“Alora feels a connection to you, and I find I don’t mind your company so far. But you need to understand that I’m a possessive asshole when it comes to Alora. Usually, she puts up with it, but I know my being that way toward someone else in the pack—in a non-joking way—will hurt her. While this is my issue, if we all agree for you to join our pack, it’s also going to become your problem. You’re going to need to be able to shut down that shit if I can’t stop myself.”
Alora shakes her head. “This isn’t what we talked about, Wells.”
“Shh, baby. Let Wells finish.” Jordan reaches across the table to take her hand. “This is something that would happen regardless of Wells’s possessiveness. Alphas in packs need to know the hierarchy—especially when one is added into an already established pack.”
She chews on her lip, glancing between me and Finn. We both give her a smile, and that seems to set her mostly at ease. Although it doesn’t stop her from standing from her chair and crawling into Jordan’s lap as she seeks his comfort and reassurance.
Finn watches her for another moment before returning his attention to me. “So I need to have a stronger alpha than you?”
“I don’t know how else to make this work,” I admit, hating that I need to admit it. It makes me feel weak—like I’m not in control of myself when I am…most of the time.
“And how do you expect to figure out if I’m strong enough?”
It’s a fair question.
“Why don’t you come back to our hotel? If I’m going to freak out, I’d prefer it to be somewhere more private.”
He blinks at me for a moment. “I’m not going to have sex with Alora to see if you can handle it.”
His words bring a smile to my face. “That’s good because you wouldn’t be the man I think you are if you would. But that’s not what I was suggesting. Maybe we start with kissing.”
“Oh.” Finn flushes again, eyes darting to Alora. “Is that what you want?”
“Oh, yes, please.” She smiles, nodding her head.
As if she would’ve said no.
What a silly alpha.
“So what do you say, Finn?”
He considers me for a moment before nodding. “Yeah, okay. Let’s do this.”
It doesn’t take us long to make it back to the hotel and to our room. We gather in the seating area with Finn and Alora on the couch while Jordan and I sit in armchairs.
As soon as we’re all settled, an awkward silence descends on us.
“This is stupid,” Alora says, her bottom lip poking out slightly. “You’ve made it all weird, Wells.”
I laugh, leaning back in the chair. “Are you saying you no longer want to kiss him?”
“Well, no.”
“Then kiss him,” Jordan urges her, and I wish I were more like my laid-back brother. He never seems to get jealous, but he also never pushes back when I do.
Maybe we really do need another alpha in our pack and not just because of Alora’s heat.
Surprisingly, it doesn’t make me feel like a failure of an alpha for not being enough.
When the doctor first told me I wasn’t enough for her heats, that’s the only part I really heard. That I wasn’t good enough. That I was a failure.
Now, admitting this to myself feels…freeing. Like it’s a burden off my shoulders, and I’m not sure how I feel about it.
Alora sticks her tongue out at Jordan, but then clambers onto Finn’s lap. His arms wrap around her, pulling her flush against him, and the first twinge of possessiveness hits me square in the jaw.
I bite back the growl threatening to break free. I don’t need Alora to freak out.
But when his hand sinks into her glorious red hair and he yanks her toward him for a kiss, I lose it.
