Brother’s Best Friends Are My Mates novel Chapter 180

Jesse

Colby was busy. All of us were busy dealing with people’s bullshit. Politics was not something I ever thought I would end up going into but the fact of the matter was it had ended up becoming my calling somehow.

It was something was good at. I was able to deal with people and make sure they listened to me. One way was my smile. I smiled and it scared the shit out of everyone.

What were we to do about Colby, though? I thought I should talk to him but wanted to talk with everyone else first. The first person I wanted to talk to was Lia who might know of something we could do.

As his omega, I also felt that she have some say in it because Colby was her mate. He was my pack leader, but he was both to Lia.

“I think he’s spiraling again,” I said, leaning against the doorframe of Lia’s room. She looked up from the pile of books on her bed. “Colby?”

The amount of worry on her face was pretty staggering. I wanted to reach over and cup her cheek, to tell her that it was going to be okay but I don’t know if she would appreciate it right now. She might tell me to knock it off because she wasn’t in the mood for it.

I nodded, arms crossed. “He’s doing that thing where he smiles and nods like everything’s fine, but his eyes look like he just got personally insulted by the moon.”

Lia sighed, setting the book aside. “He’s been carrying too much. He thinks if he slips up even once, he doesn’t deserve to lead.”

That was true.

I never could’ve done what Colby did. Leading was a headache I didn’t want and when it came down to it, I also had a bit of a temper. It wasn’t as bad as Matt but if you pissed me off I wasn’t afraid to get the fuckin your face and tell you how it was.

Colby wasn’t like that. He was even tempered. Other than him, Michael would’ve been a good choice for !reader but at the time we were trying to pick a leader his mate had been missing. Well not missing. She was kidnapped and being held against her will by the Rosewater Coven.

Still amazing that we had managed to get her back to us safely. I was so grateful she was okay and wasn’t hurt.

“Yeah,” I said, stepping inside. “And no matter how many times we tell him he’s doing fine, it just… bounces off. Like he doesn’t hear it.”

“Or he doesn’t believe it.” She pulled her knees up to her chest. “He wasn’t supposed to be alpha, remember? He still thinks he’s a placeholder. Like someone’s going to come along and tell him ‘good job, now hand it over to someone better.”‘

I sat down across from her. “So, how do we fix that? He won’t listen if it’s just me telling him he’s awesome.” Lia tilted her head. “Maybe it’s not about saying it. Maybe it’s about showing it.”

“Like what, throwing him a party that says You’re Not a Failure on the cake?”

We had tried to do that already and it didn’t exactly work It was a good idea and did help him feel special in the moment, but it didn’t change all the feelings that Colby was still felling.

She smirked. “Tempting. But no. Something that makes him feel needed. Trusted. Respected.” I frowned. “He already is those things.”

“Yeah, but he doesn’t know that,” she said. “We do. The others do. But he needs to feel it. Like-what if we get the others in on it? Let him lead something big. Let people come to him for advice or decisions, not because they have to, but because they want to.”

“So like… plant the situations where they naturally turn to him?”

“Exactly. Remind him that people follow him because they believe in him, not because they’re stuck with him.”

I leaned back, nodding slowly. “Okay. Yeah. That could work”

Lia smiled faintly. “And maybe… tell him about your doubts, too. About the times you messed up. Make it real. He puts us all on pedestals, like we’ve got it together.”

I snorted. “I once got stuck in a tree because I chased a raccoon during patrol.” She grinned. “Exactly. Relatable. Humbling. Beautiful.”

“I’ll consider telling him that. Eventually.”

Lia reached over and squeezed my arm. “He trusts you, Jesse. You’re one of the few people he listens to.” “Yeah, but he needs to start listening to himself, too.”

“Then let’s remind him how to.”

I looked at her, a new determination settling in. “Alright. Let’s make him see what we already know-he’s exactly where he’s supposed to be.”

I didn’t flinch. I just stepped closer, calm and steady. “You think we care if you fall apart? That we’ll think less of you? Man, we’ve all fallen apart. You’re allowed to break a little.”

He looked away, jaw flexing. His shoulders sagged, just a bit. “I can’t,” he muttered. “Not yet.”

“You don’t have to,” I said quietly. “Not all at once. But at least stop pretending you don’t need anyone. You don’t have to carry this alone.”

There was a long silence, thick with the weight of everything unsaid. Then Colby let out a breath. “You’re really not going to leave, are you?”

“Nope,” I said, plopping down on the edge of his desk “Might even start alphabetizing your files if you try to kick me out.”

That got the tiniest twitch of a smile.

“Fine,” he muttered. “But don’t touch my files.”

“Too late. I already renamed one of your folders to ‘Emotional Suppression and Bad Coping Mechanisms.'” He groaned and sank back into his chair. “You’re the worst.”

“And yet, somehow, still your favorite,” I said. “Now shut up and let me help. Or at least make you eat something that isn’t caffeine and resentment.”

Colby didn’t argue this time. He just leaned back and let his head rest against the chair, finally letting himself breathe.

But I know eventually he was going to spiral again. We were going to have to do something serious to get him to get control of what he was feeling.

Until then, we would just keep being there for him and then take drastic action.

Colby would get back to where he was. We all spiraled out of control at some point. It was just usually Rain rather than Colby.