“Yeah. What’s up?” I ask, not bothering to hide the exhaustion in my voice.
But Cassie doesn’t seem to care. She steps into the room, her eyes locked on me with that determined look she always gets when she’s about to give me some unsolicited advice.
“Is Lo coming back here again?”
The question hits me, a punch in the stomach. My throat tightens, but I force myself to keep calm. “Oh… no.”
She doesn’t blink, just keeps those sharp eyes on me. “Are you sure about that?”
I rub my hand over my face, trying to brush off the sudden tension. “I told you, she needed help. Now she’s gone.”
“Home?”
“To her family’s townhouse.”
Cassie studies me for a long moment, her brow furrowing. I can almost sense her Omega instincts sharpening. She knows something’s not right, but she doesn’t push yet. Instead, she leans in a little, her voice lowering.
“So, is she staying in town, then? For good?”
I shake my head, trying to convince her, and myself, of something I’m not so sure about. “No. She won’t be here long. You don’t have to worry about it.”
But Cassie isn’t done. She steps closer, her eyes narrowing, and her words hit in a gut punch.
“I don’t want to see you get hurt,” she says. “You were already broken once because of Lo, and I don’t think you need to go through that again.”
I lean back against the counter, trying to come off casual, but I feel the tension building. “I’m fine, Cass. I’m not gonna get hurt.”
Her gaze softens, but her concern remains evident. “I know you think you’re fine, but you don’t have to protect me from the truth. I know what you went through. We all do. And the last thing I want is to see you go down that road again.”
I run a hand through my hair, trying to shake off the gnawing feeling in my stomach. “I’m not getting involved with her again. I told you, it’s not like that.”
But even as I say it, my mind drifts back to Lo, to the pull I felt when I saw her earlier today, the way she was still so… there. In my space. In my arms. Mine.
My inner alpha snarls at the idea that she isn’t close. At the idea that she isn’t scenting my home right now. It’s hard to convince myself that I can keep my distance, not when she’s already under my skin again.
Damn it.
I swallow hard, but the urge to pull her close rises in me. It’s a battle. My mind screaming for control, my body betraying me with every instinct to claim her, to pull her into the fold of my pack. It’s like a flicker of fire lighting up my veins, and I can’t decide if I want to burn it out or let it spread.
“I’m not gonna let myself get sucked into it, Cass,” I mutter. “Lo’s not staying, anyway. She’ll be gone before we know it. You know how she is.”
“I knowyou, Beck. You don’t let people in, not really. But Lo? She’s different, Beck. She always has been. It concerns me that she’s here.”
I don’t respond right away, because I’m not sure what to say. I know Cassie’s looking out for me, but the way she talks about Lo, as if she’s some kind of ticking time bomb, makes it harder to stand firm in what I told Lara.
“I’ll keep my distance,” I say finally. “I’m not gonna let myself get sucked into all that again.”
But even as I say it, I know something’s off. I can feel the tug in my chest again, that pull I can’t shake. Lo’s back, and despite everything, despite all the reasons I should stay away, there’s a part of me that wonders if I can really keep my distance from my Omega.
She’s not mine.
Cassie steps closer, her arms uncrossing as she seems to soften a little. Her expression is still filled with that familiar concern, but now there’s something more, a kind of quiet understanding that I’m not ready to face. She lets out a sigh, one that holds too much weight for someone who’s not as involved as I am.
“Beck…” she says softly, and my heart stutters for a moment. When she says my name in that tone, it’s never good.
Before I can say anything, Cassie pulls me into a hug. I’m not prepared for it, but I don’t pull away either. Her arms are strong around me. She’s trying to ground me, and I let her. I don’t have the strength to push her away right now.
“I’m just worried about you,” she murmurs into my shoulder, and I feel the warmth of her breath there. “I don’t want you to go through that again. I don’t want you to fall into that same hole she left you in.”
