Page 81 of Puck My Life

People forever say that if you love something, let it go, and if it comes back to you, it was meant to be yours. That’s bullshit. Anything could happen. I love my pack, and I’m not letting them go. It’s why I made us all bond. The only stipulation Raynor gave that I agreed with at the time was not to bond Vae.

He said she needed to be able to choose.

I’m done with waiting for her to choose.

This is the way the fairy tale was supposed to go. Hook and Pan together forever. There was no separating them. They are two sides of the same person. She is me.

I can’t lose her.

I will not lose her.

Not to some moronic alpha named Jansen. Not to anything. Everything is perfect the way it is, why does it need to change?

My phone vibrates in my hand, and I look down at it and see a text from her.

Want some company?

I look up and find her standing by my car, holding two cups of coffee, and looking like a damn star because she glows so brightly.

I stand up, unable to stay away from her, drawn irresistibly towards her. She’s an omega, and her heat is coming.

I try to imagine this Jansen taking care of her, and the thought makes me see red.

In all the omega’s we’ve dated, they have been safe. I’ve never felt anything other than lingering affection for them. They have all been replaceable. I’ve never come close to falling in love.

What could someone who didn’t even have their mother’s love possibly know about it?

My feelings are a maelstrom of lust, possessiveness, and protectiveness. I want to look after her. Laugh with her, learn, and grow old with her. I want to kiss her again and see her fall apart. She’ll sleep in our arms, safe where she belongs. Part of our family like she’s always been.

Not with this Jansen.

She holds out a coffee, but I bypass it, cupping her cheeks and tilting her head back so I can lay claim to her lips. She makes a surprised sound that morphs into a groan into my mouth, but I’m too busy falling into the taste of her.

And maybe that’s the problem. She isn’t ours.

We are hers.

I reluctantly pull back. “How’d you know I would be here?”

She shrugs, her cheeks pink, and her lips moist. “I know you, Pan.”

I take my coffee and follow her to the pirate ship. She climbs up and sits with her back to the wooden slats, while I take the other side.

“I’m sorry. For what I said. I didn’t mean it.”

“What did you mean?”

“I didn’t like seeing you with another alpha.”

“Why?”

“I’m not entirely sure,” I say evasively. “I just, well, I guess I got jealous.”

Her eyes get adorably wide. She fiddles with the lid on her coffee cup. “You did?”

“Yeah. I did. I lost my head a little bit.”

I’m about to open my mouth and tell her everything when she reaches out and puts a hand on my ankle.