Brand had felt guilty when he saw Carter's message after leaving it at home all day. He reminded himself that it wasn't too long ago that no one had a cell phone and this sense of needing to respond immediately was a fairly new phenomenon. That didn't stop him from messaging Carter right back. Okay, maybe part of the urgency was because he was excited to hang out with Carter again, and that excitement was growing with each… Brand hesitated to call them dates. But you could have platonic lunch dates, right?

Brand knew that platonic lunch dates were, in fact, possible and even common. He also knew that wasn't what was going on between him and Carter, no matter what Carter said and no matter how Brand tried to frame it in his own mind. They weren't dating… but they weren't not dating either.

Part of him wanted to tell Carter about his possible breakthrough the day before, but Brand hadn't even told Carter that he was starting to wonder if Carter's statement that they were mates was true and that Brand had started taking steps to explore that possibility. Brand almost wished he didn't care about finding his true mate. Carter was kind, a great father, sexy as hell to look at, and Brand really liked him as a human being.

Brand slept in Sunday morning, exhausted after working late Friday night and then hiking with Ty the day before. He crawled out of bed around eleven, and then lounged on his couch reading a book until it was time to take a shower and head to his parents'.

Every Sunday, Brand spent most of the day with his parents, unless one of his patients needed him. At least one of his sisters made it with their families, but this week, it had worked out that everyone's schedules were open and the entire clan descended on the family home. At the height of summer, it was perfect for grill out later in the evening, so most of the family lingered outside, keeping half an eye on the kids as they ran around the yard. Between his three sisters he had seven nieces and nephews. Evie and Caro had declared they were done with four, but Dara, who's boy had just turned one, had said she was open to having more, and Miranda, with two, hadn't said anything one way or the other. Brand hoped that at least one of them was still in the kid market when he finally got around to it. Some of his favorite memories were playing with his cousins growing up.

Evie plopped down next to him on the edge of the porch, watching as her youngest, Skylar, scavenged through her grandparents' gardens for flowers, building up a ragged bouquet of her grandmother’s prize blooms.

"How's it going, little bro? Haven't heard from you in a while."

"Same old, same old," Brand said.

He wasn't quite ready to tell anyone about starting therapy back up, outside of Ty, of course. And he was kind of necessary to the whole process at this point. And chances were Brand would end up telling his sister soon enough.

Outside of them, though? Carter was the only person Brand could imagine telling anytime soon. But he wouldn't It wouldn't be kind to get Carter's hopes up, even if Brand didn't tell him the full reason he'd started pursuing the possibility that he couldn't sense his mate because he'd pushed his wolf so far down. And especially if it ended up that Carter still wasn't his mate.

"So whatever happened with that weirdo alpha?" Evie asked quietly. Brand glanced around worriedly. If any of the rest of the family caught wind of Carter, he would be the main topic of the night.

"Relax." Evie bumped him with her shoulder. "I wouldn't have asked if it wasn't safe. So what happened? Did he go away? You would have told me if he kept bugging you, right?"

"He's not bugging me…" Brand said reluctantly, and just like he knew would happen, Evie peered at him with a sly smirk.

"Are you starting to like the crazy alpha?"

"He's not crazy," Brand grumbled. And yes, he was starting to like Carter, and he didn't know what to do about it.

"Ooh, Brand's got a boyfriend," Evie sang.

"Keep your voice down," Brand hissed. "And I don't have a boyfriend."

Evie raised her eyebrows and whispered, "Brand and an alpha sitting in a tree—"

Brand lunged at her, knocking them both off the porch, but Evie twisted him as they fell and pinned him to the ground. Brand struggled against her hold, yelling in protest.

Their mom turned from her position at the grill and simply sighed, shaking her head, and turning back to the grill. Evie didn't stop her whispering teases and tickles until Skylar approached them and began decorating her prone uncle's face with flowers, which made Evie laugh so hard she fell over. Brand glared at her, but helped Skylar gather her flowers back up and put them in a vase for the patio table. Evie let the topic drop for the rest of the visit, but Brand knew she wouldn't let it go that easily. He resigned himself to a long talk with her later in the week, and made a mental note to pick up a couple bottles of wine.

* * *

Brand arrived at lunch before Carter and was seated immediately, one of the benefits for going to lunch outside of the main lunch hour, for sure. He'd just started looking over the menu when he smelled the most delicious aroma… it reminded him of something, but he couldn't pinpoint exactly what. He felt as if the memory was just out of view; if only he could reach a little further, he could clear away whatever mist was clouding it. The scent grew stronger, but it only increased his frustration that he wasn't able to recall the memory attached to it.

A sudden waft flowed over him and he closed his eyes, letting the pleasure of the scent overtake his mind.

"I hope you haven’t been here so long that you’ve decided to take a nap."

Brand’s eyes flew open and snapped to Carter’s, distracting him from the lure of the powerful scent, but not banishing it completely.

"Just got here, actually. The food smells amazing." Was it simply food he was smelling? Brand would be the first to admit that his heart and his stomach may have been switched at birth, but surely something so simple as food could hold the power and enticement of this scent.

Carter appeared edgy at first, his fingers tapping on the table, his knees bouncing erratically, but once their food had been delivered and he’d gotten a few bites in, he’d calmed down. Perhaps food was the key to calming any beast, Brand mused with a private smile.

Outside of Ty and Evie, Brand had never found it so easy to talk with someone. There was rarely a pause in conversation, and even on the occasion there were, it wasn’t uncomfortable. Carter was in the middle of telling Brand about something hysterical Jax had said when it clicked. Carter’s head was thrown back in a gut-powered laugh, and Brand’s vision seemed to zoom in on him. As he lowered his head, it was as though everything had slowed, and Brand could have sworn the tears Carter wiped from his crinkled eyes sparkled. How could Brand have missed it? It was so clear now: the scent that had been teasing him the entire time was Carter’s.

Something deep inside him growled, “Mine.” Brand jumped, and Carter immediately switched from laughter to concern.

“What’s wrong? Is everything okay?”

“F-fine,” Brand lied. How could have everything had changed in one moment? Was this what he had hoped for? Is this what it felt like when you found your true mate? Had Brand been the only thing holding him back for all these years?

Brand wanted to tell Carter, but he didn’t dare. What if Brand were wrong, and this whole intense scent thing was a normal wolf thing, only Brand had been broken for so long, it felt like magic to him? Carter would be crushed.

“Actually, I have to go.”

Ty would know what was real. He had to talk to Ty. Now. Before he messed up and told Carter he was beautiful or something equally as damning. Brand practically ran from the table, the urge to spill his soul to Carter growing by the second.