“You lean on him, and you don’t lean easily. As someone who struggles with that himself, I get that. And like I said, he wouldn’t have left you either, so it’s his choice as much as it’s yours.”
“But it’s not your choice, and for that, I’m sorry.”
Bray sighed, and Palani removed his hand from his knee. “If this had happened a year ago, I would’ve balked. I would’ve thrown a fit and tried to pressure others into doing what I wanted…but it’s different now. Staying here in this pack is what’s best for Kean and Ruari, and also for Jax…and thus it’s what’s best for me.”
“Bray, I say this with zero condescension at all, but this makes me so proud of you. You’ve changed so much.”
The alpha blushed, fiddling with his hands. “Love changes you. I always thought that was BS, but it does. I would do anything for Kean and Ruari and even more for my son, and this is a small price to pay for their happiness. I’m not unhappy here, Palani. I’m proud to serve Lidon and you.”
Palani bumped his shoulder against Bray’s. “Thank you. Your role is invaluable to the pack. I hope you know that. And you and Kean did an amazing job keeping everything running while I was…sick. I’ve heard nothing but good words about you.”
To his surprise, Bray sighed at that. Palani frowned. Had he missed something? He had to admit his memory of the last few weeks before his life-and-death experience was fuzzy, a lot of the details hazy and vague.
“I dropped the ball on one thing, and that’s what I wanted to talk to you about when I brought up Maz and Lucan. Lucan asked me to check in on Sando, and I promised him I would…and then everything went to hell in a handbasket, and I was asked to take over your role…and I forgot. I’m deeply ashamed of myself because I let my brother down, but even more because he mentioned having spoken to Enar and you already as well, so I was yet another pack member to disappoint him.”
Sando. What had been the issue with Sando again? Something about… His cheeks heated when he remembered. Oh god. His father. Suspected abuse from his father, and he hadn’t done a damn thing about it. He could rationalize it with all kinds of excuses, but the bottom line was that he had failed him. The pack had failed him.
“God, Bray, it completely slipped my mind…”
“I know. Mine too once I took over from you. I had so many issues to deal with, and I forgot about him. I feel awful about it.”
“So what happened?”
Bray dragged a hand over his head. “It turns out they were right to be concerned. Professor Melloni was abusive, both emotionally as physically.”
The blood withdrew from Palani’s face. Abuse? Right here under his nose? And he hadn’t done anything to stop it. “Bray… Do you have details?”
“He forbade Sando to hang out with Maz and Lucan, he moved his office into the cottage without telling Sando, and he was very controlling in general. He also hit Sando a few times, though Sando downplayed it. But the worst thing is that there’s evidence he’s administered hormones to Sando without his knowledge, hormones that blocked his initial heat. This already started before Sando came to the ranch.”
Palani couldn’t hold back a gasp. “He did what?”
“I know. I couldn’t believe it when Sivney told me—with Sando’s permission, by the way.”
“But he’s safe now, right? He’s with Maz and Lucan? I heard he moved out of his father’s cottage and in with them.”
“He did. Sivney organized a round-the-clock-care schedule for the professor, who suffers from memory lapses that may indicate Alzheimer’s.”
Well, that confirmed how right they had been to name Sivney second-in-command of the new pack, though Palani was ashamed that the omega had picked up the slack from both him and Bray. “Sounds like Sivney has it handled.”
“Rhene set up a plan for housing for his pack. Servas has led a crew, including Maz and Lucan, to transform two of the barns into houses. One will be for Lucan and Maz, who’ll have their own bedroom and bathroom but will share a very basic kitchen with Duer and Taban, who will occupy the other two rooms in that building. And the other building is for the new threesome, Isam, Servas, and Mostyn. Adar and Ori are staying there as well. They’re still working hard to build more houses, but