Page 133 of Pack Rivals: Part Two
There’s a serious tone to the air, and I scoot up onto my elbows to peer at them all.
I’m guessing they’re hoping for a decision. They want to know if I’m willing to join this pack.
I could put them out of their misery but I decide I want to hear what they have to say first.
As usual, it’s Axel who speaks first. He clears his throat and meets my eye, his face earnest.
“I’m sorry, Bea. Truly sorry for fucking things up between us so badly. For hurting you, for leaving you open to danger. I’m going to regret my decisions every day of my life and I only hope you can forgive me. I know it’s a lot to ask, but if you will, I’ll make sure I and every member of this pack spends every day making you happy. Fuck, I’d build you ten million nests if it makes you as happy as you looked when you first walked in.”
I smile at him but before I can answer his brother speaks next.
“I’m sorry too, Bea. For being an asshole and a jerk. For not putting your feelings first. For worrying too much about my pride and not enough about the people around me. And,” he says, glancing over to his brother, “whatever happens here, whatever you choose, I’ll always be grateful that through meeting you, we’ve repaired this pack. That we’ve mended what was broken between us. I’ll be grateful for that even if you choosing not to be with us rips the very heart out of my chest.”
I roll my eyes at his hyperbole but he shakes his head.
“I’m not being fucking dramatic here, sweetheart. It’s the truth. You’re our omega, our mate–”
“Our fated mate,” Hardy adds. “You know what that means, baby girl?”
I hesitate then shake my head. I’ve heard the term, of course I have, but I’ve never bothered to give it much thought before.
“It’s fairytales,” Silver mutters.
Hardy’s jaw tightens as he stares at me. “It’s not. It exists. I know because I feel it here.” He thumps his chest. “Bea was meant for us, and we were meant for her. It’s fate. You can go against it if you want – there’s always free will – you can choose not to be with this pack. But it’ll hurt. It will gut us.”
“No more than we fucking deserve,” Connor adds.
“I don’t want to hurt any of you,” I say, rolling up to sit cross-legged on the bed. “I definitely don’t want to gut you.” I pull a face.
“But can you forgive us?” Silver asks quietly.
I stare up at him and then at the two brothers that caused all this pain and hurt, not only for me but for their packmates and their family too.
I think of all the other heartache I’ve carried, too. From Karl. From Serena.
Hardy’s right; tearing myself away from these men, denying myself this pack will be a million, trillion times more painful than anything Karl or Serena did to me.
Because deep down I know they are good men. Kind, loving, protective. They’ve made their bad decisions and they’ve owned up to them. They’ve tried to make amends. Karl wouldn’t know what amend meant if it slapped him round the face with a dead fish.
“Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity or registering wrongs,” I say, peering at Connor.“You have my full and free forgiveness.”
“Jane Eyre,” he says and I nod.
“If Jane could forgive her Rochester, then I can forgive you.”
For a moment, they simply stare at me as if they can’t believe their own ears. Then Angel says, “Perhaps you had better hold off giving us your forgiveness just yet, little one.”
“Oh?” I say, the blood in my veins running cold. I can sense a confession coming and an unease overtakes me. Is there a mad wife lurking in this attic?
“There is something else we have to come clean about.” My body stiffens in preparation for the next blow. I hope it won’t be enough to destroy me completely, not when I’ve just handed them my heart. “The development on the beach. It’s ours. We are behind it.” I gasp, my hands flying to my mouth.
“You can’t … you mustn’t–”
Angel lifts up his hand. “We’ve already decided to cancel it. We won’t be proceeding.”
“What?” I say.
“The development on the beach is not going ahead,” Axel confirms.
