chapter 12: The Plan
717 Words
Anna's POV
I couldn't stop smiling.
I had been smiling since last night when David had come downstairs with that look on his face — the one I had never seen before. Controlled on the surface but underneath it something completely undone.
Eleven years.
I had watched my brother carry that quiet emptiness for eleven years. Watched him lead the pack, manage the territory, make every hard decision alone — all while something fundamental inside him remained incomplete.
And now.
Ella.
I was in the living room with Jayden when Noah wandered in looking for food as usual.
"You're still smiling," Jayden said without looking up from his phone.
"I can't help it," I said.
"She's been like this since last night," he told Noah.
Noah dropped onto the couch dramatically. "Same. I'm genuinely emotional. Our Alpha has a mate." He pressed a hand to his chest. "After all this time."
We were quiet for a moment.
Then Noah straightened up with that expression he got when something had been sitting on his mind and could no longer be contained.
"Can I just say," he started.
"Noah—" Jayden warned.
"No let me say it." He held up a hand. "Thank the Goddess. Thank the Godess above and below and everywhere in between that it is NOT Sarah." He exhaled dramatically. "Because I cannot — I genuinely cannot — spend another semester watching that woman walk through this house like she already owns it. Ordering the omegas around. Sitting at the head of the table. Rearranging things in the kitchen—"
"She rearranged the kitchen?" I said.
"THREE TIMES Anna. Three times.
I tried very hard not to laugh.
"I'm just saying," Noah continued with great dignity, "that whoever David's mate is — human, wolf, mermaid, I don't care — she has my full and complete support purely on the basis of not being Sarah."
Silence.
Then Jayden lost the battle and laughed.
I followed immediately.
Even David — who had been sitting quietly in the armchair by the window the whole time, seemingly absorbed in his phone — made a sound that was almost definitely a laugh.
Almost.
We all looked at him.
He looked up briefly.
"Noted," he said.
Which from David was practically a standing ovation.
Noah pointed at him. "See? Even he agrees."
I shook my head still smiling.
But underneath the laughter something more serious was sitting.
Because the reality was — Sarah didn't know yet. She had been away visiting her family for the past few days and David hadn't told her. That conversation was coming and none of us were looking forward to what would follow.
Sarah had always been — intense — about David.
But that was a problem for later.
Right now I had a more important thing on my mind.
"I have an idea," I said.
Both Jayden and Noah looked at me.
David looked up from his phone again.
"The professor announced a project today," I said. "Marine Ecosystems. How about I asked her to pair me with Ella?" I paused.. We can work on it here — at the house. It gives David a reason to meet her naturally. No pressure. No sudden revelations. Just — being in the same space. Letting it happen gradually."
Silence.
Noah looked at David.
Jayden looked at David.
I looked at David.
He was quiet for a long moment. Looking at nothing in particular. Processing.
Then he looked at me.
"Thank you," he said quietly.
this mean Alot to me and max his wolf
I nodded.
"She's coming tomorrow," I said. "So just — be yourself. Or as close to yourself as you can manage without terrifying a human girl who has no idea what you are."
Noah snorted.
"Solid advice," he said.
David gave him a look.
Noah immediately found something very interesting to look at on the ceiling.
I stood up and stretched.
Somewhere across town Ella was going about her evening completely unaware that tomorrow would change everything.
For both of them.
I hoped she was ready.
I wasn't entirely sure David was either — though I would never say that out loud.
Some things you just had to let happen.
And this — eleven years in the making — was one of them.
- Writer
