Page 18 of False Catch

"That's..." I search for the right word. "That's heartbreaking."

"It was." He steps closer again, not touching but close enough that I can feel his warmth. "Until you."

"I don't understand."

"I've watched him watch you. The way he tracks your movements, catalogues your scents. He knew you were an Omega from day one - his sensitivity to pheromones is off the charts. But instead of running, he stayed. Instead of transferring to another team, he keeps showing up."

"That doesn't mean—"

"He told me about Riverside. About telling you his history. Jackson doesn't talk about Meredith with anyone. Ever. But he told you."

"We were all emotionally compromised—"

"No." Eli's hand comes up to cup my face again, thumb tracing my cheekbone. "He chose to trust you. And when I kissed you just now? When you responded like that? It just proved something."

"What?"

"We don't have to choose. Neither does he. Maybe the three of us together make more sense than any two of us apart."

"That's not how relationships work—"

"Says who? The same people who say Omegas can't cox Alpha crews? The same ones who say mixed designation teams are disasters waiting to happen?" His fingers tug at my hair before relaxing and running through to the ends. "Maybe it's time to stop letting other people's rules dictate what we're capable of."

I look up at him, this Alpha who just kissed me senseless, who loves a man who can't say it back, who sees patterns everyone else misses.

"Finding strength in surrender," I say. "Stop fighting the bonds and start using them."

"Yes." He leans in again, but this time it's just to rest his forehead against mine. "Exactly that."

"I don't know how to be what you both need."

"You don't have to know. You just have to stop running long enough to find out."

"The inspection—"

"Will go better if we stop pretending. If we row like what we are instead of what we're supposed to be."

"A pack."

"A family." He corrects. "Chosen, not forced. Bound by more than designation or biology. Bound by choice."

Footsteps echo from the team room, voices approaching. Eli steps back, but his eyes hold mine.

"Think about it," he says. "Jackson's not the only one who's been pulling away. You have too. Maybe it's time to stop."

Gray appears around the corner, stopping short when he sees us. His eyes narrow slightly, taking in our positions, probably scenting the arousal we're both throwing off.

"Tank practice," he says carefully. "Five minutes."

Eli nods and walks past him without another word, but his fingers brush mine as he goes. A promise. A question. An invitation.

Gray watches him go, then turns to me. "You okay?"

"I don't know," I answer honestly.

"Fair." He pauses. "Whatever just happened, did it help or make things worse?"

I think about Eli's kiss, his revelation, his certainty that I'm not the problem but the solution.