“You think I’d mate someoneagainst their will?” I demanded—only realizing after the words were out how that might sound to Heath.
He flinched, both physically and through the bond. Jez flinched in sympathetic response.
Tony was trying his best to act like someone who wasn’t scared of alphas and big feelings—standing his ground in the face of my anger, even though it looked like all he wanted to do was run away.
“I want to hear it from her,” he said. “Jez...please.”
There was a terrible pause.
“I wanted it,” Jez said in a tiny voice. She looked up, lifting her head away from my shoulder. “It was supposed to be temporary. Just likeallof this is temporary. But—”
She trailed off.
“But she doesn’t want the surgery,” I finished for her. “She never did. How thefuckdid you not know that, Heath?”
Tony’s eyes went very wide, and Heath looked like he’d been pole-axed.
“I... I was trying to block the bond,” he stammered. “It was nonconsensual, and I thought it would be easier for both of us if I walled it off. As much as I could, at least.”
“Yeah, and you stopped doing that last night,” I told him. “I wasthere, remember? So, again,how the fuck did you not know?”
Tony’s brown eyes darted between us. “There were a few other things going on at the time,” he said. “As you might remember.”
Some of my righteous indignation drained away.
“No, he’s right,” Jez agreed. I could feel the fine tremor of stress in her muscles, her earlier relaxation gone without a trace. “And I wasn’t really thinking about the surgery until you... until we...”
Her voice broke.
Awkward silence fell over the room.
“It’s true, though?” Heath asked, when it threatened to grow too thick. “You want to keep your mating gland? Keep the bond?” He hesitated. “Or... bonds, rather?”
Jez lifted tear-filled eyes. “I don’t want to be an omega without a mating gland. I know you hate me for what I did—”
Heath’s head snapped back as though he’d been struck. “I don’thateyou.”
Tension stiffened Tony’s shoulders.
“Maybe I should, um... leave now?” he said. “I’m just making this more complicated—”
“No,” Jez and Heath said in unison.
I shut my eyes for a moment, trying to pack away all the strong feelings ricocheting back and forth through the three-way mental connection. Jez and I had made an impulsive decision—and I, at least, had done it without having all the information. The longer we talked, the more I thought that maybe Jez hadn’t had all the information, either.
She hadn’t been lying about intending to get the surgery. I was beginning to think she just hadn’t considered that there was any other option.
We all needed to lower the emotional temperature before things got out of hand, and people started saying stuff they’d regret later. Then, we needed to face the music head-on... because keeping shit in the dark hadn’t worked out too well for us, so far.
“Okay,” I said, opening my eyes. “Here’s what’s happening. Everyone’s getting cleaned up. Take a shower, get some fresh clothes. After which, the four of us are gonna go tell Knox what’s happening.”
Three faces went sheet-pale.
I looked at the ceiling for strength. “That’s not negotiable, okay? He’s our pack leader. Plus, he’s been operating under the same misconception as the rest of us, right? He thinks Jezwantsthe surgery. So, we’ll go let him know about the mating, and what Jez actually thinks... and whatever you and Tony need to tell him, Heath.”
Jez winced. Tony went even paler.
“All right. But... are we really,reallysure that his heart’s okay now?” Jez asked, in a tiny voice.
