"The pack house," Dorian says quietly. "We go back together."
"All four of you?" Robbie's eyebrows rise. "Living together? That's going to turn heads."
"Let them look," I say, but my voice wavers slightly.
Stephanie catches it. "You're scared."
I want to deny it, to keep up the strong front. But what's the point? "Yeah. I'm scared. That place was hell for me."
"It won't be like before," Oakley says quietly.
"Won't it?" I turn to look at him. "The same people will be there. The same Alphas who watched you three hunt me and learned that scholarship Omegas are fair game. You think they're going to accept that we're a pack now and leave me alone?"
"They will if we make it clear you're not to be touched," Dorian starts, but Robbie cuts him off.
"You couldn't protect her before," he says bluntly. "That's why she rejected you and ran in the first place. What makes you think you can protect her now?"
"Because we're not trying to control her anymore," Corvus says. "We're with her. There's a difference."
"Is there?" Stephanie asks. Not hostile, genuinely uncertain. "Because from the outside, this still looks really complicated. You four worked something out here, fine. But you're going back to a place that has context. History. People who remember what happened."
"So what do you want us to do?" I ask, hearing the frustration in my own voice. "Hide? Pretend we're not a pack?"
"No," Stephanie says firmly. "I want you to be realistic about what you're walking into. It's not going to be easy. People will talk. Some will judge you. Others might see you as weak for going back to them, or see them as monsters for what they did. You need to be ready for that."
"I know people will talk," I mutter.
"Do you?" Robbie leans forward. "Because there's a difference between knowing it intellectually and actually facing it. Walking into the dining hall and having conversations stop. Seeing people whisper. Having other Omegas avoid you because they don't want to be associated with the girl who got claimed by her bullies."
The words hit harder than I expect. I haven't thought about that part. About how other Omegas might see me.
"Or worse," he continues, "having some see you as an inspiration. Like you 'tamed' them or something. Turning trauma into some kind of power fantasy when really you're all trying to figure out how to exist together."
"Jesus, Robbie," Stephanie mutters.
"What? Someone needs to say it." He looks at me. "I'm not trying to be cruel. I'm trying to make sure you're actually ready for this and not running on adrenaline and false confidence."
I sit back, feeling the weight of his words. He's right. I've been so focused on what happened here, on the four of us, that I haven't really thought about going back to real life.
"What do you actually want?" Stephanie asks gently. "When you go back?"
I take a breath, forcing myself to be honest. "I want to feel safe. I want to go to class and rehearsal without looking over my shoulder. I want to live my life." I look at the three Alphas. "And I want us to figure out how to actually be a pack. Not this constant testing and proving thing. Actually together."
"That takes time," Stephanie says. "Real time. Real trust."
"I know." My throat feels tight. "I know and I don't know if we can get there. But I want to try."
"Then try," Robbie says, his voice softening. "But go in with your eyes open. Know that it's going to be hard sometimes. That you might have days where you regret it. That people are going to have opinions and some of them will hurt."
I look at Dorian, who's been quiet through this whole exchange. "Are you ready for that? For people judging you? Seeing you differently?"
"I don't care what people think," he says.
"You should," Corvus corrects. "Because perception matters. If people see us as predators and Vespera as our victim, that affects her safety. Her reputation. Her scholarship."
"My scholarship," I echo, that cold feeling returning. "I didn't even think about that."
"You need to maintain your GPA and stay out of major trouble," Stephanie says. "Which you can do. But you need to be smart about it. Keep your head down academically. Don't give them reasons to look too closely."
