"What do you want to be when we graduate?" I asked Dash as we lay down in a pile of leaves, staring up at the darkening sky. "Do you want to go to college? Are you going to stay in the pack—"

"I'm gonna become the beta just like my dad was!" Dash confidently interrupted, his voice filled with a mix of determination and pride. He turned his head to glance at me, his grin wide and unshakable. "I mean, it's kind of obvious, isn't it? That's what I've been training for my whole life."

I let out a small laugh, brushing a leaf off my sleeve as I shifted to face him. "Yeah, I guess that's not exactly a shocking revelation. You've got the whole legacy thing going for you. But..."

He tilted his head. "But what?"

"You're too nice to be a beta," I said, pulling his cheek. "A Beta's supposed to be all tough and intimidating. You're like... a golden retriever in human form."

Dash swatted my hand away, laughing. "Hey! I can be tough! Just because I'm not growling at people 24/7 doesn't mean I'm not Beta material."

I smirked, crossing my arms as I settled back into the leaves. "Uh-huh. Sure. I'm just saying, you'd probably be better off running a puppy daycare or something."

"Keep talking," he shot back, sitting up and dusting the leaves off his jacket. "When I'm Beta, I'm putting you on patrol duty every night for a year. We'll see who's laughing then."

"Wow, abuse of power already?" I teased. "Maybe you're Beta material after all."

He flopped back down beside me, grinning up at the sky. "You'll see, Reed. I'll be a great Beta—better than my dad, even."

He stared at me with such confidence in his eyes—like he was trying to say, "You can believe in me, no matter what." It was the kind of look that made me wonder if I'd ever have the same kind of unshakable certainty about my future.

"Better than your dad, huh?" I asked, keeping my tone light even though his conviction stirred something deeper in me. "That's a pretty high bar."

Dash shrugged, folding his hands behind his head. "Someone's gotta set a new standard, right? Why not me?"

I shook my head, a smile tugging at my lips. "Well, when you're the world's greatest Beta, just remember who believed in you first. I'll be expecting at least partial credit."

"Oh, don't worry. I'll make sure everyone knows it was you who got me here," he teased, his voice thick with mock sincerity. "I'll even name a training program after you. Reed's School of Questionable Encouragement."

"Wow, flattery and an insult," I shot back. "You're really outdoing yourself today."

He laughed, but his grin softened after a moment. "Seriously, though. I got this. All you have to do is sit back and cheer me on, and when you decide what you want to do, I'll be the loudest one screaming in the crowd."

"Yeah?" I glanced over at him, noticing the way his ginger curls seemed to glow in the fading sunlight and just how close we were. "I'll be looking forward to that day."

⚡︎

"What about Dashiell, Reed?" Mom pulled me from my thoughts. She was already rising to head toward the door. "Is he still bothering you? I'll handle it—"

"It's not that," I cut her off before she could work herself up more. "We need to talk about the rumors you guys are spreading about him and his family...they have to stop."

Mom froze mid-step, her hand hovering near the doorknob. She turned to face me, her expression shifting from concern to a familiar mix of defensiveness and suspicion. "Rumors?" she repeated, her tone sharp. "I'm not sure what you're talking about, Reed."

I stood my ground, even as her stare bore into me. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. People in the pack have been saying things—about Dash, about his family, about their loyalty. And it's coming from you and Dad."

Mom's brows furrowed. She returned to the couch and let out a sigh. "Reed, I know you think you're doing the right thing, but I need you to understand—"

"Mom, they practically destroyed his house," I interrupted with a sigh. "His brother got into a fight. You can't tell me you seriously think this is okay? Can you?

"You might think this is new and unfair, but the truth is that this has been coming for years." Dad glanced at me with a cold expression, one I was only used to seeing when he argued with Cronan. "You're too young to know the type of person Dashiell's father was. He might've tried to hide it, but you can't erase history. That kind of distrust doesn't just disappear, and now, his family is paying the price for his mistakes."

"Dash isn't his father," I told him.

"But the seeds had already been planted, Reed." Dad ran his fingers over his ring. "Children may not be their parents, but that stigma is already there. This situation reminds people of the whispers that always followed Lance Armstrong around. So, while you may blame your mother and I for what happened to Dashiell, the cold, hard truth of the matter is that it would've happened anyway."

For a long moment, none of us said anything. Dad's words replayed in my mind and as much as I hated to admit it, there was some truth to his words. People who were around while Lance was alive would judge Dash based on how they saw his father. They always had, it was just more apparent now that he was a suspect in my case.

The whole situation was fucked.

"...I understand that we can't change everyone's opinions about Dash and his family, but we can stop fanning the flames," I told them. "The pack looks up to you guys and if they see that you don't like him or hear the things you have to say then they're much more likely to believe them. I'm not asking you guys to like him, but just stop talking bad about him in public. If you won't do that for him then do it for me."

Mom and Dad both stared at me for a second and then at each other as if they were considering my words. I sat there waiting until Mom sighed.

"If it means that much to you then we will," she told me. "However, if it turns out he was the one who attacked you—"

"He wasn't."

"But if he was." She shot me a pointed look as if to say stop interrupting her. "Then I don't want to hear any more about how you're going to defend him. You'll have to make a choice then, Reed, between your loyalty to the pack and your loyalty to that boy. And I won't have you blind to the truth just because you're too close to him."

"I don't need to make a choice," I said, my voice firm despite the tension in the room. "Because Dash didn't do it."

"You sound more like your brother every day." Dad shook his head and stood up. "For your sake, I hope you're correct, Reed."

With that, he walked out the door and I briefly wondered if his comment about Cronan was a good thing or a bad thing, but it didn't matter. Whether they wanted to believe it or not, Dash wasn't the one to attack me. Now I just needed to prove it somehow before the situation got worse.