Page 48 of Power Shift

“Incredible,” I muse, pressing my arm against hers. “You like doing that?”

She sets her chin on her knee and looks at me, a tiny smile on her lips. “I love it. And I should mention that if any of you want me to quit to stay at home, I won’t do it. I want to be clear about that now.”

Jasper’s mouth drops as I stiffen, adjusting my position until my spine is snapped straight.

“We’d never ask that of you, Briar. If you love what you do, then that’s that,” Jasper says.

“Really? You don’t want your omega to stay at home and pop out a million babies for you?” she asks quizzically.

I scoff. “No.”

“What Ronan means is that no, we don’t need you to do that. If babies were ever a possibility, we would figure it out, but you’d never have to quit your job. Seeing you happy is all I want. All webothwant,” Jasper adds with a quick roll of his eyes in my direction.

She tongues her cheek, inspecting the both of us as if she’s trying to detect a lie in what we’ve said. Or more like what Jasper’s said. I’m not the best with words.

What feels like an hour later, she relaxes her stare, seemingly believing him. “Alright, good. What do you two do for work?”

“We’re on the Rayton Riptides hockey team,” I say, stretching my arm along the couch behind her. “Do you watch hockey, Petal?”

“Uh, you mean, like, the NHL team, the Rayton Riptides?” she squeaks.

Jasper laughs, squeezing her knee. “Yes, the NHL team.”

“Truthfully, I don’t watch hockey, but my dads do. They’re not Riptide fans, unfortunately. I’ve heard more complaining about a Landon Montgomery and his special treatment than much else when it comes to that team. Are they right about him? I assume this all makes him your Landon?”

Jasper does a better job of hiding his amusement than I do. A gruff laugh escapes me instantly, filling the apartment. My throat aches from the power of it.

“Oh, fuck. He’d have a fit hearing that from you,” I manage to say.

She flushes. “That’s a yes, then?”

“Yes, he’s our Landon,” Jasper confirms.

I play with a strand of her hair where it’s draped behind her shoulder. “The special treatment isn’t always true. That’s just the complaint everyone who hates the team uses instead of accepting that their favourite team isn’t as good as we are.”

“He’s the son of one of the greats. It puts a target on his back,” Jasper adds.

“I can understand that. Does the attention bother him?”

I pause for a beat, registering her question. Jasper stares at her with a depth that I know borders on obsession. I feel the same way.

She’s a miracle.

“I don’t think any one of us has asked him that in a long time,” he murmurs.

Briar frowns. “Well, someone should. I don’t have a lot of experience with famous parents or unholy expectations, but I assume it’s probably really suffocating.”

“Maybe we’ll keep it for you to talk to him about,” Jasper suggests.

She nips at her cheek, eyes dropping to where Jasper holds her knee. “I don’t know if that’s really a first-meeting topic. He isn’t interested in having an omega, right?”

“He doesn’t think we need one,” I say tightly.

“And Dash? He’s close to Landon?”

Jasper answers the question. “Dash cares the most about the pack dynamic. He’s stubborn enough to put aside his desire to have an omega in the pack if it means Landon doesn’t leave.”

“And you think Landon would leave if I became pack?” she asks, her voice timid as her scent sours.

---