Page 15 of Found: Denver Alpha

“Wait. Why are you hurting?” I ask, my brain catching on to that small part of his speech.

“It’s not important right now,” he says, trying to push my question to the side but I’m not ready to let it go.

“Is it because I rejected you earlier? Because I’m sorry but you have to understand—” Silas says looking like he might fucking cry. My god even I’m starting to get emotional whiplash from him today.

“No. Right now isn’t about me—”

“Is it because we’re sending Scarlett away and you have grown fond of her?” I ask, curiously.

“No! I mean I like the kid, she’s fun, but this is about Silas and getting him back into Alpha mode so he can be strong enough to get Jade back! For crying out loud guys!” he snaps but I’m still not willing to let it go.

“You should just tell us so we can get back on track because if you don’t I will hound your ass like a dog until you confess,” I tell him.

“Fuck! Fine! I was going to keep this to myself for a while until things settled down but since you want to be an asshole—” he glares at me while taking a deep breath. “Jade is my mate too, but I didn’t tell her,” he says, mumbling the last part.

“What?”

“How is that possible?”

“Why didn’t you tell her?”

Silas and I take turns throwing questions back and forth as Jace just stands there looking back and forth between us as if waiting for us to shut up so he can answer them.

“Jade is my mate, I don’t know how it’s possible and I didn’t tell her because I didn’t want her to freak the fuck out,” he tells us clearly exasperated by having to divulge his secret before he was ready.

“This means that we get to stay together and have a mate,” Silas says in awe and I’m not far behind him in that feeling.

Secretly I had always dreaded finding a mate, fearing it would take me away from my best friends and what we shared all these years. For the universe to make it possible for me to have both is something of a miracle that I probably don’t deserve.

“Well first you two jackasses need to pull yourselves together and then we have to work on winning her back. Don’t act like this is going to be easy, she’s scared but I at least got her to say she’d think about coming over here to talk,” Jace says looking down at his feet awkwardly, letting me know without words that he needs comfort now too. The way he was raised he just can't come out and say it, but I’ve known him long enough to know the signs.

Getting out of my chair I walk over and without a word pull the smaller man tight up against me. His body is stiff for a moment but eventually he lets himself relax against me. I can only imagine the pain he must have been in when he thought Silas and I were going to leave him behind. It would’ve been painful for us too but not as bad as it would have been for Jace. His parents raised him to hide his feelings and secretly they taught him that being a Beta wasn’t good enough, that he wasn’t good enough. I’m more than grateful to the universe for giving him a break, if anyone deserves it it’s him.

Silas gets off the bed and joins our embrace, sandwiching Jace between us; neither of us says a word as we feel him shake between us. After a while the shaking stops and Jace clears his throat.

“I think it would be a good idea for Silas to get dressed and come say goodbye to Scarlett before she leaves. It would also be good to get a good defensive strategy going with Dell and Alec so that we can be ready to protect the pack. Later, we’ll have time to talk about how we get our mate to take the three of us on,” he comments coolly, slowly pulling himself together as he pulls out from between us.

“We’ll be down in a few minutes,” I tell him and he just nods curtly and leaves the room without a backwards glance.

“Can you believe this?” Silas asks, walking over to his closet, and a few minutes later he comes back in sweats and a tee looking a little better than he did earlier.

“I’m not sure I know what to believe right now,” I tell him, running a hand over my short hair, not sure what else to say at the moment.

“I think since the moment Jade walked out this is the first time I feel a little bit of hope, not a lot, the pain is still excruciating but enough to no longer want to waste away in my bed for the rest of my life,” he says slipping on a pair of shoes and walking slowly towards the door.

“The first place you are going is to the kitchen to get some food in you, no use trying to plan to fight the witches if a stiff breeze will knock you over,” I tease him, throwing my arm gently around his shoulder hating the feel of his bones under my hand.

“Hey!—”

“You know I’m right,” I insist and he just growls under his breath in response.

Leading him down the stairs we take the back hall to avoid everyone because I want him to eat before he has to deal with all the drama that’s bound to come up with him being back. Nothing is worse than dealing with Remy on an empty stomach. Though dealing with him on a full stomach isn’t really all that great either.

“Sit, I will make you something,” I say, directing him towards the stools on the opposite side of the island than the fridge and the stove.

“I’m not a child,” he growls at me but I just chuckle as I get a pan and lay out the food while the oven heats up.

“I’m very much aware you’re not a child but you are a stubborn dick sometimes so just sit there and let me take care of you,” I tell him.

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