Page 8 of Breaking the Surface
Peter’s shoulders slumped.“All right.You can heal me.”
Toby grinned like he’d just been told he’d won the lottery.He went to crouch next to Peter’s chair, and when Peter started to turn toward him, he stopped him with a firm hand on his thigh.He then moved that hand to Peter’s ribs, and Braden looked away.It didn’t feel like he should be watching.Although, he was sure that if he shouldn’t, Peter and Toby would’ve gone to another room, but still.He didn’t want to make Peter uncomfortable.
“Take a deep breath for me,” Toby ordered.
Braden heard Peter do just that, then sigh in what sounded like relief.“That’s better,” he said.
“Good.You shouldn’t have waited for so long.Hell, you should’ve had Vincent come and get me yesterday when you first got here.”
“It was late, and I was fine for one night,” Peter reassured him.
When Braden turned to him, it was to see that Toby wasn’t crouching next to him anymore.Peter’s eye was less swollen, and while the bruise was still there, it was faded, as if it had happened days ago.He looked much better, and Braden hoped he also felt much better.
“Is everyone here?”Camden asked as he strode into the kitchen.He nodded at Braden, then wrapped an arm around Toby’s shoulders and kissed his temple.“I see that you’ve finally convinced Peter to let you help him.Good.”
“It’s going to be much easier when you tell him he’s officially a pack member,” Toby said.He turned to Peter.“Not that it was ever a question whether or not you were, but I understand that everything feels easier when it’s official.”
“Why would you want me to be a pack member?”Peter asked.
“Why not?You’re Vincent’s best friend, and from what I know, it’s not like you have anyone else.Don’t you want to be a pack member?Because if that’s the problem, we can forget about it.”
Peter bit his lower lip.Braden couldn’t look away, even though he felt bad about being transfixed by the gesture.Peter wasn’t trying to seduce anyone, but Braden still wanted nothing more than to reach for him.
“I want to be a pack member,” Peter said.He looked around the room.“But I think that first, you need to know what’s going on.Once you know everything, you can decide.”
Toby and Camden glanced at each other.They didn’t say anything, but Toby slid into the closest empty chair, while Camden moved to the counter to pour himself a cup of coffee.Since Remi sat down, too, Braden followed, sitting a few chairs down from Peter.From here, he could still see him quite well, which might prove to be a problem if Braden was an idiot about it.He was here to listen to Peter’s story.He was here to help Peter.
And that was what he’d do.
* * * *
PETER HADN’T THOUGHTthe situation could get any worse, but he’d been wrong.
He told himself not to panic.He was surrounded by people who would never hurt him, no matter what happened.He didn’t know most of them, but he knew he could count on Vincent, and that was who he tried to focus on.
It was pretty damn hard to ignore that his mate was sitting at the table, though.
He swallowed and looked down at his hands.When he’d been here to help Vincent move yesterday, he’d mostly avoided the other people.He’d known that Lou wouldn’t be happy with him, even though he’d hoped to be wrong.He hadn’t expected Lou to react the way he had, but he should have.Maybe part of him had known and had been focused on that.
But he’d seen his mate.He hadn’t realized why he felt like he needed to talk to the guy until now, though.He wasn’t sure why he hadn’t connected the dots sooner.Of course that was why he wanted to sit next to Braden.Of course it was why he suddenly felt safe.
He couldn’t know if he trulywassafe, unfortunately.He didn’t know his mate.The fact that Braden was here with all these people who’d promised to protect Peter was a good thing, but it still didn’t make Peter feel any better about it.
What was he supposed to do?He couldn’t tell Braden that they were mates.He especially couldn’t tell Braden that when they were surrounded by people.Peter didn’t know how Braden would react, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to find out.He’d been through enough with Lou.
But Braden wasn’t Lou.He wouldn’t be here if he was, and these people wouldn’t be his friends.Still, Peter had no idea what to do with the information.Everything else was already too much.Adding this made him want to scream.
Someone cleared their throat.Peter blinked and looked up, realizing that everyone was waiting for him to say something.He’d told Camden he would tell him everything and only then let the alpha decide if he truly wanted him to stay, but he wasn’t speaking.
It was time for him to.He didn’t think that Camden would kick him out even if he kept his mouth shut, but it wouldn’t feel right.Camden was willing to welcome him, even though Lou would be coming after him.It was only fair that he knew all of it.
“Take your time,” Vincent murmured.
Peter was glad for his best friend’s support.He leaned closer to him, even though what his kelpie really wanted was to lean closer to their mate.
“I guess the first thing you need to know is that I’m a shifter,” Peter said.He didn’t look at anyone.They wouldn’t hurt him or be horrified by what he was, but this wasn’t something he told people.It felt odd to be honest about it today.The only person who knew was Vincent, and it had taken Peter years to tell him.He could hardly believe that he was putting his deepest secret out there for these people to hear.
“You don’t need to be a shifter to be a pack member,” Camden said gently.“But thank you for telling us.I know it can’t have been easy.”
