it right. Parents were supposed to do better, but fear tended to have a strong hold.

“Nobody’s going to cast out Gabe because he likes to draw,” Jasmine said; it was almost question-like. Maybe in her old pack, they did things like that. What bullshit, that in this day and age things like that were still occurring.

I raised a hand to alleviate her concerns. “We know that. Wilder would never, and as his beta, I would never allow it, even if he got some messed up notion to do so. I wouldn’t follow an Alpha who treated his pack that way, nor would pretty much anyone in this pack. It’s part of what makes us so strong.”

I rubbed my chin. There had to be a solution to this, one that would make this a safe and happy place for all of us to thrive in. I refused to believe otherwise.

“We’ve got to get your dad to understand that, and I think he does mostly, but it’s his own child, and things get different then.” And I flipping hated it.

“If they could just see how amazing his work is—truly see it,” Jacob said again. Jasmine and he exchanged a glance, and it was as if they were speaking to one another with their minds, but I knew they weren’t. It was just the effects of having been mated for so long. They knew each other’s thoughts.

“I know he went to a human college. He was doing really well with his art there. I kept tabs on him just a little bit while he was away. Not too much because I didn’t want to invade his privacy. We were all scared, you know, when he moved away and didn’t tell us exactly where,” Jacob said.

I nodded. My mate lived amongst humans long enough to enroll in a college and actually go there. That sounded like torture to me. But if that was something he wanted, I’m glad he was able to do it. Although the comment from earlier shouted at me that it wasn’t exactly how he wanted it.

Run.

Mate.

Find.

We will. Just give me time to figure things out.

Run.

My wolf wasn’t going to listen, and I just pushed him down. There was no point in arguing, not when all it did was distract me from the conversation at hand—a conversation that could help me do right by my mate in a way that just bolting to him would not.

“He learned a lot about art there. Human schools have majors for that kind of thing, where you can study full time, like what we might do with an apprentice here,” Jacob explained. If it had been Gabe talking to me, I’d have wanted to know all about it, but for now, that information was just noise.

I nodded. “Makes sense.”

“I think there’s a place for more artists in pack life. Not everything is chopping wood, making food, and growing everything.” Jasmine had a point. And I knew her to be right before she made it, but it was nice to know I had someone on our side, not just because she cared about Gabe but also because she understood.

“It might be worthwhile to go talk to him now. If you’re patient with him, which I think you will be, everything will turn out just fine,” Jacob said.

“And your parents?” I said with a lifted brow. “They’ll come around. Just give it time?” Please let that be true.

“They will. At the end of the day, they love him. This, as messed up as it is, is their way of showing that love.” Jacob sucked in a breath. “I wish my brother didn’t have to go through this. I really do, but I don’t know how to make it better. I think that’s where you come in.”

Jasmine slid over and leaned into her mate. “He just needs his mate. I want your place to be here, with us.”

She didn’t say that we might have to leave, but she might as well have. It was a reality I had already been willing to face as much as I despised it. It was good to know that if we did, it wouldn’t catch them off guard, and that they would understand.

“I missed him,” Jacob said. “I don’t know if you have a brother, but you have your Alpha and Beta. From the stories we’ve heard about the forming of this pack, you understand the bond of brothers; you’ve experienced it through the way your beasts created this pack.”

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