Page 118 of Dream Girl
Which probably led to her midnight cleaning campaign.
“Bren,go look in her room and tell me what the fuck is wrong.” My voice shook as anger bubbled inside me. Little Grace probably slept under her bed with no blankets so she wouldn’t mess things up and make her mom angry.I’d seen this before in my work.
“You know I hate guessing games. Tell me,” he huffed.
“I’m not asking you to guess, you knothead. I’m asking you tolook.” My tone became harsh.
This was what the integration team was supposed to prevent. While she’d met with them several times, they should have met with the entire pack by now.
“Fine.” He got up and stalked off.
I rearranged us, getting comfortable.
“That’s it, Peaches, you’re warm, loved, and safe,” I told her. “We’re so glad you’re here. We love you so much. It’s going to be okay.”
Oh, that could also be a factor. Culture shock. She wasn’t from here, but no one knew that but Wes, Spencer, and me. So many little things must be different for her, and all that could become overwhelming.
While Brennan was a huge part of it, we all fucked up big time, not realizing how many changes she was getting hit with all at once.
We didn’t notice how fragile she was inside. How strange it all must be for her.
“I’m sorry, Grace, I’m so sorry, we fucked up. We’ll do better,” I whispered, guilt filling me. We’d done this. This was our fault. We were given this beautiful soul to care for, and we’d failed her.
“She disassembled her nest and sanitized it. You… you did that once. Right before you ended up in the hospital.” Brennan’s voice wavered as he stood in the doorway.
“Yep. Because I didn’t feel welcome or safe. I didn’t feel like there was a space for me in the pack, so I removed my presence,” I said softly.
“Oh. What happens when she tells Mrs. Beekman this?”
“This is a major red flag. Mrs. Beekman could remove her.” My voice shook, because that would break my heart. “More likely, the integration team will need to do more. I’m pretty disappointed that they haven’t done much.”
“Remove her? My mother will be livid. We’ll just fix it. Put things back up. Maybe she won’t notice?”
The callousness of his words made me curl Grace into me tighter, protecting her.
“Do you hear yourself? This isn’t about you or your mom or the investigation. This is aboutGrace. About her feeling like she doesn’t belong to the point she’s made herself sick. There’s so much going on with her that you don’t know, Bren.” I begged him to understand. Being pulled between them hurt me on a fundamental level.
“This is my fault?” he grumbled.
“It’sallour fault. But a lot of this is on you. You don’t have to mate with her, just don’t be a dick. Look, she’s not after your money. If she and Spencer pull off this simulator, they’re going to make a shit-ton,” I told him. Well, I was guessing.
“Does Wes actually love her?” Brennan was inside now, and there was no remorse coming through the bond, just annoyance and a little worry.
“He does. But I’m not kidding when I say that she and Wes need some major couples therapy,” I replied.
“Do you love her?” Brennan sat on the platform, peering at me, curiosity in his eyes.
“I’m falling for her, hard. So hard.” I kissed her forehead again.
“You know what, I’ll wake up Wes. Or better yet, just dump her in Wes’ bed and come with me.” He squeezed my hand. “I’ll give you what you need.”
Oh, did I need him. I was feeling so unsettled and shaky inside. This had been me once.
But I wasn’t going to let Grace endure this alone, like I’d let myself suffer because I felt like I didn’t deserve an alpha or pack to make things better.
I let go of his hand and shook my head. “What I need is for you to stop being a dick to her.” I gathered her up. “Since you can’t do that, we’ll leave.”
Grace in my arms, I marched right past my alpha toward Wes’ room. I needed an alpharight now. I think she was feeling safe and warm enough that maybe she did, too.
