"It is love," I say, surprising myself with the vehemence in my voice. "Whatever else it is, they love each other."
"Oh, I'm not disputing that." Carlisle leans back in his chair, balancing on two legs. "I'm simply pointing out that love born from shared trauma tends to be... inflexible. They've built their entire world around each other. Adding four alphas to that equation is going to be like trying to add corners to a circle."
"So what do you suggest?" Bane asks, though he looks like he already regrets it.
"We tell them the truth. All of it. That they're both our scent matches, that we have no intention of separating them, that they can continue their adorable murder couple routine if they want." Carlisle lets his chair fall forward with a thunk. "Transparency. Novel concept, I know."
I really fucking hate that I find myself in the unfortunate situation of agreeing with Carlisle. Reason enough to rethink all my life choices.
"They'll run," Elias says immediately. "The second they know, they'll bolt. Felix is already planning it, I can see it every time I walk past their room. He's memorizing schedules, noting our weaknesses, looking for the first opportunity."
"Then we don't give them one," Bane says simply. "We tell them here, where it's safe, where they can process without the option of doing something stupid. And we don't leave them alone again. One of us has to be here at all times."
"You want to trap them while we deliver news that's going to fundamentally alter their entire worldview?" Elias raises an eyebrow. "That seems... unwise."
"Everything about this situation is unwise," Bane counters. "But they're healing, they're relatively stable, and the longer wewait, the harder it's going to be. And if they feel even a fraction of the same pull, they deserve to know why."
"Considering they tried to run, I'm not sure they do," I say flatly. "But you have a point."
He's right. I can see it in Juniper sometimes, the confusion when she catches herself leaning toward one of us, the way she'll freeze mid-sentence when our scents hit her. And Felix... Felix is a bit harder to read. And if he's gone to such lengths to mask his omega nature entirely, we have to accept the very real possibility that he's not going to want anything to do with any of us.
"When?" I ask, already dreading the answer.
"Tonight. After dinner. We'll bring them here, explain everything, and deal with whatever happens."
"I volunteer to be the one to tell them," Carlisle says immediately. "I'm excellent at delivering life-altering news with minimal emotional investment."
"Absolutely fucking not," Bane and I say in unison.
Carlisle shrugs. "Your loss. I had a whole speech prepared. Very moving. There might have been visual aids."
"We'll all tell them," Elias says firmly. "This affects all of us. They deserve to hear it from everyone."
Bane nods. "Agreed. Archer, you'll bring them here after dinner. Tell them we need to discuss their situation, nothing more."
"Why me?"
"Because despite the scratches, you're the least threatening." Bane's scarred lip twitches. "Juniper seems to tolerate you marginally better than the rest of us."
Tolerate. Ouch. He’s not wrong though.
"Fine." I stand, suddenly needing to be anywhere but here. "I'll bring them. But I have no fucking idea how they're going to react to this."
"Poorly," Carlisle supplies helpfully. "I estimate at least one stabbing attempt, possibly two if we're lucky. How fun."
"They don't have weapons," Elias points out.
Carlisle's grin widens. "You really think that's stopped them before?"
He's got a point. Juniper could probably kill someone with a paperclip if she was motivated enough, and Felix... Felix doesn't need weapons. He is one.
"We'll be ready for anything," Bane says, but even he doesn't sound convinced. "This is the right thing to do. They deserve to know the truth."
The truth. That they're ours, that we're theirs, that biology has decided to play the universe's most fucked up practical joke on all of us.
Chapter
Twenty-Three
