Page 8 of Power Shift

“We all are. But you and me? We’re here.”

I nod, understanding where he’s coming from. “Do you think calling a pack meeting would help? Maybe we could bring it up?—”

“No. I’m not planning any fucking meeting. If Landon and Jasper don’t want to be here, then they can keep pissing off,” he snaps, slamming the bar into its holder.

When he shoves into a sitting position, I round the bench, standing in front of him. My chest caves in at the frustration burning in his eyes.

“We both know why Jasper’s been avoiding us. He’s started locking his bedroom door,” I murmur.

“If he’s wanting to avoid Landon, he doesn’t need to bother locking himself away.”

“I think it’s easier for him to just . . . be where we’re not. If you’re feeling the emptiness this badly, I don’t want to imagine how fiercely he’s feeling it. You know how he is, Ro.”

“Landon doesn’t get to make a decision that important on his own,” he grunts, swiping a hand over his sweaty forehead.

Turning, he sits on the edge of the bench and slouches over his knees. I take a seat beside him and kick off my sneakers, hating how restricting they are.

“He’s the pack leader. You know how it works. We might not have to let him make all the decisions, but if he doesn’t want an omega, bringing one into the fold will only make things worse between us.”

“We don’t know that.”

“Don’t we? Do you think forcing his hand will do us any good? Yeah, Jasper might be happy. So will you and me. But that fracture you’re feeling is only going to grow deeper if we push Landon too far,” I explain.

We might not share a pack bond yet, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t unofficially bonded in every other possible way. Theonly thing we’re missing is an omega and the mental bond we’d be able to share if we were to mark her as ours.

Pack bonds don’t work alpha to alpha. They’re created the moment a pack alpha marks an omega, and then with every bite that follows, the bond spreads between each member. If you never find an omega, you never have a pack bond. Simple as that.

Jasper believes all our problems will cease to exist the moment we awaken that bond, and while I do believe it would be life-changing, I also worry that at the rate we’re going, the gap will be too wide to close with anything. Even an omega of our own.

Ronan abruptly stands and stares down at me, blank-faced but not closed off. Not completely. The pain in his eyes has me pushing off the bench and crowding him, rubbing my arm against his.

His deep coffee scent overshadows the sweet notes of caramel that sometimes appear when he’s happy. Tonight, he’s all broody alpha, and it has me wanting to offer as much comfort as I can.

It’s not me he needs, though. Somewhere out there is a soft-as-cotton omega wanting everything that we have to offer.

I can only hope that we find her sooner than later.

“We’ll figure it all out, Ro,” I swear.

His silence is answer enough.

Don’t make promises you can’t keep.

4

BRIAR

Whose idea wasit for me to wear this dress? Or these shoes? I’m one wrong move away from tripping over myself and breaking my neck. That, or I’ll rip my dress right in half after one too many breadsticks.

Seeing Greg’s expression when he picked me up made it the tiniest bit worth the risks, though. The subtle spicy shift in his warm citrus scent was a confidence booster for sure. Even if he refused to keep it in the air for long.

Ever the gentleman, he was quick to usher me into his sleek sports car and drive us to the high-class restaurant without so much as a hand on my leg.

“How was work this week?” he asks, swirling the expensive red wine he’s chosen for tonight around in his glass.

I cross my ankles beneath the table and smile. “It was busy. I was there for the delivery of the sweetest little girl last night. She had bright green eyes, and I don’t think they’ll change throughout the next few months like most do. They were justsovibrant. And her mom was a superhero. She squeezed my hand so hard that I thought she was going to snap it in half. There’ssomething incredible about a woman’s body, Greg. To be able to create life the way we can is out of this world,” I ramble, my passion for what I do throbbing with its own heartbeat inside of me.

Greg’s mouth lifts in a slight smile, but it feels placating, forced. It has me slowly crawling back into myself before I freak him out, even as my stomach pangs. I’ve come too close to risk losing my future pack now, even I have to trap a whine from escaping at his dismissal.

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