Page 59 of Power Shift

I enjoy cooking,but it’s not a passion of mine. Taking care of the pack, however, is. That includes several things I’m not the biggest fan of but do regardless.

Growing up, my mom worked the night shift, which left me in charge of feeding a pack of three starving alphas when they got home a few hours after she left. Weekends were the only times I ever managed to slip out of the house to do my own thing.

Being raised in a pack household instilled more than a handful of habits in me. A true pack dynamic can’t be taught in a classroom or a video online. You learn by living in one.

It’s the small things, like nobody eating until all members are at the table, chores being done by everyone and rotating every week, and no singular event or hobby taking precedence over the others, that keep a pack together. I lost track of the number of shinny games and musicals I was taken to during the weekends and over holidays, sometimes back to back to back.

A pack only works as well as the effort put into it, and mine now? It’s hardly hanging on.

Ronan is the only one of us who never grew up in a pack. He’s had to adapt to the life and open himself up to the changes required to make one work. But as the years have gone on, it’s become obvious where the biggest kink has come from, and it has nothing to do with him.

Without an omega, we’re stars in our own orbits, drifting without a central force to pull us together. It’s hard for a pack to make it work without one, but I didn’t think it was possible for us to be affected so deeply so soon.

Tonight could be the ultimate turning point for us. Briar’s about to change everything.

“Have you seen Landon?” Dash asks, cracking open his third Coke Zero of the day.

As he stands in front of me in the low kitchen lighting, it’s obvious that he’s put in more effort tonight than I was expecting him to, considering his “lack of interest” in Briar. Personally, I think this has all to do with Landon and little to do with his beta instincts. The carefully styled hair and fresh shave don’t make him appear nonchalant.

“Ronan said he was headed home with him a few minutes ago,” I answer, glancing at the timer on the oven.

The homemade pizza is simple, but with how intimidating it must be to meet an entire pack at once, I figured simple was best. She doesn’t need anything else to overwhelm her, even if I want to impress her in every aspect possible.

“Did he get lost, then? I haven’t seen him since this morning.”

“He’ll be here.”

“We’re in for a shit storm when he finds out she’s coming and we kept it from him. You know that, right?”

“If we’d have asked, he would have said no.”

It’s a terrible reasoning. We’re betraying him, and I’ve had to convince myself that it’s for a good reason. If he accepts her, it won’t matter what we did prior.

My mom would smack me upside the head if she knew I was hiding behind a possibility. I was taught to never do this exact thing my entire childhood. But it feels like the only option I have left.

I’m not allowing Landon to destroy our chances with Briar without at least meeting her face to face.

“You’re right, but that doesn’t make it any better.”

“I appreciate the comforting talk, but I’m not really up for it right now,” I say, sarcasm tweaking my tone.

“Sorry. Everything just feels so delicate.”

I shove my sleeves up to my elbows, suddenly hot enough to wish I’d worn something with less fabric than this sweater. The scratchiness I could overlook, but the last thing I want is to greet Briar with pit stains.

“It is delicate.”

“Especially with you and Ronan being dead set on her already,” he adds, attempting to be nonchalant but eyeing me a bit too closely.

“Is there something you want to say?”

His tongue swipes along his bottom lip. “Is she worth it, Jas?”

“Is she worth what, exactly?”

“Destroying the pack. Pushing Landon too far.”

A tortured kind of pain explodes behind my ribs, spikes impaling deep. “We’re already there. I don’t want to hurt Landon, but I can’t feel this emptiness anymore, Dash. That omega you’re asking about is worth this risk ten times over. You might not feel it yet, but you will. Give yourself the chance to get to know her without the worry of Landon clawing at your back, and you’ll be right where I am.”

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