Page 37 of The Pack Next Door
“I’m fairly sure a cougar is a beta woman that pursues significantly younger men,” Harry, one of his alphas, said. “But rather than quibble about classifications,” Damien’s mouth closed abruptly, “we need to talk about Briar. You say you’re her mates. Well, I know they do things differently in Glen Hallow.”
“Very differently,” Kieran said with a meaningful look.
“We take the safety and happiness of all of our town members seriously,” Harry continued. “Even those that no longer live here.”
“Briar doesn’t live in Moon River?” Jace asked.
“She wasn’t likely to after what happened with the Forrest pack,” Damien muttered.
“Forrest pack?” I said.
“Perhaps we should all sit down and talk about this.” Adam, the last of Damien’s alphas, gestured to their massive dining table. All the important figures in the town would gather around it at different times, and now we were being ushered towards it. “Now, there’s no ritual bloodletting planned.”
His look at Damien just had the omega puffing himself up.
“I wasn’t about to let an alpha pack hurt Briar,” he said. “Still won’t.”
So we were on notice.
“On that we agree,” I replied and then moved forward, holding out a chair for the omega before sitting down. “Please tell us exactly what happened to our mate.”
“They didn’t sayanything to Briar before the town event?” I thought that growl was mine, but for once, Maddox and I were in complete agreement. “They let her get rejected in front of everyone.”
“The Forrest alphas said something about feeling pressured by the town to see Briar as their mate.” Damien didn’t sound especially sympathetic. “They assumed that because they liked her, that must be what the mating bond felt like.”
“If they just spoke to us,” Kieran said, “we could’ve set them straight, but of course, they didn’t.”
“So when they actually met their mate in a nearby town, they realised what the mating bond was supposed to feel like,” Adam said.
Being struck by lightning, I thought. Stopping your heart and then feeling the ache as it started again, beating just for her.
“They realised too late that they were never going to bond with Briar,” he finished.
“That’s all history.” Damien waved a hand. “But what’s relevant now is what Briar believes.”
“That the Forrest pack needs to die screaming for putting her through that experience?” Jace asked almost conversationally. He was always the easy-going one, so this shift in mood was concerning. My focus transferred to the omega, wondering how he took this display, but Damien just grinned.
“Not a bad idea, but no. I don’t think she’s spared them a second thought, or any other alpha.” Claws snicked out along my fingertips, and it was only me curling them under that stopped me from marking the shining tabletop. “Briar, she believes?—”
“Damien,” Harry growled, but his omega remained unrepentant.
“They need to know.” Not waiting for a reply, Damien turned back to us. “Briar believes she doesn’t have fated mates. That's why she stopped looking and moved to the city.”
“Not the only reason—” Kieran said hastily.
“She’s done so well with that business of hers.” Damien looked around the gorgeously appointed meeting room. “Made the money we invested in her back many, many times over. But…” He stared fixedly at the lot of us. “An omega needs his or her alphas.” His mates’ hands slid across the table to take his. “Needs them to step up and become the men she needs.”
It felt like I was born bearing the weight of other people’s expectations. There was no reason why my parents decided to make me the one responsible for our pack… I glanced at my brothers. Actually there were a few reasons why, but this was the first time someone demanded something from me that didn’t feel like an imposition.
“We will.” The wolf spoke through me, making my voice rough. “Whatever it takes.”
“For once, we agree, brother.” Maddox shot me a sidelong look. “And in the spirit of disclosure, Briar has gone into heat.” Damien sat back with a strange mixture of concern and satisfaction on his face.
“We are not going to take advantage of that,” I said quickly.
“Maybe a little…”
I hoped the Hart pack didn’t hear Jace’s muttered aside.
