“What color do you want to paint your new room?” Jackson asked.
“I don’t know,” she muttered. “Mom says we’re only going to be with you for a few days.”
“Well, it might be longer,” Jackson countered.It’ll definitely be longer. “So you gotta make sure you’re surrounded by what you like.”
She only sighed and looked at her mom; the excitement from before flooded out of her. “I just wanted my dancing shoes.”
“I’ll buy you some new ones, baby,” Bryce said, and the softness in her voice towards her daughter dug something in medeeply. I ached to hear that softness again, but the two of them fell back into silence. I heard some quiet sniffles and realized Cassie was crying. I glanced at Jackson, flashing him with a look to sayDo something.
“You want to grab some frozen yogurt on the way home?” Jackson attempted again, and I was half tempted to clock him over the head for trying too hard.
“No, thank you,” Cassie said, her voice quiet and sad. “I was meant to eat my birthday cake with Mom.”
Birthday?
Damn, it was the girl’s birthday today?
“Well, Cassie was going to eat cake,” Bryce said quickly, her voice jumpy. “I was going to eat some fruit off the edges.”
“You don’t have to explain yourself to me,” Jackson laughed. “I’ve seen you pound triple cheeseburgers in, like, five minutes flat and—”
“Shut up.”
The snap came quickly, and even Cassie blinked at Bryce, who only flushed.
“Sorry,” she muttered. “Just… can we not talk about my eating habits, please?”
I felt attention on me, a warm prickle on the back of my neck. Something tugged at me, deep down, a vague memory of things I’d said, but I couldn’t quite remember. Still, residual guilt crawled through me. I straightened in my seat.
I was an alpha; I didn’t need to feel sorry for some omega who’d skipped town and refused to speak to me.
So why did everything in me shift every time I sensed Bryce’s own movements? Why did my heart beat faster everytime she spoke? I propped my elbow on the window frame of the car, focusing on the approaching Honeycreek, noticeable by its tall pine trees that extended high into the sky.
I felt in tune with Bryce, even after all these years.
Yet there was another tug. The connection I felt to her daughter. Did she remind me of when Bryce and I were younger, or something? The innocence I’d lost by having to take over my father, maybe?
My eyes caught on Bryce again in the side mirror.
Her hair, as black as night, that had once been decorated with white petals for a date—a starry night, I’d once called her—was tucked behind one ear, exposing a sharp, pointed earring that hung down. The shell of her ear was pierced as well, and I watched how she lifted her chin at the sight of me looking at her. There was a new pride to her that I didn’t recall from years ago. Her lips were fuller, her eyes brighter as though she’d found a spark in White Bay that Honeycreek had taken from her.
Ithad, I reminded myself.Ihad.
Something stirred in me at that pride, at the renewed sparkle in her eyes.
Bryce was beautiful, and I hadn’t ever told her enough, and I wouldn’t now. At least not yet. I could match her pride with my own stubbornness. I didn’t give in to anyone.
But something sparked in me—jealousy. Envy at the thought of the girl’s father. Who had Bryce slept with after coming to White Bay? Had he left her behind, pregnant? Was Cassie’s father still present in her life? Surely she would have said before we left the cottage. My thoughts still churned. If she hadbeen left by Cassie’s father, pregnant, and going throughthat mostly alone, curled in me, and I tamped down my feelings about it.
I didn’t care.
I’d let go of Bryce, after all. I’d let her walk away without ever calling her to come back to my side. I’d laughed with my pack, and I’d shunned her. I had not treated her the way she deserved. And as stubborn as I was to not apologize right now, I couldn’t help but wonder if that was the biggest mistake of my life.
But I was the alpha of the Honeycreek pack. I would never admit to that mistake, so I buried it deep within me.
“So,” Bryce spoke up. “The attacks. Am I at risk of it happening again? Will I be targeted?”
“I’ll let Jackson take this one, seeing as he knowsso much—”
