Page 104 of Believe it or Knot

I snort. “Did Sadie tell you that?” The idea that his omega might also be a con artist wiggles its way back in. “How well do you know her?” I ask before I can think better of it. “If she’s anything like Sorrel, you should do a thorough background-” I cut off as I’m slammed into the wall by my baby brother. His hand is around my throat, squeezing, squeezing, squeezing until I see stars.

“Watch yourself, brother,” Luca snarls, face inches from mine, grip tight. “I’ll put up with a lot of bullshit from you, but I will not let you badmouth my omega. She’s my scent match, my fated fucking mate, so keep her name out of your goddamn mouth.” Surprise rockets through me. I had no idea. None. I knew his pack had picked up an omega, but I didn’t realize how deep their bond went. I nod once to show I agree.

Luca squeezes again, then releases me, stepping back, all aggression gone in an instant. He runs his hand through his hair before propping his hands on his hips. “Look. I’m gonna tell you something Sylvie and Sadie didn’t want you to know. They don’t think you have the right, but… you’re my brother and I want you to be happy. So here is it. Sorrel didn’t do fucking shit to you.”

My mouth drops open and I go to protest, but he keeps talking. “She didn’t do shit from the beginning. Liam and Rafe showed up at her house out of the blue and inserted themselves into her life. You paid off the Stillwell pack without her consent. In fact, she straight up told you not to do that, didn’t she? You rented a house up on Lake Kilrose. You asked her out repeatedly. You sent her clothes and jewelry and fancy shit without her asking for a goddamn thing. She never once initiated anything between you, never asked you for anything, never pushed an agenda. The only thing she did was fall in love with you. You didn’t give her a goddamn choice in anything, Grayson. Not even in how it ended. You just cut her off. You heard a few sentences of a conversation, took them out of context and then cut her off. Just like you did with me.”

“It wasn’t out of context,” I say, gritting my teeth. “I know what I heard.”

Luca nods slowly. “Sure you do. So you know Gage accused her of only wanting to be with you because of who you are. You know she threw all that back in his face and then cried because he thought so fucking little of her. You know she said she loves you and needs you, huh?”

I blink at him, suddenly lightheaded.

Shit.

Everything he’s saying is exactly right. Sorrel never once pursued us. In fact, she went out of her way to give us space. She told us she wanted us to be sure about how we feel about her. She never asked for fancy dinners or clothes. She seemed happiest when we were hanging out at home without any prying eyes on us. Her favorite thing we got her was that stupid purple stuffed dragon Rafe won for her at the fair.

In the moment, I heard her admit she was using us for our fame and our money, I saw all of that through a different lens. As a manipulation, a clever ruse meant to make us think she was just some sweet down-home beta who didn’t give a shit about our pack name.

But was I wrong?

Could I be wrong?

Hope springs to life in my chest, stealing my breath. “How do you know?”

Luca shakes his head. “There’s a fucking recording of it, dumbass. They just cut it down to the parts that make her sound like a conniving bitch. Did a piss-poor job of it too. But you were all too eager to believe the worst about her. I imagine they did it to keep you from inviting a female into your pack, when it’s so much better for Liam to be romantically connected to his co-stars. They can sell more tickets with fake romance, with the thought that he’s single and might fall in love with any of his fans. Didn’t they do something similar when you and Rafe claimed him?”

Fuck. They did. Liam is worth more as a free omega to them. At the idea that he might fall in love with a pack, the illusion that he’s every pack’s omega, every beta’s boyfriend. We claimed him anyway.

“You have a copy of the recording?” I ask.

Luca nods. “Ethan does. I’ll have him send it to you.” He turns toward the door, ready to leave now that he’s relayed his information. But he turns back, pins me with a glare. “If you manage to fix this somehow, brother, make sure you never do anything like this again. Sorrel is Sadie’s family, which makes her my family, the Falcone pack’s family. You hurt her again and we’ll have to retaliate. We clear?”

Maybe it should bother me to have my own flesh and blood threaten me, but if what he’s told me is true, then I’m just fucking grateful that Sorrel has him looking out for her, willing to protect her.

I give a jerky nod. “We’re clear.”

I listen to the recording alone in my office, and sure enough, Luca is right. There’s an entire conversation that was cut out. Gage all but telling her she’d have to choose between us. Giving her an ultimatum. There’s pain in his voice when he says we’re not his pack, a pain that echoes in my chest at the words.

Before this entire mess, I’d thought we were going to be a pack. I’d begun to think of him as a brother the same way I do Rafe. I don’t know why he seemed so dead set against us, but damn if it doesn’t pierce me, the same way Sorrel pierces my chest with her tears and her words, with her fucking faith in us.

Faith that I promptly destroyed without even giving her a chance.

How could I have been so fucking stupid? How could I ever think of her as anything but loyal and good? She was never against us, never betrayed us.

Fuck. I mean, we had to convince her to join us. She made us work for it.

My brain flickers back to Liam’s nest to her heartbreaking admission that she doesn’t think of herself as special, as worthy of being happy with a pack. She was ready to tell us no right then and there. Someone who was trying to use us wouldn’t have done that. She would have shouted yes when I asked in the shower for her to join the pack, and then tried to get me to bite her immediately, so solidify the bond and lock in her place with us.

She didn’t. Instead, she asked us to wait until Liam’s heat, so the bond will be stronger.

Luca was right. At every turn, we pursued Sorrel. We pushed her to spend time with us, to give us a chance, to trust us with her wellbeing, her safety and her heart. Against her better judgment, she did.

And at the first sign of her being anything less than perfect, we did exactly what she was afraid of, exactly why she was so hesitant to agree to be ours.

Told her she wasn’t good enough and left her.

Fucking fuck.

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