“Calm the fuck down,” he snaps back. “We’re all feeling the effects of the bond. That won’t help.”
“There’s nothing to help.” Theo looks adamant. “She’s not my fucking mate. The universe is not that messed up. It’s a mistake. Or – or she did something—,”
“It’s not a mistake.” Theo turns at my words, eyebrows raising, but I hold his gaze. “It’s not, Theo. And I’m sorry for it. But Kennedy is ours.”
“And that changes things,” Jake says quietly.
I nod. It changes everything. “It has to. We have to think about this. A mating bond – that’s forever. We don’t get an out. I’ve never heard of a rejected bond. I don’t think it’s possible.”
Would I even want to?
I don’t know.
“There has to be a way to break it,” Theo says staunchly. He slams his hand down on the table. “I can’t. I can’t look at her and see anything else but Brett. She killed my brother.Yourbrother, or so I thought.”
“That’s unfair,” Oscar says sharply. “They’re right, Theo.”
“There’s more.” I keep my eyes on Theo. “There’s something – wrong. Off. Oscar was right.”
Because her scent is warped in a way I’ve never come across. My mate’s scent should be perfect to my nose. Something I could never get enough of. And hersis– but it’s too bitter. I can almost taste it on my tongue. “She smellssick.”
I see the flicker in his eyes. The way he stiffens. But his lip curls, his rage palpable in the air. “Maybe it’s a sign that she’s faking it. But I fucking hope so. Sounds like karma to me.”
There’s a moment of stunned silence. Theo’s face falters for the barest instant, as if in regret.
But there’s a screech, and Oscar is out of his chair. His face twists as he launches himself over the goddamned table, slamming into Theo and sending both of them toppling over as his fist lands in his face.
“Shit—,” Jake and I both jump in, pulling them apart as they snarl at each other. Theo’s lip is bleeding.
Oscar strains at my grip, his teeth bared. “Get the fuck off me. Now.”
I let go. I can’t not. Oscar is on Theo in a second, his arm locked against his throat as he pushes him against the wall hard enough to rattle his skull. “What thefuck?”
Theo says nothing. His hand comes up to grip Oscar’s arm, but he stays silent, his face mutinous. “You’re acting like you want her. All of you.”
“She’s our mate,” Oscar snaps. “You don’t fuck around with bonds. She’s it, Theo. We have to work with what we have. Use your fucking brain andthink.”
Jake steps forward, his voice low. “I think we all need to take a breath. It’s hit us all hard. He didn’t mean it, Oscar.”
Theo presses his lips together. For a moment, I think he’s going to reiterate his words, and we all tense. But he slowly shakes his head, closing his eyes. “I can’t do this.”
The words are rough, dragged from deep inside his throat. “If you want her, have her. I’ll find another pack.”
The words strike against my skin like flint, sharp and painful.
“Not an option.” Oscar roughly releases him. “You’re ours. We just need some time to work this out, Theo. We all want answers about Brett.”
“So how do we get them?” Jake voices it.
Theo rubs at his throat. Oscar pushes him down into a chair and turns to me. Neither of them mentions the dominance display. “Did she say anything, Max?”
I squint down at the table. “No. She’s…angry. Hurt, almost.”
“We publicly rejected the mating bond,” Jake mutters. “I don’t even know what that would have felt like for her.”
“But I think there’s something she’s not telling us.” I frown down at the wood. “We’ll need to tread carefully. She feels… fragile.”
Theo huffs. His jaw tightens when we all look at him. “She knows how I feel. But I won’t hurt her.”
