His excitement threatened to absorb me. I touched his face, desperate for contact. “Go on then. What happened?”
He blew out a shaky breath. “Perdita’s having a baby.”
And that had made him inordinately happy. “Oh. Well. Congratulations?”
“You don’t understand.” He pulled me into a brief hug then whispered in my ear. “They called me a big brother.”
Realisation hit me. I could have cried for him. He was so sweet and innocent sometimes, still a lost little boy deep down. “Of course they did,” I whispered back, overwhelmed by sudden emotion. “They’re your family.”
“I know.” His earnest response made actual tears form in my eyes. I blinked them back then moved us to sit on the bed, side by side. I linked fingers with him, comforted by the warmth.
“I’m happy for you.”
“I’m glad you’re not mad at me.” He glanced in my direction. “You’re not anymore, right? We need to deal with how we’re feeling so we don’t keep repeating the same argument.”
I thought about it. “I’m not mad, but I’m still worried about being part of your pack’s pecking order. I don’t want to be bossed around, and I definitely don’t want anyone else to make decisions for me.” I hesitated. “I don’t want that for you either, but I know your life is different. I still want to be a part of it, but there’s so much that feels out of my hands.”
“It’s not like Byron’s constantly deciding stuff for us. He even let the pack decide what to do with Dom. Besides, Nathan told me that if his decisions went against what I believe in then there are ways around it. If Byron tries to enforce something you’re not comfortable with, I’ll be on your side. I get that it’s confusing, but maybe you could try to get to know them, let them know you more, so we can all understand each other better.”
“They have their ideas about me already.”
“Byron calls you a friend of the pack. Even Victor spoke up for you at the meeting. Things are already changing. With time, more and more of the pack will get used to you. If you let them.”
“Then can we keep the stuff with Amelia separate from our stuff?” I asked. “I mean, why should we fight over it? If I trust you with the pack, can you trust me with Amelia?”
“I’ll try. I wanted you to know what I was thinking, how I was feeling, how it comes off to the others. I wanted to warn you, I suppose. I get I didn’t go about it the best way, but I’ve never been with someone outside of the pack before. I don’t always know how it works. I do know that I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“I’ll listen to your opinions if you promise not to force them on me or try to make me feel guilty for making my own choices.”
He held out his hand. “Deal.”
We shook on it, and I grinned. “Guess what? I’m fine after the community centre fire, so that’s something, right?”
“It’s great news,” he said, and I could tell he meant it. “Let’s hope it means that you won’t have to suffer in future.”
His thumb ran across my palm, and I forgot to worry about anything else. I missed his soft brown eyes and steady presence. We didn’t get many opportunities to be normal teenagers.
“Now that you’re here,” I traced my finger over a smattering of freckles on his nose, “we should make up for lost time.”
I half-expected him to laugh, but he took hold of my hand then kissed me as though he had been waiting for permission. For a while, our world was as normal as anyone else’s.
The next day was Sunday, so I didn’t have to get up early, but Dad woke me to go to the shops with him. I wasn’t exactly enthusiastic about getting out of bed after my late night, but Dad and I hadn’t gotten much time together of late, so I couldn’t complain.
In town, he took me to a coffee shop where we shared a cake. It was only then I noticed that he had been staring at me intently.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, stealing more than my fair share of the treat.
He gave me a meaningful look. “I woke up early this morning.”
“So?”
“So I went to get a drink in the kitchen and saw Dorian sneaking out of the garden.”
I froze, my fork halfway to my lips. “Dad, nothing happened.”
He didn’t look as though he believed me.
“Really,” I insisted, dropping the fork in my hurry to convince him. “We fought, and he was worried about the fire, and he had some news to tell me, so he—”