Page 70 of Talk About… Dramay
“Cameron Whitaker,” she growled, though it held no heat. “What did you do now?”
“So, you know how we went antique hunting on weekends?”
“Yes,” she hedged, drawing it out.
“Mama and I still go,” I admitted. “I’ve got a storage unit full. This wasn’t the only piece I found.”
“Wait, what? Why? What were you going to do with it all?”
“Well, the goal was to convince you to come home one day. Then, when you were ready to open, at least you’d have a stock to start with,” I admitted. “And if you couldn’t forgive me, I figured I’d send it anonymously and deny my involvement.”
She shook her head and stood again, walking over to me this time and climbing into my lap. My chest ached at having her in my arms like this again, tears of relief threatening to fall as it resonated through my soul.
She put a hand on my cheek, my full focus back on her.
“Thanks for never truly letting me go,” she whispered as she leaned in and brushed her lips over mine. Her ocean eyes were full of emotion. I couldn’t look away as I tucked a loose strand of her copper hair behind her ear.
“That would be like letting go of part of my soul. Even though I was in pain and hurt you, everything in me protested those actions. I’ve always loved you and I won’t ever stop,” I vowed.
She leaned forward and rested her forehead against mine.
“Come home with us?”
Tate
We all stuck around to help Cameron clean up the gathering and put out the fire. It would have been easy to take her and run, leaving him to deal with it alone, but she deserved a pack… and he was part of that.
Not to mention, the guy was tortured enough. I’d had my own fair share to be able to easily recognize it. Even if I didn’t hear his story around the alpha camp fire.
He knew he’d fucked up and thought there was no coming back. They were so young and he’d been through a trauma that would break most people.
I was stunned that Cameron had done so much for her without knowing if she was ever going to see it. Those letters dated back years.
Her forgiveness wasn’t anyone else’s choice, but I thought the fact he did things to protect her without expecting anything in return, spoke volumes.
The fact he was willing to do the work meant that our pack might have hope yet.
Cameron was in a stunned trance, though he was a lot less combative and defensive than when I first walked in.
Lane and Hudson kept shooting me grins that felt a little too ‘I told you so’ but I just ignored them.
Roman was already trying to ease the melding of our group. He would crack a joke or redirect, it was like he could already read all of us and it was second nature.
He was also her rock. Oriana clung to his hand or he was brushing a touch across her skin any time they passed.
It was strange being around so many people after a few weeks of being on my own. The last job they did was with an omega so I’d sat that out, too.
Yet, this felt different.
Even though we were finding our way together and in a strange spot, we also had an easy camaraderie that was falling into place the more time that went on.
“Ride with me?” I asked my omega as we loaded the last of Cameron’s supplies into his truck bed.
She gave me a shy grin and smiled, putting her hand in mine. Fuck, who was I that such a simple gesture filled my entire body with warm satisfaction? My alpha was practically glowing with pride.
No one argued as I lifted her into my own truck and buckled her in. Her cheeks were an adorable pink and I had a feeling she’d been on her own a whole lot until now.
When I climbed in, I reached for the music, turning it down to just background noise.