broke, and I got it? I'm too old! I'd never survive that, and you didn't even give me the chance to decide the risk was worth it."
His breath fell out in a rush, but he nodded. "Ok," he said, moving back to the door. "You're right." Then he paused to take another breath. That came out as a sigh, and he tapped his fist against the frame. "You just need to know one more thing."
"What's that?"
It took too long for him to answer. "I'm in love with you. I may not be perfect, but that is one thing I'm damned sure of. I'm in love with you, and it's not just going to go away. Lane? He is too. Was first, actually. The others are getting there faster than they expected. So, when you're thinking and making your decisions, you have to decide what you're going to do with that."
Then he was gone, leaving me wondering if that mattered more than the lies.
CHAPTER 50
Much of November passed without Elena, and Thanksgiving was creeping up on us. It had been weeks since I'd seen her. One of Gabby recovering from her sickness, and two more since Elena had been to work. Ashley had given her time off to deal with everything, which meant she wasn't in the office. I knew, because I'd tried to catch her there, just to apologize and assure her that Roman had been dealt with. The boy had broken the rules, intentionally defying his alpha, and now he had to pay the price.
He'd been knocked down to the lowest level of respect in the community. Everyone knew what he'd done. If he wanted to regain his place, he had to prove that he would obey my rules or he'd be out when he became an adult. For now, the pack just ignored him, acting like he was nothing more than a ghost in our midst. That had actually been his mother's idea - not mine, thankfully, since it was torture for our kind. Although I'd intended to threaten something almost as bad. I did make it clear that he was not to see Gabby again. Not at school, home, or anywhere else, and that my mate was the only person who could rescind that order.
And Gabby got her own punishment. It wasn't as severe, but only because she hadn't realized what she was asking for. Still, she had lessons every day with Lane, right after school. Since she wanted to be a wolf so bad, I was giving her every chance to learn how. From cultural norms in our society to the sounds we used in our wolf bodies, she was going to learn them all. In other words, she was grounded, wolf style.
But since Elena was avoiding me, Olivia had become my latest source of information on my mate. I wasn't proud to be the one encouraging a teenager to gossip, but I was desperate. She, thankfully, was more than happy to share.
"So," the girl told me while Gabby and the guys were off running in the woods, "it's not good. According to Gabby, her mom's freaking out because she moved here to keep Gabby safe, and now she's made it worse. She feels like a failure as a mother, and she's blaming herself for being distracted by you."
"What?" I gasped. "How do I have anything to do with this?"
She gave me a look that proved I was stupid. "Dude, you banged her without the full disclosure. That's seriously crossing a line. How would you feel if it was the other way around?"
"What do you even know about that?" I asked. "You're like fifteen."
"Yeah, and all my life, you adults keep telling me that my boyfriends should respect me and that he needs to be honest, and if he's not I should bail, right?" So she waved at me. "Not honest. Ya kinda skipped the whole 'life-altering disease that's sexually transmitted' part."
"Ok..." I groaned, knowing she was right. "So how do I fix this?"
"I don't know. I'm fifteen!"
"Go," I told her, pointing at the woods. "Run or something."
She pulled off her shirt, tossing it beside the rest. "I'd suggest talking to Ashley. Elena's pissed at her too, but not as much as she is at the five of you."
"Run," I reminded her. "Less lip, pup."
She barely dropped her pants before she was shifting, racing off into the trees with her tail just a little too high. Smartass. Then again, she had a point. Pulling out my