Page 57 of Talk About… Secrets
“You know what we’re not going to do? This. Fucking drawing a line in the sand and dividing the pack again. You did that once, now is the time to mend it, not get your feelings hurt,” Drew said, giving us each a look.
“He’s right. He was here like we should have been,” Cade bit out, puffing out his chest and facing off with our alpha.
“You’re right. I did the best I could,” Beck said with a sigh of defeat. “You can be mad at me, but I had to handle things or bring that bullshit back to her.”
“Didn’t we do that anyway?” Cade thundered, gripping his hair and walking away before he could throw a punch.
“No. The world was going to find out about her anyway, we controlled that,” I admitted. “It was a smart plan and he was willing to blackmail to get back. We can be frustrated, or we can listen to our other alpha and get our shit together and be here now.”
Cade dropped down to the grass, eyes on the stars and body starfished in the thick greenery.
“This yard is huge,” he grumbled. Our artist was sometimes reclusive and impulsive, but not usually the brooding type. This separation had broken us all a little.
Drew sighed. “I just messaged her best friend. She said they’re at a restaurant and just finishing dessert. If you hurry, we can drive her home.”
That had us all launching to the parking lot out front. Drew climbed into his big truck, the betas filling in the extended cab and our alphas in front.
Cade and I both were jumping out of our skin as we drove a few blocks. Just a few short minutes to showcase the adorable street lanterns and tiny shops.
It was easy to see why Grace loved this town so much and we were only seeing it in the darker hours.
“Here it is,” Drew announced as he parked along the curb. There was a speakeasy style bar off to one side, the Italian restaurant just ahead of it. Both had people milling in and out. At least it wasn’t one of those small towns that rolled up the sidewalks at night and turned into a ghost town.
We started to climb out but Beck reached out, gripping Drew’s arm. His eyes burned for a moment, but he waited to see if it was a fight or apology.
Then Beck shocked us all.
“I’m sorry for earlier. I let my frustration get the best of me, and maybe jealousy. Thanks for being here for her when we couldn’t.”
Drew just nodded, before getting out of the truck. Beck’s hand fell as the other alpha made his departure.
“We’re taking a week off,” Beck said as he shoved his door open. “I need to soak in my omega before going back to reality.”
“Hell yeah,” Cade cheered as he launched out of the truck.
Not for the first time, I trailed behind. This time I didn’t feel rushed or forgotten, I just needed a moment of calm before seeing her, knowing it was going to be a punch to the gut.
My jaw nearly dropped when I walked in to find them waiting in the lobby. Beck was crawling out of his skin and Cade was rocking forward, nearly ripping out of Beck’s hold.
“Together,” our alpha growled, forcing Cade to breathe and calm himself. Then laughter drew us all to one spot like a moth to flame.
Grace.
She was as gorgeous as I remembered, if not more now. Her smile came easy and she’d lost that tension we grew to know at the resort. Here, she was in her element. Even her skin was glowing.
As if she could feel our stares, she turned slowly. I swear I could hear her gasp across the crowded room.
Then we were all moving. Grace was sprinting around tables and soon she was jumping, our alpha easily catching her and Cade and I pressing into her sides. Drew watched over us, a soft smile on his face.
“You came back.” It was a shaky whisper, a confession of just how much she was starting to doubt it.
“We promised,” I reminded her, tucking a stray curl behind her ear. “We are so sorry it took so long, but we’re all yours now, freckles. No turning back.”
“I tried to remind myself you wouldn’t do that, but it was starting to slip,” she confessed as she clung to Beck like a cute little koala.
“I’ll handle the bill,” Drew said, waving down a waitress, giving us a chance to carry our girl back out to the sidewalk.
She didn’t protest as she was carried out by her alpha. Instead, she just buried her face in his neck and simply breathed.
