Page 66 of Dream Mates
The urge to literally slap some sense into him overwhelmed me.
“No, I can’t,” I said honestly. “That was painfully obvious as she cried in my arms when she first arrived during Evan’s heat.I could hold her. I could try to ease her fears. But I couldn’t purr for her. I couldn’t give her what she needed, because what she needed wasyou.Not Spence, not Evan,you.”
Okay, maybe Evan a little.
“Oh.” His expression softened.
“Are you mad because of what happened between her and me?” I took a sip of water. It was starting to warm up now.
“Fuck no. It was beautiful. Bren, too. I just could do without him being a sanctimonious asshat.” Wes rolled his eyes.
“We can all do without him being a sanctimonious asshat. But he’s also struggling with the fact that he’s actually starting to give a shit about her,” I offered.
Only Brennan would be worried about caring about someone who lived in his house and was mated to his omega and one of his packmates.
“I’d like for her and Bren to be friends. He can take her to the piano shit you and Evan hate,” he said. “I’d really like once her injuries heal for you to teach her some self-defense.”
“Absolutely. And Spence will take her to all sorts of science shit that we’d find boring, but she’ll love. Just like there’s so much that only the two of you can do together.” I’d happily hand off all classical music concerts and science dinners to Grace.
Wes’ shoulders slumped as his hands went deep into the pockets of his shorts. “Spence was there, and I wasn’t. She came back, scared and confused, andI wasn’t at the house.I was up here with Evan. But Spencer was there, to comfort her, to care for her in the immediate aftermath. I’m her alpha, I should have been there to take care of her.”
And there it was.
“Wes, Evan was in heat. It was more important for you to be with him than waiting for Grace, given we didn’t know when and if she was coming back. I hope she understands that. Do you need me to talk to her? Is she upset about it?” I asked.
He shook his head.
I thought for a moment. “Did you want her to be upset about it?”
He blew hair out of his eyes. “I’m a shit alpha. A shit, jealous alpha.”
“You’re still working through whatever happened between you two all those years ago. Those feelings are valid. Grace loves you. She dreamt of you across the universe. How fucking special is that?” I goaded. It really was something out of a movie.
A smile twitched on his lips. “True. But dude, Spencer. Fuck.” His head bowed again. “I didn’t feel like this when you and Bren were courting Evan. Which just makes me feel even shittier.”
I snorted. “Yes, you did. Do you need me to refresh your memory?”
Wes and Evan hadn’t been mated very long before we’d decided to be a pack.
“That was about the money. I felt bad that I couldn’t financially give him all the things you two could. It went away when you took over courting,” he admitted.
“Um, no, it didn’t.” I rolled my eyes. Brennan had gone overboard, being flashy with his money, overwhelming not just Wes, butEvan.Because that’s what Brennan thought omegas liked.
So, I’d taken over. But it hadn’t fixed everything. Time and communicationhad.
“But if that’s what’s bugging you, then talk to Spence and set financial boundaries. Also, you know Grace really just wants ice cream.” It pained me to see him this insecure. But at the same time, he also needed to accept it.
“What if he gets a flavor named after her or some crazy rich people shit like that?” A smile glimmered in his eyes.
I could see that completely. “It would be fucking great.”
“Yeah, it sort of would.” He stopped and took a drink of water.
I could no longer see everyone else, but they’d stop for us at the waypoint. “It’s okay to set boundaries. Bren set boundaries with Evan regarding Grace.”
“He did? What sort, if you can tell me?” Wes said as we started walking again, the path getting a little steeper.
“The main one is that Evan can’t come to bed smelling like her. Boundaries are normal. You can even set them with Evan since he likes to hog her.” I originally set boundaries with Brennan regarding Evan.
