“He’s protective of you,” Carter said.
“I’m his Alpha.”
“Seemed a little more than that,” Kelly said.
“I hate you both.”
“Still not a no.”
“It’s not—look. It’s—”
“He has a crush on you!” Carter said, sounding rather gleeful at the prospect.
“It’s not a crush—”
“Dude,” Kelly said. “You didn’t build a pack. You built a harem.”
“Kelly!” Carter yelped. “Mom is in his harem!”
Kelly paled. “Oh my god. And Mark.”
“Working your way through the whole family, eh, Ox?” Carter said. “You kissed me first and it couldn’t quench your insatiable thirst for Bennett.”
“At least you’re both still idiots,” I muttered.
They laughed at me.
It was a nice sound, even if it hurt to hear after so long.
“Joe’s not a fan,” Carter said easily.
“Of?”
“Jessie being in your pack. But mostly Robbie. That was quite the statement he made when we got back, his hand on you. Like he was keeping you calm.”
“He was.”
“Well shit,” Kelly said. “That’s not going to go over well.”
“What isn’t?” I asked.
“Robbie,” Carter said, as if I was stupid. “He’s your tether.”
“I’m not a wolf.”
“You’re an Alpha,” Carter pointed out. “I don’t know that it matters.”
“You feel just like we do, just without the change,” Kelly said. “It’s close enough. He keeps you grounded.”
“Joe has no right to be pissed about that,” I growled. “He doesn’t get a say.”
Carter and Kelly tensed.
Carter said, “He’s just—”
“No,” I said. “I don’t have to explain anything to him. Not yet. And even if Robbie was my tether, I don’t have to justify myself to him. Or to you. You were gone. You cut us out. You say it was to keep us safe, and you say you would do the same thing again. That’s fine. But don’t expect to come back here and have things be the way you left them. We did what we had to do in order to survive because that’s now how life works. We don’t put ourselves on hold because you—”
“No one asked you to,” Carter said, gripping my hand tightly. “And I don’t know that we expected you to. But I know Joe—he hoped, Ox. Even if he never said anything, even if he turned into a broody Alpha asshole, he hoped. I know he did. So cut him some slack since you’ve moved on from—”