I don’t tell anyone about what Jackson said.
Instead, I return to the house and eat breakfast with the rest of my pack. I force myself to ignore his presence as I struggle to make conversation when all I want is to be alone.
We all say goodbye to Savannah and Jeremy, and when Jackson drives them to the airport, I return to my room and lie back down on my bed.
But I don’t sleep.
I think about Jackson’s whiskey eyes and the pain I saw there.
When I can’t bear to think about it anymore, I go back downstairs and spend the rest of the day watching TV in the lounge, pretending I’m okay.
Later, I throw lunch and then dinner together, yet I feel disconnected.
Once, I catch Dayne observing at me as he sits with Talis, but he never asks me what’s wrong. And neither does anyone else, not even when I burn the cherry pie I made for dessert. Still, no one says anything.
And then suddenly, it’s Sunday. The day we’re all going back to Hardin, and everyone is packed, me included, and I still haven’t told anyone about what Jackson said.
After he took Savannah and Jeremy to the airport, he never came back. But since he said he was giving me Saturday to say my goodbyes, I guess he thought it would be better to stay out of the way.
It’s early when I wake. So early that the sky is still more black than blue, but that doesn’t stop me from getting up so I can curl up on the bench outside with my coffee.
I’ve been out for maybe twenty minutes, when the back door opens and Dayne steps out, dressed in blue jeans and a t-shirt, clutching a large mug of coffee. I glance at him before going back to staring into the forest.
His arrival isn’t a surprise, since I heard him rising soon after I did. We’ve always been the early risers of the pack. Luka will probably be up next, though Talis won’t be up for hours yet because it’s a running joke about how much she hates mornings.
“You want to talk about Jackson,” I say, lifting my mug to take a sip.
“I want to talk about you.”
I turn to him when he drops beside me on the bench. “You think I should stay. Don’t you?”
Dayne flashes me a quick grin. “I never said a word.”
“But you know why Jackson pulled me away yesterday.”
He takes a second to sip from his cup before he speaks, “I suspected. Your reaction confirmed it.”
“My reaction?”
“You were quiet. You burned the pie, and you never burn anything. Not even caramel and all that is, is burned sugar.”
A smile teases my lips before I can stop it, and I lightly punch his arm. “You idiot.”
He fake growls. “I’m your alpha. Show some respect.”
His words have the opposite effect, and my smile disappears. “My life is in Hardin. I have no desire to be stuck with an alpha d-” Just in time, I cut off my last word, though by Dayne’s raised eyebrow, I guess it wasn’t difficult for him to guess what I was about to say.
“Jackson’s a good shifter. You could do worse.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “Why are you trying to get rid of me? Did he say something?”
Dayne throws his arm around my shoulder and drags me closer. “He didn’t have to say anything. You forget I saw you two ready to hump on the forest floor.”
I try to wriggle free. “Really? You too? Please tell me Talis isn’t infecting you with-”
“You were a couple of feet away. How could we not hear?” Dayne interrupts.
With a heavy sigh, I stop struggling and lean my head against his because he’s right. Of course, he was going to hear our conversation on our way back to the BBQ.
“I could see if Luka is interested in hooking up?” I suggest hopefully.
From somewhere upstairs, I hear someone choke back a laugh, and I turn back to the house with a glare. “It’s not funny, Luka. We might have a real connection that has yet to be discovered.”
The laughter increases, both inside the house and from beside me.
Once it ends, I sigh. “This isn’t what I want, Dayne. I have my life in Hardin. My job is there. I have no desire to be Luna.”
“No one is saying that’s what you’ll be. But there’s something between you two and you owe it to yourself to find out what it is. I would want you to make a decision that isn’t based on fear about what you are.” When Dayne pauses, I tense because we never talk about me being an omega. It’s never been something I’m comfortable with. “I don’t want you living a life of regret. That would not make you happy.”
“But staying here won’t make me happy either. I’ll be alone and I won’t have any of you.”
“You will not be alone. We all have phones, and Hardin is a day away. It’s not Antarctica, so quit acting like it is. Give it a couple of days before you start wailing.”
A spark of amusement in his eyes has me fighting to get free. “Wailing?”
Dayne holds me long enough for me to realize breaking free isn’t an option. “Wailing.”
“And if I decide not to stay?”
“Then I’ll support that decision.”
“You won’t try to make me?”
“No.”
“Even if Jackson-”
“No one is forcing you to do anything you don’t want to do.” Dayne’s voice is all alpha. Confident, assured, and a force to be reckoned with. He sounds like the cold-blooded alpha people think he is, though I know he’s anything but.
To me, he’s just Dayne. My alpha. Family.
“Does that mean you’ll stop squeezing me to death now?” I ask sweetly.
Although Dayne grumbles beneath his breath, making me smile, he eases his grip a little but doesn’t let me go. “We don’t leave until ten this morning. Promise me you’ll think about it.”
I sigh. “I’ll think about it.”
I lean my head against his and we quietly sip our coffee as we watch the sunrise over the National Forest. It’s peaceful and I enjoy how relaxed it makes me. Until Luka makes the mistake of dropping something and waking Talis.
After that, things aren’t so quiet anymore.