An Alpha's Choice (Talon Pack #2)(43)

Hannah reached out and gripped his hand and he squeezed hers back. “Tell us what happened, Finn. We won’t call anyone you don’t want us to, but Maddox is on his way.” She tilted her head. “In fact, there he is now.”

Finn had, of course, scented his uncle before she’d even said anything about him. Maddox walked in without knocking and made his way into the living room, taking a seat on the coffee table in front of Finn.

“I headed off the rest of the family,” Maddox said softly.

Finn let out a sigh. “They felt everything through the bonds, then?” he asked, knowing it was too good to be true to hope that he’d protected his family from his own worries.

Maddox shook his head. “Quite the opposite, in fact.”

Finn sat back, frowning. “What?”

Hannah squeezed his hand. “We don’t feel anything, Finn. It’s like you’ve been cut off completely. If it weren’t for the fact that you’re here and I can now feel a muted presence of you, I would have thought…” her voice caught “…I would have thought you’d died or left the Pack.”

Finn sucked in a ragged breath, stunned. “I’m still bonded to the Pack, right?” He rubbed a hand over his chest, trying to connect to his Pack like he had before. He was the damn Heir. He couldn’t just cut everyone off when he felt like shit. The Redwoods needed him to be strong. Brynn f*cking needed him to be strong.

He closed his eyes and focused on the connections that kept him sane. All at once, warmth burst through his limbs and he coughed, the bonds fully pulsating again.

Maddox coughed, as well, and Finn opened his eyes. “You were connected before, just muted. Some couldn’t feel you at all, and that scared the shit out of them. You’re back, but damn, Finn, what happened? Why did you shut yourself down so hard emotionally that you disrupted the balance between yourself and the bonds that hold us together?”

Finn let out a breath then began the whole story. “I found my mate…but my wolf doesn’t recognize her.”

With each layer, each detail, Hannah grew more despondent while her men tried to soothe not only her, but Finn, as well. Maddox narrowed his eyes and did his work as the Omega, pulling in some of the pain Finn felt. But Finn only let his uncle do that for a little while before pushing him off. He needed the sensation, needed to remember how it felt to know he might never have what he thought he would. Without that tactile sense of loss, he’d lose focus.

Brynn was his focus.

The Pack and their future with the humans came next.

But those two ideals together wound into an array of dissonance that he had to work his way through. He couldn’t have one without the other. He couldn’t save his Pack, his people, without Brynn by his side. He didn’t know why he knew that, but it was a truth to him. A truth he had to reconcile with the facts laid in front of him.

“I don’t understand why Brynn can feel the bond, but you can’t,” Josh said once Finn had finished. “It was different for me and Hannah when it came to Reed. We aren’t wolves, so we didn’t get that connection right away. But with two wolves, I thought it was a sense of knowing, even if it took time. I see you’re marked, and I am going to guess that she’s marked, as well. But you’re telling me it didn’t work?”

Finn blew out a breath. “We tried. We convinced each other that maybe my wolf was just…for lack of a better word, masking what I should be feeling. But I know, deep down in my soul, that she is mine. My wolf might not be telling me this, but I know it. There’s no way around it, and I’m not f*cking crazy. She’s mine, and yet my wolf is broken. I’m broken.”

“I’m so sorry,” Hannah whispered.

Finn let out a small growl. Her men growled back—even the non-wolf, Josh. “Stop it. You are not to blame.”

Hannah’s eyes filled with tears. “But I am, somewhat. Right? I’ve always known something was off since that day in the clearing. I’ve done my best to ignore it, to think about the fact that you’re healthy and breathing, but I was wrong. And you’ve known it, as well.”

He closed his eyes for a moment then met hers. “You saved my life. Caym broke every bone in my body, yet you saved me. You put me back together.”

“But I didn’t put you back whole. Or perhaps I didn’t put the pieces together correctly.”

“You saved the both of us,” Josh snapped. “You risked your life and drained your energy and powers to save that little boy.” Josh stalked toward his mate and pinched her chin, forcing her gaze to his. Finn would have growled, but the deep and everlasting love in Josh’s eyes held Finn back. “I was supposed to be your protector, but I wasn’t enough. I was supposed to get Finn out of the way, but I couldn’t. Caym slit my throat, but you saved my life. You saved Finn. You do not get to blame yourself for anything that happened that day. Anything.”

Finn frowned. “I’m missing something. What else happened that day?”

Josh winced, and Hannah closed her eyes. Reed cleared his throat but answered for them. “Hannah lost the baby she carried that day.”

Finn choked out a watery gasp. “Goddess, no. Oh, f*ck. Hannah, guys, I’m so f*cking sorry.” He held onto Hannah’s hand as her men kissed her softly. Finn let out a breath as Maddox pushed his powers out, soothing the hurts that had long since passed but never fully faded.