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“As your Beta, it is my responsibility to make sure that you’re being the best Alpha that you can be. Sometimes that means I have to remind you that you have a one-track mind.”
Aydan nodded. “Noted. I’ll speak with you this afternoon,” he said, and then he left.
That went better than it could’ve but nowhere nears as well as I wanted. I needed it to be this afternoon already.
Chapter 15
Corey
“It was awful, Jayce. I was sure that a fight was going to break out.” My brother had barely been holding it together. I could see his tells, his bear not quite demanding to come out, but only a fraction of a second from doing so.
“Oh, no. Did the big bad bear protect his mate? What did you think was going to happen if Zane saw someone trying to lay claim to you? That’s like Fated Mate 101—don’t come between the two.”
Jayce was attempting to lighten things up, and I appreciated it, but I also needed him to see the seriousness of this. My brother wasn’t just my brother. He was the Alpha of a new den, one trying to grow its roots.
“I know. And now Aydan is pissed off.” Or disappointed. I wasn’t sure which was worse. “Probably. I haven’t actually talked to him, and I don’t know how the meeting went.”
I thought for sure he’d be here as soon as the meeting was done, and the rumor mill said that it was. But my brother? He was nowhere to be seen.
“Have you texted your mate or called him?” Leave it to Jayce to be practical, with solutions that made sense and were sitting there in front of me.
“No, I was afraid to.” I still was. “What if he’s still talking with Aydan? What if he had to take his fur to run this off? What if the other alpha challenged him? There are so many possibilities.”
“That’s because your head is good at creating turmoil.” I didn’t need to see him to know that he was rolling his eyes at me. “Aydan’s going to have to get that stick out of his ass and let the two of you be together. He can’t come between mates. It’s like the law.”
“I’m pretty sure there’s no law that says that.” It would be nice if there were. “And you know how my parents were. I don’t think that Aydan puts as much stock into fated mates as the rest of us do.”
Jayce was the one person who had heard all the good, the bad, and the ugly of my childhood. He understood better than anyone, other than my brother.
“I hadn’t either until meeting Zane.” And even then, I hadn’t jumped to embrace it. Sure, I thought he’d rejected me and there was the whole promised-to-another thing, but still… “But of course, he’d been able to change my mind.”
Jayce chuckled.
“I just want to talk with Aydan so he can see my side of things.” And because I wanted to help him fix the mess I created. There had to be something I could do.
“You tried to do that, and he wouldn’t listen.”
“He was preoccupied. I could’ve tried harder.” At the time I didn’t see a way, but that was me being scared. Looking back, I gave up too quickly.
“He also could’ve tried to shut his mouth for five minutes and let other people talk.” Now he sounded like Zane.
I rolled my eyes. “Jayce, I do love that you’re being a loyal friend and having my back on this, but he’s my brother and you don’t even know him.”
Not that he was wrong.
“That’s fair. Listen, I know stuff’s kind of crazy right now, but you and Zane are the real deal. Aydan’s going to see that. He’s going to understand and, hopefully, get better at being a good listener.”
“Thanks, Jayce. I do appreciate you, and I miss you.”
I hadn’t realized how much until I heard his voice. He needed to get his ass here and stat. That was if my brother was fine with me staying. If I caused him too much political turmoil, I’d understand him asking us to leave. I’d hate it, but I’d get it.
“I miss you more.” I needed to hear those words. “Now tell me about this house that we’re moving into. Is this Zane of yours going to be there too? Where do I go now?”
I laughed. “Yes, Zane will be here. You’re still welcome to have the spare room.”
If I get to stay. Now that I thought about that, it was all I could focus on.
“How many bedrooms is it?”
