by J. L. Wilder
Haley shook her head. “They didn’t do anything wrong,” she said. “It’s not that. It’s me who fucked things up.”
“Why would you say that?” Tom asked. “What happened? Is this about the Alpha Games?”
“No, it’s not about the Games,” Haley said. “Not really. It was never really about that. Tom...” She shook her head. “I don’t know why I feel like I can confide in you, but I do.”
“You can,” he assured her. “I’m happy to listen, Haley. Whatever it is.”
“Even if it’s about your brothers?” she asked.
“I’m used to hearing things about them,” Tom said wryly. “That’s been my whole life.”
She took a deep breath. “I wanted to tell Jasper this today,” she said. “But now...I don’t know if it’s even true. I don’t know what to think. And I need someone to help me figure it out because I feel like I’m losing my mind.”
“Tell me,” Tom urged, tightening his arm around her shoulders and taking her hand.
Haley couldn’t understand why she already felt so comfortable with him. She would have had a hard time confiding in Margaret about the things that had happened.
Maybe that was just because Margaret had been so judgmental of her recently, though. Right now, she sort of felt as though she couldn’t tell Margaret anything.
Tom was a different story. He was so new in her life. If he judged her, she would lose nothing that she was depending on for stability or strength.
That doesn’t feel true at all.
But she had to tell someone, or she was going to lose her mind.
She swallowed. “I think Jasper might have imprinted,” she said. “On me.”
She felt Tom freeze beside her. What was he thinking? Was he horrified?
If that horrified him, just wait until he hears the rest of it.
“You think he imprinted?” Tom repeated. “But betas can’t imprint. Only alphas can.”
She waited, not speaking, for him to understand.
And he did. She saw the moment when understanding washed over him. “You think he’s an alpha now,” Tom breathed.
“I don’t know what to think,” Haley repeated. “Because the day I thought he’d imprinted on me, the day I was sure...” She hesitated. If she pushed Tom away, would she also push the others away?
“What?” Tom asked.
“That was the day Dean was here,” Haley forced herself to say. “And I felt it with him too. The chemistry. The imprint. And I was positive. He left so quickly that I didn’t have time to talk to him about it. But I was sure, Tom. I’ve read about imprinting. I used to dream it would happen to me.”
“But Dean can’t be an alpha,” Tom said blankly. “They can’t both be alphas.”
Then something else seemed to occur to him. He turned to look at her. “You slept with them,” he said.
She nodded. It was a relief to admit to it.
“Both of them?” he asked.
“I thought it was Jasper,” she said. “Both times, I thought it was Jasper. It never occurred to me that you and Dean wouldn’t have known about Jasper and me. It never occurred to me that you might all come separately, that I might meet you all here...”
“Jesus,” Tom whispered.
And then he pulled her into his arms, holding her against his chest, his arms wrapped so tightly around her that she felt like her body might fuse with his.
“Tom,” she gasped.
“Oh, sorry.” He loosened his grip a little. “I just...God. That must have been insane for you. Going through all that by yourself. You haven’t talked to anyone?”
“No one,” she said. “My best friend and I are fighting, and Jasper and Dean...”
“Not the world’s greatest communicators, yeah,” Tom said.
“Why did you come over here?” she asked. “If you didn’t know any of that?”
He shook his head. “You’re going to laugh,” he said. “If I’d known all this stuff, I wouldn’t have even thought of it.”
“You have to tell me,” she said. “I told you my stuff.”
“Yeah, I know.” He took a deep breath. “Actually, I was going to...to ask you to be in my pack.”
She stared at him.
“What would give you an idea like that?” she asked after a moment.
“I don’t know,” he said. “When I thought of it, it made so much sense. I thought we could just go looking for an alpha together after we graduated. But it’s crazy, isn’t it? What would hold us together? How could we be a pack with no alpha?”
“Unless,” she whispered.
“Unless?”
“Yeah. Unless.”
His eyes widened.
It felt as if they were waking up to one another at the same moment. Everything was simultaneous. She reached for him, and he reached for her, and then they were lying down, lowering each other to the river bank, and clothes were coming off.
When they were both naked, Tom propped himself up on one elbow and regarded her. “This is crazy,” he said. “Isn’t it? I mean, this is straight-up insane.”
“I feel it now too,” she said, tracing her fingers lightly over the planes of his chest. “Do you feel it?”
“If you told me you didn’t want me right now, it would kill me,” Tom said softly. “It would be like seeing the most amazing food in the world and then being told you could never taste it. I’ll want you for the rest of my life. How can I know that?”
“You’ve imprinted,” she said.
“But that’s what’s crazy,” he said. “I’m a beta. I can’t.”
“I don’t think you are,” she whispered.
“You can’t think my brothers are alphas and also think I’m an alpha,” Tom said. “We can’t all be alphas.”
“Can you deny what you’re feeling?” Haley asked.
He shook his head. “I can’t explain it,” he said. “But you’re right. I can’t deny it.”
“Then I’m yours,” she said. “I’m yours, and never mind the rest of it. All I know, all that matters, is that I want you.”
He rolled over, covering her body with hers, and took her.
And it was nothing like Jasper, and nothing like Dean.
His hands moved nonstop, determined to map out every inch of her skin. Wherever his fingers went, his lips followed, his tongue tasting her.
He fucked her as if he didn’t even know he was fucking her. Jasper had been masterful and deliberate, and Dean had been awestruck, but Tom moved effortlessly and automatically. After a moment, Haley realized that her own body was responding in kind, her hips rocking up to meet his thrusts.
This couldn’t possibly be anything but an imprint.
How can it be all three of them?
She didn’t know. She only knew that it was.
She whispered his name, over and over, determined to make sure that he knew that it mattered that she was with him and not one of his brothers. She would never confuse them again. She would always know who was with her. “Tom. Tom.”
He pressed his face into her clavicle and let out a sob of pleasure. His hips hitched again, once—twice—
She bit down hard on her lip to keep from screaming as she came and tasted blood, and it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered except him.
Afterward, they lay in each other’s arms for a long time, feeling the warmth of each other’s bodies. “It’s strange,” Haley murmured.
“What is?” Tom asked.
“How different you feel from the others,” she said. “I can’t believe I ever thought you were Jasper. You’re nothing like Jasper.”
“We have to tell him,” Tom said softly. “I have to tell him what happened. And you have to tell him your theory.”
“We all have to talk,” she said. “All four of us. Because if my theory is right, then everything is different, for all of us, forever.”
He nodded. “I can bring them here,” he said. “Can you be here?”
“When?”
&nb
sp; “Tomorrow,” he suggested. “At sundown.”
“I can be here,” she said. “Are you sure it’s safe for you to keep coming onto campus, though?”
“At this point,” Tom said, “I don’t see what other choice we have. I’m not going to let you go, Haley.”
She nodded and relaxed, letting him hold her, letting her eyes drift shut.
One more day. Then everything would be out in the open.
Chapter Fourteen
DEAN
“This is absolutely insane,” Dean said.
Jasper nodded. “I have to agree,” he said. “What do you want to go back to Omega U for, Tom? We’ve established that the original plan isn’t going to work.”
“I think it will,” Tom said.
“Since when?” Dean demanded. “Last I heard, you didn’t think it was a good idea even to try. Last I heard, you just wanted to keep Jasper and me out of trouble.”
Tom raised his eyebrows. “Why are you suddenly so reluctant to go over there, Dean?” he asked.
There was something knowing in that look. Something that Dean didn’t like.
But he couldn’t possibly know about what happened between Haley and me. I didn’t tell anyone.
No, he hadn’t told anyone. But would Haley tell? If they went over to Omega U and hung out with her now, would the truth come out? It didn’t seem possible that the three of them would be able to spend any significant time around her without that secret being revealed.
And the last thing in the world Dean wanted was for his brothers to find out what he had done.
He was still stunned at how quickly he had lost control in her presence. He would have expected it to be awkward. He would have expected long conversations leading up to the actual event, conversations during which they would try to convince each other that having sex was a terrible idea.
It was a terrible idea. We should not have done that.
Dean was a beta. There could never be anything between him and an omega. He couldn’t be mated to her without causing a scandal, which he didn’t want. And if anyone found out what he had done, Jasper definitely wouldn’t be allowed to enter the Alpha games. The rules governing betas would be tighter than ever.
It had to stay a secret.
Haley wants it to stay a secret, too, he reminded himself. It wouldn’t be good for her at all if people knew that she had been involved with a beta. No alpha would want her after that.
But Haley had seemed so strange when he had met her the other night. Not like the girl they had met by the river that first time at all. It was as if she had been liberated somehow. There had been something so free and open about her.
Maybe she would tell.
But Tom wasn’t going to let the matter go. He was waiting by the door, keys in hand. “Come on,” he said. “She’s expecting us.”
“What do you mean, she’s expecting us?” Jasper asked. “Have you been back over there since the last time we went?”
“Okay, yeah, I have,” Tom admitted.
“What were you thinking?” Jasper demanded. “You could have been caught. You could have gotten us all into trouble.”
“Don’t be so self-righteous,” Tom said. “You’ve been back too.”
He had? That was the first Dean had heard of that. So they had all been back. They had all seen Haley again.
What if Haley’s already told them what happened between the two of us?
No. That couldn’t be. Surely Tom or Jasper would have called him out right here and now if that were the case.
But he felt nervous all the same. There was something strange about tonight. Something he didn’t trust.
And suddenly he found that he didn’t want to wait anymore. Whatever this was, whatever it was going to be, he wanted it over with.
“Come on,” he said, striding out the door and past Tom. “Let’s go if we’re going.”
They took the long way back to the river, running around the outer perimeter of the two campuses and toward the road, crossing about half a mile south of the main lawns. They reached the river and began to make their way back north, moving opposite the direction of the current to the place where they had first met Haley.
And there she was, sitting on a rock, dressed in a tank top and shorts, the setting sun making golden lights in her hair. Dean wanted to run right to her. He wanted to slide the clothes from her body, taste her skin, let his hands explore all the parts of her that he hadn’t yet had the opportunity to touch.
But he couldn’t. He couldn’t indulge himself in her. He held his distance, watching, waiting for someone to speak. For someone to explain what this meeting was about.
Haley uncoiled her limbs and stood. Her shirt shifted up as she did so, revealing a tiny slice of her stomach, and Dean felt himself weaken. The way her hips swayed as she walked, the way her breasts lifted as she breathed, the perfect curve of her ass...
If my brothers know what I did, there’s no doubt they just brought me here to punish me, he thought. They want me to stand here and look at her and know that I can’t touch, that I can’t have.
He shook his head to clear it. That couldn’t be what was going on. Even if his brothers knew what had happened, even if they did want to punish him in that way, Haley would never go along with it. She had wanted him every bit as much as he had wanted her.
Now she looked at him. “I’m glad you came,” she said.
And then her eyes shifted to Tom. And then to Jasper.
“I’m glad all of you came,” she said.
Dean felt dizzy with confusion.
What does she mean by that?
JASPER
“What do you mean by that?” he asked. “Why are you glad we all came?”
She cocked her head at him, and he could see the wolf behind her eyes, instinctual, sizing him up.
“Jasper,” she said. “You’re Jasper.”
“Yeah, I’m Jasper,” he said.
“I would say I can tell because you’re the tallest,” she said, “but that’s not it exactly. I can’t tell who’s the tallest just by looking. You’re all so close in height.”
“How did you know it was me, then?” Jasper asked.
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “It’s something about your scent, I think. I recognize you.”
“You recognize his scent?” Dean sounded scandalized.
“Do you recognize all of our scents?” Tom asked.
She moved away from Jasper toward Tom. “Yours is easy,” she told him. “Yours is the most human. And Dean...” She stepped closer to him.
Dean stepped back, looking from Haley to his brothers. The expression on his face showed that he was as alarmed as Jasper felt. “What’s going on?” he asked. “Why are you scenting us?”
“I don’t know how to tell you what happened,” Haley said quietly. “I don’t know how to explain.”
“Just tell them like you told me,” Tom said.
Haley shook her head. “It’s different,” she said. “I told you...before.”
“You told him what?” Jasper demanded. “Before what? Someone explain what’s going on.”
“I think you need to tell each other,” Haley said. “I think you all need to tell each other what happened. I don’t think it’s right that I should be the one to say it.”
“That’s fine,” Tom said. “We can do it for you, Haley. That’s okay.”
“What does she want us to do, though?” Dean asked.
“Haley and I slept together,” Tom said.
Jasper felt as if he had fallen off the roof of a tall building. His heart plummeted. His stomach dropped.
“When?” he managed.
“Why?” Dean said.
Tom regarded them coolly. “Which of you wants to go next?” he asked.
Fuck. He knows.
“All right,” Jasper said. “I had sex with her too.”
He turned and looked at Dean.
Dean nodded wordlessly.
“You imprinted
,” Haley said. “All of you.”
“No,” Jasper said. “Of course, we didn’t.”
“You did,” she said. “Tom thinks so too, don’t you, Tom?”
“No, he doesn’t,” Jasper said. “Tom studies harder than any of us. Tom’s the smart one. Tom knows betas don’t imprint.”
“But are we betas?” Tom asked.
“What are you talking about?” Jasper snapped. Of course, they were betas. It had been one of the biggest struggles of his life. He was a beta, even though everything in him told him that he was supposed to be something else. He had never come into his full power, his full potential. How could Tom make light of that?
“Think about it,” Tom said. “We always assumed that we’d know if you were an alpha because Dean and I would submit to you.”
“Well, yeah,” Jasper said. “How else would we know?”
“Oh, shit,” Dean breathed.
“What?” Jasper demanded. He felt confused, and he hated confusion. He felt as if everyone else was in on some secret that he hadn’t managed to pick up on. It was maddening.
“Tom’s right,” Dean said. “Yeah, you would have come into your alpha power when we submitted to you—but that never happened. Because we’re alphas too.”
“You never had anyone to submit to you,” Tom said. “None of us did. And so we never came into our power. Until now.”
And he wrapped an arm around Haley.
“You believe this?” Jasper said to Dean. “You believe what he’s saying. That it’s all of us. We’re all alphas, somehow. Even though that’s not supposed to be possible.”
“I never wanted to be an alpha,” Dean said. “You know I didn’t.”
Jasper nodded. He knew.
“But it feels true,” Dean said. “What Haley said, about us imprinting on her...that shouldn’t be possible either. But I felt something. Didn’t you feel something, Jasper? Don’t you feel it now?”
He did.
He was afraid of what he felt. He was afraid of accepting it. Why was he afraid?
Because it means the thing you’ve always wanted is happening. You really are an alpha now.