Page 54 of Pack’s Pledge

The fish was there—just beyond my net.

“That’s what this is about,” I said. “Fuck.” I tried to think back. Everything had seemed so good during the heat, but… “What happened? Why does he think—” My brain was fuzzy with too much whiskey. I’d miscalculated. “He’s blaming himself for something. Why does he think he… Did he hurt you?”

“No,” she said.

“He doesn’t want you, because you’re a beta,” I repeated, mindlessly taking another sip. “But that hasn’t changed. You’ve always been a beta. It was fine until now.”

“No,” she said. “He’s always been worried about hurting me, ever since the first time we—”

She cut herself off abruptly.

“Tell me,” I said, with all the authority I could manage in my inebriated state. “Let me make it better, baby.”

“Ever since the first time we—”

But I didn’t even wait for her to finish. I knew what she was going to say.

“Fuck,” I said loudly. “You havegotto be kidding me, please, Britt, please, do not tell me it’s Conall’s fuckingcockthat is making everyone so goddamnedmiserable.” I stood up, took a couple of steps, my hands coming up to lace my fingers together over my head. “Itis, isn’t it.” I laughed, maniacally. “That’sfuckinggreat. No—oh, god, it’s too fucking funny. It’s like, Freudian.Jesus.”

She was staring at me.

“It’snotthat, not exactly,” she said, but I shook my head.

“He’sscared of hurting you.But Britt, Conall wouldneverhurt you, baby, youknowthat. But… He’d never knotted you before, had he?” I asked, and her eyes widened. “Here I thought it was his manly pride or his alpha ego or some shit, but no, it’s hisliteralcock.” I laughed again, as relief washed over me. Everything made sense now. I let out a long breath. “For fuck’s sake. This fucking pack.”

“I don’t—” she said, but I just shook my head.

“Britt,” I said. “This pack. Conall’s pack.” My heart felt like it might burst. Or I might fall over. The room canted wildly. “This isyourpack.”

“What?” she said, and I shook my head. I knew I wasn’t making sense.

“I’ll explain it tomorrow. But Britt,” I sank down on the couch beside her, taking her hands in mine. “Tell me one thing.” I peered at her through the haze of alcohol that blurred my vision. “What’d it feel like when he knotted you, baby?”

She was blushing. I didn’t need a scent to read, or a bond. She didn’t have to say a word.

I grinned. “You liked it.”

“Oh my god,” she spluttered. “I can not talk about this with you. I’m too drunk—I can’t talk about my kinks with you, or whatever–”

“So youdidlike it, you liked it alot,” I challenged, watching her turn pinker. “You can tell me,” I said, “we already had sex,” I shrugged, grinning.

“Not with each other,” she protested, but she was grinning, too. Success.

“Yeah, you had sex with my omega, with me in the room,” I said, “so don’t tell me you can’t talk about your kinks with me, or whatever–”

“Oh my god, Adrian!” she laughed, “That’s different!”

“I don’t think so,” I said. I had fixed it. Or, I knew how to. I could fix it. The weight that had rested on my shoulders was gone. Was that how Conall felt, I wondered, all the time? Knowing that Beau and I were his responsibility? No wonder he was such a grump. “I think that was exactly the same. You know how hot it was, watching you together? Britt, baby, I wanted you so much, it was so hard not to touch you—”

“I seem to remember a significant amount of touching,” she interrupted.

“Not enough, Britt,” I growled. “Never enough. Fuck.” I sat forward, her hands still in mine, and looked into her face. “Conall is a fool if he told you he doesn’t want you. He does. He’s yours already. That feeling you have, that you’re his?” She nodded and my heart soared. “He feels it, too.”

I knew it because I felt it, too. Beau felt it. We all did. It was so glaringly, blatantly obvious.

As if she read my mind, she spoke.

“You know, Adrian, I could be yours, too,” she said softly. She looked up at me out of those dark grey eyes… and fuck, if I didn’t want her. So bad.

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