Roman
He flew back to Anchorage on a cramped plane, all the while resenting the fact that he was being forced to leave his mate before they’d ever gotten to really talk about it. But it was necessary.
Now it was time to break the news to his pack.
He would have liked to do it over the phone, but he wasn’t going to wimp out. He owed Derek and Jameson an explanation, face to face, one on one.
As soon as he texted, Jameson came over immediately. "What's wrong?" he said as soon as he saw Roman.
"Nothing is wrong, from my point of view. But I have some things to say, and I want you to hear me out." He motioned for Jameson to sit next to him on the ground. For startling news, he tended to stick to the traditional methods.
Jameson joined him on the ground. He frowned. "That doesn't sound good."
"Like I said, it's good for me, but you may not be happy. However, I hope you will be."
Jameson just frowned harder and started picking at a weed, so Roman smiled. "I have found my mate. She is not a wolf shifter. She's a bear shifter."
Jameson ripped the weed from the ground. "And?"
"And what?"
"What else?" Jameson asked.
"That’s all of it." Now Roman reached for a weed. It seemed like a good way to relieve stress. It wasn’t really all of it. Roman might be leaving the pack. But he was going to deal with one thing at a time.
Jameson slapped him on the back. "You had me worried. I thought you were going to tell me we were moving to Florida or somewhere really hot, or that someone was slowly dying of toxic blood poisoning."
"No. None of that," he said.
"I can deal with anything else." Roman reached over and hugged his brother tight. "Thank you. For being understanding."
"Anytime, man." Jameson got up and left.
Now it was time to tell Derek, who had caused so much strife between them before. The one who had hurt Everleigh by paying Jacob to harass her while Roman was out of town. Just like Jameson, Derek came right over and plopped down on the grass.
"I've got something to tell you and first I have to say that if your reaction isn't great, then that's fine, but if you ever consider harassing her again, I must reiterate that I won’t be happy. I’ll make you wish you’d never been born."
Instead of a weed, Derek grabbed a stick. "What the hell are you talking about? Why are you going to kick my ass?"
"Because I don't want you speaking to my mate with anything but respect."
"Your mate? You have a mate?"
"Yes."
Derek dragged his stick through the dirt, back and forth. "Well, who is it?"
"Everleigh. Sutton’s little sister."
"But she's a –"
Roman moved forward with a menacing stance. "What did I just say? Do you already need a reminder?”
Derek dropped the stick and held both hands up. "No. I just don't understand."
"You don't have to understand. You just have to accept it. But if you have some questions, I'm happy to answer them.”
"You fully said that we don't date outside our pack."