Page 116 of In Doubt

“We found more, Giorgie,” he pants. “We found more of the path, evidence to support your theory. You need to come back to the site. Right now.”

My brow screws up in confusion as I struggle to follow his words. I don’t know what I was expecting him to say, but it wasn’t that.

“You were digging without me?”

“No, we were diggingforyou,” Levi says firmly.

“We?”

“Yes, all of us, Giorgie. Jake was sure your theory was correct and he asked us to help him prove it.”

“You found proof?” I ask, my heart beating a million times faster, my head dizzy. “Really?”

“Yes, Giorgie,” Jake says, stepping forward and taking my hands in his. “You were right and this is going to prove it.”

All four alphas are grinning at me madly, and their joy and excitement floods straight into my heart.

“You did that for me?” I ask, tears pooling in my eyes.

“Of course, we did, Baby Girl,” Jake says. “That’s what packs do. Help each other to succeed.”

I hiccup a laugh, then I can’t help myself, I fling my arms around Jake Grantham’s neck and hug him close. Soon I’m drowning in the bodies of the whole pack as they join us, standing in the sea of people, our arms wrapped around each other.

“Cucciola?” I peer through the mass of limbs at my brother. “What do you want to do?”

The others step back giving me some space, although Levi still has a hold of my hand. I glance down at the boarding passes in Ric’s grip.

“I’m really sorry, Ric–”

“You want to stay.” I nod and a grin cracks across his face, relief flooding his eyes. “That’s great, Giorgie.”

“It is?”

“Yes. It’s not like you to give something up.”

“But I dragged you all the way out here, away from Connie when she’s–”

He rests a hand on my arm and kisses the crown of my head. “It doesn’t matter. You know I’ll always be here whenever you need me. But,” he says, motioning behind him with his thumb. “It seems like you no longer need me, so I’d better catch this flight. Are you OK with that?”

“She’ll be fine. We’ll take good care of her,” Levi says.

Ric’s gaze flicks to the tall alpha beside me. “You’d better. This woman is very precious to me and if–”

“She’s precious to us too,” Levi interjects and his words have my insides fluttering. “Very.” He squeezes my hand.

I don’t know what all this means yet. But it’s like I can see my happy ending glimmering on the horizon, tempting me to join it. All I have to do is reach out and claim it with both hands.

30

Jake

The tent is reserved for the senior researchers and is crammed full of fold up tables and chairs. Piles of papers, maps and books are scattered across every available surface and a generator chugs in the background powering an array of laptops, their cables snaking across the matted floor.

We spot Professor Weaver in the corner and hurry towards her armed with the photos and notes Giorgie and I have spent the last couple of hours making.

The pack had helped me spend the previous day excavating the trench. It had been bloody hard work. Four alphas crammed together in a stupidly small hole. If it had been any other group of alphas, we’d probably have murdered each other. But we’ve always worked well together. As a team and as a pack. And so in the ten hours, we’d managed to unveil the remains of a path across the trench floor. Even finding a tiny discarded amulet known to belong to alphas and omegas.

Giorgie had burst into tears when she’d seen it and hugged me so tight I thought my ribs might crack.