14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Aydan

Once again, I found myself searching for Jayce. I had to leave early that morning, and when I went back to the house at the time he would normally be getting up, he was already gone. It made sense he got up early. He'd gone to sleep fairly early from what I gathered.

Wherever he was, Corey must've been with him because I couldn't find him either. I had sent out a text but didn't get a reply. That wasn't like my brother.

Was I being brushed off by Jayce? He hadn't been too pleased with my performance in the diner. I hadn't either, for that matter. Maybe he was still perturbed about that. I wouldn't blame him. Sure, I'd admitted I was wrong, but wrong and sorry weren't necessarily the same thing. No, he wasn't one to hold grudges. I was so desperate for answers I was grasping at straws.

But if he was mad at me, I wouldn't blame him. I'd sure given him enough fuel since we met. And really, I shouldn't be expecting anything from him. We'd said this was temporary and just a fling.

But did it have to be over? I didn't want it to be, and it was time to alpha up and tell him so before it was officially too late.

I started toward the wagon of pumpkins. The den celebration was in two days, and I hoped I'd find him near there or perhaps someone would know where he was. After all, this was his bright idea.

It was midday on a weekday, yet somehow, I managed to find all of my Betas and several other alphas, who I knew had full-time jobs, along with Rissa and a few other den members, all sitting in one area, surrounding Jayce as he talked animatedly. He definitely knew how to capture everyone's attention. Especially mine.

As I walked closer, the conversation reached my ears.

"So then Corey, in his infinite wisdom, was like, ‘Jayce, we need to call the Alpha.' And I was like, ‘Nah, we really don't.' I wasn't about to let the Alpha know that I was stuck in a tree naked. So I thought, ‘Hey, I can't get out as a human, but maybe I can get out as a bear.'"

Everyone laughed.

Jayce looked around at his audience, drawing them in deeper into his story. "In case you all need a reminder, we are in the middle of a human town in broad daylight," Jayce continued.

"He couldn't just shift into a bear," Corey said, his eyes rolling.

This story wasn't about me, Alpha. It was about their former Alpha. It was weird thinking of them not being here, a part of this den. Sure, I knew they both had lives before they got here, but also, it was easy to forget. This was their home, and even if Jayce decided what I had to offer him wasn't enough, it would continue to be true.

"Well, no, we needed a distraction to keep the humans from seeing. A diversion. We needed to distract them with something else in another place. Corey refused to set off the sticks of dynamite, though."

Good golly, what in the hell was I listening to? And how had I never heard this story? Dynamite? Naked in a tree? The two of them needed to never be allowed alone together if this was the kind of trouble they used to manage to get themselves into. That was for sure.

The alphas around Jayce laughed, all of them likely picturing his naked body in a tree or other places. The surge of jealousy that slammed through me was strong. I cleared my throat, and all eyes snapped toward me.

"I take it you are all on some sort of break?" Was I being a dick, as Jayce had called me in the diner that day? Abso-fucking-lutely. But imagining those alphas envisioning his hardening dick and grabbable ass—yeah, that wasn't something I was going to allow to happen. They needed to be gone already.

"Oh, we're just telling stories," Jayce said. "Surely you have some wild ones from your youth."

Did I? No, I really didn't. I'd always been the reasonable one. It had been who I was and would remain that way.

"I could go on for days." Jayce leaned back. No part of me thought he was exaggerating. He probably had stories within stories and there were probably multiple that had him naked. Why did he have to be naked in this one? It was making it exceedingly difficult not to growl at my den mates.

"I'll bet you could," Patrick said. Of all the alphas out here, he surprised me the most. When was the last time I saw him outside the diner kitchen? Never. Not for leisure, anyway.

Honestly, Jayce probably could go on for days about his adventures. Jayce had lived more in his life than I ever had. I was pretty envious of that, in a way. I wouldn't have changed my life, for it led me to become the alpha I was, but also… some fun along the way would've been nice.

"Are you staying?" Jayce patted the ground beside him.

Was I or were we both leaving? What I wanted to do more than anything was to talk to him… to really talk. But with everyone here, no one deciding to leave even with my grumpy comment, there was no way to do that without putting Jayce in an awkward position. None.

"I was getting coffee. Do you want any?" It just came out. Coffee hadn't been on my mind at all.

He blinked up and me and finally said, "Maybe some tea?"

"Got it. Anyone else?" Because not doing so would've had me bouncing into that dick territory.

Gods, that had really bothered me more than I realized apparently. And not because other den members might think it true or anything like that. Nope. It was because I cared what Jayce thought far more than I should.

Ten minutes later I had a list of coffees and teas and headed to get them from the coffee shop. It was small and it took forever to get them all made, which was fine. I wasn't completely sure I was ready for wild Jayce stories just yet.

"I think I made a rookie mistake." I glanced down at the plethora of coffees and teas on the counter. I did not have the hands for these, that was for sure.

"Hmmm." Lili, the barista, rubbed her chin. "I have an idea."

A few minutes later, I was leaving with two huge bags, each holding multiple drink holders. It wasn't perfect, and the bags were barely holding on when I got back to story hour with Jayce, but they got there. I called that a win.

I passed them around, and the alphas all gave me a look telling me they weren't quite sure how to response to my random coffee trip. It was completely out of character for me, and at the same time, felt really good. I'd asked not to be a jerk by only offering for Jayce and nothing more. That much was true, but I was going to do it again.

"Are you going to join us now or are you worried we bite?" Jayce opened and closed his teeth as if chomping me.

How I wished he did bite—down hard on my shoulder, claiming me as his own.

We really needed to talk. Not now, though. Now I needed to sit by his side and listen to him tell more outlandish stories. I learned so much about him and my brother over the next hour, in some cases things I very much didn't want to know.

At the heart of each and every one of those stories, was Jayce being a nice guy. Not once was the story about him being rude or disobedient and having the situation go awry. It was often the case that he was either doing or heading out to do something nice for another when not everything went as planned.

Jayce was a good omega, a great man, and a sweet bear. Having him in the den, in my house, and in my heart was everything. But also, it wasn't enough. And when we were done here and no longer had an audience that included nearly all of my pack, I was going to tell him exactly that, and then, if things worked out well, we could discuss where to go from here.

Gods, I hoped it was him being willing to settle for me, his non-fated, and accepting me as his mate. I couldn't think of anything in this world that I'd like more.