Page 32 of Dream Girl
Brennan exploded with anger, spicy pine filling the kitchen. “What the fuck, Wes? You have amateand never disclosed it when we formed this pack? Or after Caroline? Do you know what sort of legal ramifications this has? I mean, I get it, she was missing, but you didn’t tell us.”
A pack was a legal entity, and not everyone in a pack had to be bonded to someone–or each other. It was a contract that gave us the legal rights of spouses and made us a family.
“How could you do this to us–to Evan?” Brennan yelled.
If a bond was found, Wes would be responsible for her, given he was the one to administer the bite. Since Wes was part of a pack, the pack could be liable for her care. Usually, there were protocols and legalities when bringing a person into an existing pack.
Brennanreallyliked protocols.
I got between my alphas. “Will you stop? I’m fine with this.”
“Why?” Brennan asked. “One of your alphas bonded with someone without your permission.”
They’d put a clause in the pack charter after Caroline that gave me veto power.
“He bonded with her before he ever met me, which makes this something very different. Grace isn’t going to steal Wes. She’s not going to ruin the pack. She’s a mathematician who smells like peach pie with a hint of vanilla ice cream. I wonder if she bakes.” Maybe she knew what a stand mixer was. I could ask Lexi, but she’d make fun of me.
I purred, using my omega ability to calm my alphas and diffuse the situation before someone threw a punch.
“She does, well, she used to,” Wes whispered. “I don’t feel the bond. Ugh, I still have this fucking headache.”
“You don’t feel it? Good. It could be considered an abandoned bond given she disappeared and how long it’s been since you last saw her. I’ll call the pack lawyer.” Brennan relaxed slightly.
“That might not negate anything in this situation. Does she feel it?” Lexi asked.
Wes shrugged.
“Seeing them interact, I can tell something’s there,” I told her.
“Evan, Iwillfile the paperwork if you want me to.” Wes looked away, remorse flowing off him.
AA mate bond could be broken, but it required drugs to dissolve them–and a legal reason to use them. Since the process could be misused, it was lengthy. But it was important that a method for un-bonding existed, since occasionally the ability to create bonds was abused. Alphas could bond with designations beyond omegas. Omegas also could also create bonds, they just didn’t leave a physical mark.
“Let’s not go there until you two figure your shit out and we can have a conversation like grownups. We have to consider her needs and wants, too,” I replied, grabbing a plate. To mitigate the power imbalance, Grace’s desires would carry more legal weight.
I wasn’t sure she’d survive breaking a bond with hersoulmatein her current state. Not everyone did. Not to mention the long-term effects it would have on both of them.
Why were my guys being stupid?
“If you bonded her, why isn’t she in a database? It’s like she doesn’t exist,” Brennan added, taking a plate to the table. “Jett, food,” he yelled.
“Well, there was that power outage that brought the northeast grid down yesterday, which could have affected the database.”Lexi held my gaze. “Maybe they’ll find her once everything has been reset.”
Copy that.Lexi knew that sometimes the Center created new identities for omegas in danger. Good thing I started the process. I’d text Riley and see where we were.
“It’s complicated.” Wes sighed, ignoring his plate. “I bonded with her because I was thinking of her safety. Things with her mom werebad,and I wanted to find her. Obviously, it didn’t work.” His head hung. “We’d even talked about marriage. Sorry, Evan.”
“Why do you keep apologizing? I didn’t even know you then. You can marry her. Shit, I’ll marry her if you don’t.” I grinned, only partially teasing. “She’d make a beautiful bride. She’s a rose garden girl, too, isn’t she? With harp music—no, a string quartet. Ooh, and a chocolate fountain.”
I could see it. Because of my work at the Center, I’d helped plan many weddings and bonding parties. Plenty of alphas married their omegas in addition to mating. Jett and Brennan were both bonded and married, because Jett was a beta and their mate bond didn’t have the same legal weight as me and Bren–or me and Wes. It was at their wedding when the four of us realized that we might make a good pack.
“Not this one, please?” Lexi put down her plate and withdrew a small book from her bag and opened it. “I got this from Dad’s last night.”
There was a pencil sketch of Grace, surrounded by flowers, wearing the most horrific wedding dress ever.
Wes snatched it from her. “Invasion of privacy much?”
“Stuff at Dad’s is fair game. Also, I have more.” She handed Brennan and me each one. “It’s interesting to see how he’s improved over the years.”
