35

35
BRANDON
Alicia is wide-eyed when she comes out of the meeting house.
“That was incredible,” she says. I fall into step beside her, not sure where we’re going. The direction she’s walking doesn’t lead back to her father’s house.
“You liked it?” I ask.
“Oh, I loved it,” she assures me. “I love that it exists. You have no idea how much something like that would have helped me when I was younger.”
“You would have been able to object to being mated to me, you mean.” I’m mostly joking. It’s obvious to me now that our being chosen for each other was the least of the things she objected to.
“I was thinking more of Deidre, actually,” she says. “Your stepmother?”
“Ex-stepmother.”
“Right, but how would this have helped you with her?”
“When she threatened me, when she told me that she’d come after me if I had children with you, I would have been able to talk to someone about it. I
could never talk to my father, because I wasn’t sure he would take my side. Maybe I wouldn’t have had to leave.” She sighs. “I’m honestly starting to wish I could stay.”
I can’t believe it. This is what I’ve been hoping to hear her say for a long time. And I know that it wouldn’t take much from me-just a little push-to convince her that she’s thinking about things the right way now. That she should stay here.
But, incredibly, now I’m the one who isn’t sure.
If Lonnie’s really going to strip the pack of all the good changes that have been made since Alicia left, why should she come back? Everything is going to be as bad as she remembers it being.
She was right all along. She can’t stay here if Lonnie is going to be alpha.
But the thing is, I can’t let her go.
If she was my mate… If she accepted me, I could vie for the alpha seat.
I’ve never wanted to lead the pack. I’m not Lonnie. I’ve never craved that power.
But if it means I can protect my packmates, and Alicia can stay with us… hell, I’d do anything.
It’s just been so long. I’ve spent half my life missing her, and it’s taken me until now to realize it. I’ve spent half my life trying to become the kind of man she would want to stay for.
I would lead this pack if it meant making it a place Alicia could call home.
And speaking of home… I look up and realize we’re standing in front of my house. “What are we doing here?” I ask.
“I thought we could sit and talk,” she says. “And we can’t do that at my dad’s house, or my family will interrupt us.”
“It must be strange to be living with your dad again after such a long time
away from home,” I say.
“It is,” she says. “It makes me feel like a teenager again.”
I turn to face her. “Having you here makes me feel like a teenager again,” I admit.
She chuckles. “You definitely act like a teenager.” “Meaning what?” I frown.
“Does that bother you?”
“I was different back then,” I say. “I’ve worked hard to become a responsible, respectable member of this pack-to stop being the guy who made trouble if he couldn’t find any.”
“I know that,” she says gently. “I can tell.” “You can?”
“You started that group,” she said. “One of the women told me you were the one behind it. The old Brandon would never have done that. The guy I grew up with would never have bothered trying to see problems and fix them for other people.”
“I wish I had,” I say fervently. “Maybe you would have stayed.”
“It wasn’t your job to fix my family for me. Besides, maybe I always needed to go, just to see what was out there.”
“If you hadn’t gone,” I say, “I suppose you would never have had Emmy. I guess you really can’t regret that.”
Alicia looks away from me. “No,” she says quietly. “No matter what else has happened, I can never regret Emmy. She’s the one thing in my life I’m absolutely sure of. If anything ever happened to her, if anything came between the two of us, I’d have no reason to go on.”
She grins at me and the mood shifts. “When I said you seemed like a teenager,” she says, “What I meant was that you fuck like one.”
“Awkward and inexperienced?” I smirk. “Shut up. You know that’s not what I mean.” “Why don’t you tell me what you mean?”
She moves close to me and winds her arms around my waist. “Insatiable,” she murmurs. “That’s what I mean. You fuck like you’ll never get enough of it.”
“I never will,” I whisper. “I’ll never get enough of you.”