Page 89 of Psycho Alphas: Part Two

“So… are you a pack?” I asked.

“One big happy family,” Callum supplied. I didn’t prod further, though I wondered if that meant they were bitten in.

“How many?” I asked. “Are there more Omegas?”

“Nah. Just me and Tanisha. And right now we have six.” Callum began counting off on his fingers, nodding to the people in the room. “For Alphas we got Petal, then Saint and Fang—but they don’t come out much.”

Three Alphas, two Omegas, and one Beta.

That seemed like a well-balanced pack—or family.

Whatever they wanted to call it.

They started playing a game with dice, though I was happy to watch while I snacked on cold Poptarts. I hadn’t grown up in a family that played many games, everyone was tense and angry, and nothing like the playful energy in this room as Vance flopped back on the couch when he lost.

“So,” Vance asked from where he lay on the couch, eyeing me with interest. “You and Knox?”

“Yup. He’s?—”

“Special?” Vance supplied.

I frowned at Vance, unsure.

Did helikeKnox?

“Oh.” Vance chuckled, catching my expression. “No. You got us wrong. We just know Knox is a good man. He deserves a bit of happiness.”

“Most people don’t understand how special he is,” Petal said. “It’s just nice to see someone does. And… I don’t know. It’s kind of nice that you aren’t his scent match. After everything, I think it makes it more important.”

“He helped you all out?” I asked.

“That,” Callum said, “would be putting it lightly. None of us would be alive without him. And even this here.” He nodded around at the home. “Doesn’t ask for anything. We want tohelp when he hosts the parties—no one should do what he does alone. But he just tells us it’s safe for life here. No strings. No pressure. Some of us, like Fang—” He shrugged. “Never healed. He wouldn’t make it in the world, not anymore.”

“So you all chose to stay?” I asked.

“Who’d make sure he doesn’t starve?” Vance asked.

Petal looked sorrowful, though. “He drives himself mad trying to get more out. Even when he does, it’s not enough.”

“I know he’s a grouch,” Vance said. “But he gives everything, and then some. We got one in here who couldn’t adjust. Every night he was out in the hallways, crying out. It went on for weeks and weeks. He just needed someone there. But we’re not always well enough to manage. We’re doing better now, but at the time most of us were barely stable. It was driving everyone nuts. So Knox started coming down every night, sat with him the whole night for months until he was better. Don’t think he got more than a few hours’ sleep the whole time. It’s hard to explain how much of a toll that takes, just listening to someone like that. Would be enough to drive most people mad. He didn’t complain once—that’s the kind of person he is.”

I frowned.

He might be a little unhinged around the edges, but I could see it. I’d seen that side of him when he’d taken care of me.

“You know, I was so angry when I found out he’d scent matched Bella,” Tanisha said. “He deserves better than that—something real. I never considered it might be a blessing.”

I frowned. “Why?”

“Because you love him forhim.”

“I think… when you’ve gone through what he has, things like fate can be hard to trust.”

“Especially when it can be such a cunt.”

Petal nudged me. “So you keep reminding him. We try, but he doesn’t see what he’s done. All he can think of are the ones he can’t save. But that’s not on him.”

Vance snorted. “He does his best to make it easy to forget he’s one of us.”