Bastion glares at Wyatt. “What did you write?”
I pin Bastion with a glare. “Youdidknow?”
What the actual fuck.
The betrayal turns my insides to permafrost, a spreading cold that starts in my gut and radiates outward until even my fingertips feel numb. My chest constricts as if someone has wrapped barbed wire around my lungs and pulled tight, each breath a reminder that I've been made a fool of by someone I trusted. The world narrows to pinpricks of light as my vision tunnels, and I can hear my heartbeat in my ears, each thud a metronome counting down to the moment when I'll shatter completely.
Wyatt nods, small and ashamed. “I didn’t mean—I never posted that draft. It’s probably someone else on the admin team. I just—sometimes I write drafts to see if anyone bites—” His brow furrows deep. “Butthat… that’s not me, Emery. I swear, Bastion.”
Bastion swipes Wyatt’s phone right from his hands and starts reading. Every word seems to etch anger deeper into his face.
I want to scream. “You were planning to post it.”
Wyatt flinches. “No! Emery, I swear?—”
I point at my chest. “You called me trash. You said I had no bloodline. You said I’d be gone in a month.”
Wyatt shakes his head, frantic. “I didn’t write that. Not really. Look, there are a dozen people who have access. I started the account, but it’s not just me?—”
Bastion cuts in, tone gone dark. “Adozenpeople? Wyatt, are you insane after what happened before?”
Wyatt’s face flushes red. “I know, I’m sorry. I didn’t think about it that way. But this blog, it’s all bullshit?—”
“It’smybullshit.” My voice is icy. “I’m the one who gets to be a joke. Not you.”
Bastion stands up, looming over both of us. “Why the fuck would you evendraftsomething like this?”
Wyatt’s eyes dart around the room for help that isn’t coming. “Ididn’t.”
“You’re a coward,” Bastion spits. “You won’t even own up to it. You’re too young for this life and you’re a fucking coward. Christopher would be so disappointed in you.”
Wyatt’s gaze goes cold.
I take that moment as the perfect time for escape. I grab my bag from the chair and don’t look at either of them.
Bastion sees me packing and goes soft. “Emery, don’t.”
I sling the bag over my shoulder. “Why not? I was never going to last anyway. Might as well give you something to blog about. Ranier will be so fuckinghappy.” I spit the last word. This pack gave me the world. Thesetwogave me everything before Ranier even considered. And now they’d donethis.
From the start, I was never meant to stay in Everhart Pack. Maybe Bastion and Wyatt had fooled themselves. Maybe Ranier was the only one of my alphas with a backbone.
And maybe Mom and Dad were right.
A commoner omega has no right trying to find love in royal matches.
Wyatt jumps out of the nest and grabs my arm. “Emery. Don’t go. Please. I’m sorry. I’ll delete the account. I’ll burn it all down?—”
I pull away. After last night, aftereverything, his touch burns. “It doesn’t matter. It never mattered. I was always just a joke. You just wanted to see if I’d break. And now the whole world knows. But I’ll give you this much, you had me convinced.”
His eyes are wet. “No. No, I swear?—”
But I’m done listening. It’s allright therefor all three of us to see, clear as day.
I shake my head. “You can’t even name one of the people you gave admin rights to whomighthave written this. Becauseyoudid. Wyatt, even if it was just for clicks and reads, words matter. Especially to your pack.”
I march down the hall and out the door before either of them catches up. The morning is cold and crisp, and the city looks different in light of everything I’ve just learned. But it doesn’t matter. None of this does.
I need to get out.
