29. James

29

JAMES

“Do you really think this is going to work?”

“It has to.”

Rome took up the entire length of the couch, laid out on his back like he was ready for mourners. Logan was hunched over in our armchair, fingers steepled and his leg bouncing restlessly.

Neither of the alphas had taken the news of my encounter with Ivy well.

“When did he say he’ll post it?” Logan asked Rome.

Rome rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands. “He’s doing it tonight.” He was always stressed these days. Stretched far too thin, dark shadows a constant beneath his eyes. It wasn’t like I was much better. But at least I didn’t have to endure the pain of seeing Ivy day to day, feeling like I could never reach her.

“Have you heard back from the organizations you contacted?” I asked, leaning my hip against the couch. I threaded my fingers through Rome’s hair and watched his eyelids flutter.

“No, but I gave Robbie their handles too so he’ll tag them,” Rome said tonelessly.

It hurt to see my alpha like this. I couldn’t lie either and say that Ivy hadn’t devastated me yesterday. But the pain I saw beneath the icy surface of her eyes was more for herself than for me.

I don’t know. That was a heavy thing to glean for someone I hadn’t known for long. Maybe we were being idiots.

But something in my gut told me not to give up on her. Not to give up on us.

“There’s no guarantee this will work, anyway. People expect piano covers from him, not this,” Rome sighed. Pessimism ran heavy cracks through his resolve.

Robbie O’Hara had blown up far beyond his original Fever Love cover. He had a knack for covering songs before they went big. With it came sponsorship deals — both legitimate and predatory — along with local news reporters. He was bewildered by it all and just wanted to make music.

Rome encouraged him to let his parents help him navigate his newfound fame and approached all three with his idea — asking if Robbie would be willing to utilize his platform to draw attention to resources SGS was sorely lacking.

“You said so yourself that Robbie wanted to help,” I reminded him. “That he knows there’s no pressure and we’re grateful regardless of what happens.”

Rome massaged his forehead worriedly. “I don’t like that I might have put him in a position to blame himself if it doesn’t work.”

I loved that Rome was more concerned with the impact it would have on Robbie instead of what we were hoping to get out of it. It was times like this that made me feel like he was too fucking good for this world.

Logan leapt up, his hand shaking slightly as he stared down at his phone. “Shit. I think he’s done it. Posted ten minutes ago.”

We crowded around him and watched Robbie’s video play out.

“Hey guys!” Robbie’s youthful smile filled the screen as he brushed his mop of blond hair out of his eyes. “I’ve got something a bit different for you today. Here’s a day in my life as a tenth grader at Starlight Grove School.”

I recognized the hallway on the edges of the frame. Robbie was filming close so no other students could be seen. He remained positive and upbeat as he went from class to class, undeterred by minor setbacks. Robbie rifled through a ball rack to find the least worn down basketball possible during PE. He had to share a scientific calculator with a classmate in math. His study session at the library was cut short when he realized there wasn’t a copy of a reference text he needed. His little sister had scraped her knee and he couldn’t find a band-aid that was the right size.

The video ended with him jogging down the familiar school steps. “I’m a bit embarrassed because I know it’s not as fancy as some of the schools you guys go to. But the teachers really do their best here.” Robbie held up a math test with a red A circled on top. “If you have some ideas for how I can show them some love, let me know,” he said before waving goodbye.

Logan looked lost. “Was he…supposed to tag people?”

“This can’t be right,” Rome muttered. He rewatched the video, the line between his brows deepening. “Fuck. What do I do now? I don’t want to tell him off.”

“Wait.” I clicked on the comments that had already begun to pop up. “People are tagging brands themselves,” I said in awe as I scrolled. Stationery, sporting goods, health, tech. “If this gets traction?—”

“It’ll probably get more attention because everyone is asking for supplies, not just Robbie,” Rome finished. He shook his head. “Man. Kids these days. They’re really in a league of their own.”

It was hard not to feel hopeful. The feeling was so unfamiliar after the last few weeks it lurched almost painfully beneath my sternum. “What about the organizations you had in mind for the second part of your plan?” I asked.

Rome scratched his stubbled jaw. “I’ll talk to Robbie tomorrow. But somehow I feel like he knows what he’s doing more than we do though.”

“How will we know these companies have even seen it?” Logan asked, clearly feeling out of sorts as he looked over the comments.

“We don’t. We just have to?—”

“Don’t say wait.”

I gave him a helpless shrug.

Logan grumbled impatiently, clearly ready to get back to never letting Ivy out of his sight again.

“Do you want to feel even more stressed by playing Overcooked?” I offered.

His lips flattened into a resigned grimace. “...Yeah.”

A side effect of Ivy’s distance was that Logan spent almost every night at ours now. We ate together, wound down from our work days together. One time I got home and did a double take at Logan chopping onions in the kitchen. “Did Rome not tell you he gave me a spare key?” he said offhandedly before asking me if bolognese was ok for dinner.

It was odd, Rome and I never felt like he was a third wheel and I didn’t think he did either. It was like we all wanted to forge a different kind of connection while things felt so in limbo with our omega.

Sometimes Logan stayed so late he was half asleep when he trudged back to his home next door. Tonight felt like it would end up being one of those nights, seeing as he was still glued to the TV with Rome at 10:00 p.m.

Rome’s phone buzzed on the table and he swore. “James, can you grab that? We’re literally?—”

Logan was practically levitating off the edge of the couch he was so tense. “Take the burgers, take the burgers, take the— YES!”

I bit back a laugh and grabbed the phone. I frowned at the caller ID — why was Marisol calling us at this time of night?

“Hi, it’s James. Rome’s a bit busy,” I answered quickly, backing away from the alphas howling about lettuce.

“Oh hello dear. Glad I caught at least one of you.” Marisol’s usual chipperness faded into concern. “Look, I’m not trying to be a busybody…”

A loud snort almost slipped out. Being a busybody was Marisol’s default state.

“...but I couldn’t help but notice that Ivy’s car was still parked at the school.”

Dread chilled me to the bone. “What?”

“Felix chose my place tonight and he was kicking up such a fuss over not having his treats. Wailing at the empty box I usually keep them. Lord, it was like he was holding a funeral in my kitchen. I finally told him I’d head back to the Market to fetch him some. That’s when I noticed Ivy’s car. It’s the only one still in the lot,” Marisol said pensively. “She’s not still working, is she?”

The thought of Ivy working alone in that big school was heart-wrenching. “We’ll take care of it. Thanks for the call, Marisol,” I said quietly before hanging up.

The alphas swore when I told them where Ivy was.

“We have to go check in on her.”

“Obviously.”

We piled into my car and drove in a stilted silence. I didn’t even care if we were overstepping after how we’d left things with her. I needed to know she was ok.

Ivy’s little blue car sat in the parking lot of SGS like an abandoned toy. How many nights had she walked to it alone in the bitter cold after a grueling day?

“Is this how it’s going to be from now on? Because if I have to sit by and watch her self-destruct, I don’t know if…” Rome looked utterly defeated, unable to finish his sentence.

I hated that it had come to this. The best I could hope for was that this would be the wake up call Ivy needed.

The entrance to the elementary wing was unlocked.

“I don’t believe this,” Logan said furiously, pushing the door open easily.

“Fucking Bruce,” Rome cursed low and angry. I’d heard enough stories about SGS’s custodian but this was beyond the pale. How could he leave Ivy alone in a building where anyone could get in?

There was a sense of déjà vu as I strode down those darkened halls. The familiar hum of the heat on low. That creeping sensation that someone or something would suddenly appear like a wraith. The last time I was in the school after-hours was because of Ivy. Her recklessness. Her heat spike.

We had no idea what we were stepping into last time but tonight we were single-minded.

Her classroom was the only one with a soft orange glow filtering out beneath the door. My steps quickened and I ripped the door open, needing to see that she was alright.

My heart plummeted at the still form of my omega draped over her desk.

“Ivy!”

I was by her side in an instant, the alphas not far behind. She began to stir from the sudden noise of all of us rushing over. I pulled her into my arms, tucking her under my chin protectively.

“J-James?”

Her words were groggy but the tight vise of trepidation in my chest loosened slightly. She blinked hard several times, taking us in.

“I fell asleep?” She sounded too tired to even be surprised that we were all there. She could barely keep her eyelids open as she drooped against me.

Rome tapped her laptop and the screen lit up. “You were applying for grants?” he asked. He sounded so broken. “Ivy, I haven’t even heard of half of these.”

“Just…trying to do my best,” Ivy said faintly.

The need to care for her absolutely overwhelmed me. This was what I was meant for, why I was part of this pack.

Logan tucked his face into the crook of her neck, taking in her scent. I could barely detect it, but I knew he was reading more into that faint gingerbread than I ever could. “We’re going to take you home now, alright?” he said carefully.

“You two go,” Rome ordered us.

My brow furrowed. “What are you?—”

He opened and closed the drawers on her desk, his mind calculating and taking stock. His finger ran along a shelf and came away dusty. “I need to show her that she doesn’t have to do this all on her own anymore,” he insisted.

His determination in the bond was impenetrable. Nothing I said right now would change his mind.

I felt around until I found Ivy’s bag and fished out her car keys. I tossed them to Rome and he caught it, eyes blazing. “We’ll take care of her. See you when you’re done,” I said simply.

He took a stricken Ivy from me and held her close, assuring her he wanted to help and was happy to. She kept shaking her head, not understanding.

I hated that she thought we were inconvenienced by this. My girl needed to know that this was what we were here for. The physical care was obvious — making sure she’d eaten, working that tight tension out of her muscles she didn’t even realize had built up, letting her rest. But more importantly, I wanted to get to the bottom of why she felt compelled to push herself this way.

I glanced at Logan, unsure if his alpha was going to let me lead.

“Logan. When we get home, I want to take over. Be in control,” I said slowly. “Is your alpha ok with that?”

He shot me a surprised look. Assessing me. “I want my scent on her,” he admitted.

“That’s fine.”

“Is this…you’re not into pain, are you?” he asked me warily.

I don’t know why he thought I was going to solve Ivy’s problems with my penis.

Although to be fair, I couldn’t conclusively say that it wasn’t going to end up in that direction.

“No. Definitely not. Quite the opposite.”

A touch of curiosity bled in. “Yeah, James. Whatever you need.”

Rome handed Ivy back to us and we left him behind in her classroom. Logan held her in the backseat the entire drive home, her head tucked perfectly beneath his bearded chin.

“I didn’t mean to worry you guys,” Ivy said in a small voice. She kept looking between us, growing nervous at our silence. “James, I want to apologize for the other night. I shouldn’t have?—”

“It’s ok, Ivy,” I said gently. “Let’s just get home first and we can talk.”

“Right,” she said softly. I could already see the detachment in her eyes. She probably thought this was one last favor we were doing for her before leaving her forever.

No wonder she was surprised when I pulled up in front of my place. “Not mine?” she asked hesitantly.

Logan thumbed her chin tenderly. “No, princess.”

It did make more sense to take her home to her nest. But reconnecting as a pack came first. Showing her we hadn’t given up on her came first. I knew we’d made the right choice when she sucked in a big, shaky breath as soon as the door opened. She hadn’t even realized how much she’d been missing our scents.

Ivy was nervous as I sat her down on the couch between us. I tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear before leaning in for a kiss. She started, eyes widening as my lips lingered over hers. She kissed me back tentatively and I could sense her confusion.

“I’m really glad you’re here, Ivy.”

Her eyes brimmed with tears. “How can you…after everything I said. I was awful to you.” She didn’t know who to look at and settled on the floor. “I don’t know how to fix this,” she whispered.

“It’s not something you’re meant to fix on your own,” I told her gently. “We’re a pack.”

A flicker of understanding crossed her face. “Us against the problem,” she said quietly to herself.

“Hmm?”

“Nothing…it’s something my mom said.”

I phrased my next words carefully. “Sweetheart, I want to understand why you think your needs are supposed to come last.”

She looked caught. Her mouth opened soundlessly, ready to say I don’t , but she closed it after a beat, really thinking about it.

“I can’t pinpoint it exactly. But probably for a lot of different reasons,” she finally admitted. “Making sure I didn’t cause trouble for my parents when they were dealing with whatever predicament my sister got herself in that week. Wanting to be the best teacher I could be. Feeling like it was easier to do everything myself so it was to my standard. Not wanting to disappoint people when my help would make a difference. A lot of small things that just…”

“Snowballed.”

“Yeah. Until it cost me?—”

A shaky hiccup swallowed her last word.

You.

“It hasn’t, Ivy.”

Logan spoke at the same time. “Never,” he said fiercely.

I could see the steel melt from her spine. The veil between who she thought she had to be and who she wanted to be faltered.

“But there is something I need.” I tested the waters cautiously.

“Anything,” Ivy said immediately.

The last few weeks had been difficult in many ways. But the unsettled feeling was the worst part of it. It was a simpler fix for the alphas — keep their omega close, marked with their scent until she perfumed sweetly for them.

It was a little different for me though. Seeing her spiral and pull away tapped into my caretaking instincts hard.

I always did have trouble resisting a wounded bird.

The Rome I first met was beautiful and a little lost and the Ivy in front of me had an inexplicable need to burn the candle at both ends. Both woke up a different side of me. In day to day life, that usually manifested in trying to lighten their hearts, finding happiness in the little things.

But that wasn’t what would satisfy me right now.

“I’m going to need you to let me take care of you,” I said, my voice quiet but firm.

Ivy’s eyebrows knitted together in confusion. “What? That doesn’t seem fair.”

“You would have to let go, Ivy.” My hand moved up and down her arm, repetitive and steadying. “Let me give you what you need.”

She swallowed visibly. “Is this a sex thing?”

“It might lead there,” I admitted. “But it really isn’t the core of what I want.”

“You’re serious.”

“Yes.”

There was no playfulness in my tone. I felt myself sink deeper into this side of myself, hungry to see her surrender to me.

“Let you take care of me,” she echoed. “That’s it? You don’t need some sort of grand gesture? For me to quit my job and build my nest in your home?”

“If those were not things you wanted for yourself, giving them to us would be meaningless.”

I could see the weight of my words settle, the blue in her eyes deepening as she understood what I was saying.

I want you for you .

Logan was watching us, letting me lead like we agreed. But he was part of this too and Ivy brought him in so perfectly on her own.

“I’m sorry.” She traced the wrinkles around his eyes before raking her fingers through his hair. “I’m sorry for pushing you away.”

“These last few weeks sucked, Ivy,” he said bluntly.

“I-I know.”

“I’m ready to move on. Not to how we were. Something better.”

Her eyes welled up. “I want that too.”

He was tender with his kiss but she seemed to want to be consumed by him. Grasping his collar, bending herself back so he would loom and overwhelm her with his size. A throaty purr thrummed from his chest, his hand splayed across the small of her back as he pulled her hard against him. He broke away, only so he could brace her exposed throat and trail a dozen heated kisses down her skin, marking her with his scent. Crisp, like a freshly cut tree in the frosty mountain air. Ivy whimpered, melting into him and letting his alpha have his way with her.

Logan didn’t take it further, swapping kisses for a careful perusal, smoothing her hair back from her face.

“When did you last eat, princess?” he asked.

Ivy lowered her eyes. “Lunch,” she confessed.

“I’ll make you something,” he said firmly, standing up. “You go with James.”

Ivy’s gaze lingered around the room. “Is Rome going to come home soon?” she asked, clearly having felt his absence and finally gathering the courage to ask.

“He’s taking care of you too. In his own way.”

I could still feel his focus in the bond, reverberating in the background like a steady bassline.

I knelt so our faces were level and slid my hands up her thighs towards her waist.

“You ready?”

She had to make the choice to close the final gap between us.

“James.”

We were in the eye of a hurricane. Me, her and the way she said my name.

“Right here, gorgeous.”

“I’m yours,” she promised, right before her lips found mine.