“Is Beck okay?” I whisper.
“Yes,” Grason answers immediately. “He’s awake. Warren is with him. Everyone’s okay.”
Relief floods my veins, and my head falls forward.
Grason bends and lifts me in one smooth motion, resting me against his broad chest, with my feet dangling on either side of his hips. I let myself settle into his hold, my body finally acknowledging the tremor running through it now that I know everyone is safe.
“I’ve got you,” he whispers, smoothing a hand down my arms and back, brushing away the last of the bees.
As he carries me out through the wrecked doorway, the spring air hits my skin and makes me shiver. Grason tightens his hold, tucking my head beneath his chin, shielding me without asking if I need it.
“Open your bond, Tansy,” Gray says gently as he walks. “Let us in so we can soothe you.”
I blink, not even realizing I had cut them off.
Taking a deep breath, I slip into the back of my mind and open it up to my mates.
My bonds surge with relief, love, and calm. I know all three of them must be enraged right now, but they keep all those emotions to themselves. Not letting me feel any of it.
“You’re safe,” Grason murmurs. “It’s all over.”
I close my eyes against his chest and let myself believe him.
It’s over.
The Kitchen
Cassian
We all go quiet as Warren finishes telling me and Gray what the fuck happened. He sits at the kitchen table with an ice pack pressed to the side of his face, brow furrowed, eyes fixed somewhere past us like he’s still replaying it.
“I didn’t see that coming,” I say aloud, standing right in front of Beck where he’s perched on the kitchen island. His eyes unfocused, breathing shallow, shock written all over him. I keep touching him anyway, quietly and constantly.
“Neither did I,” Warren mutters. There’s a faint tremor still running through his hands that he’s clearly trying to ignore. He doesn’t look at me when I speak. He exhales slowly through his nose.
My gaze drifts back to Beck. His eye is already blooming dark and ugly, swelling fast beneath the skin. He looks exhausted, shocked, and he’s very, very quiet—which tells me more than any words ever could.
Tansy sits beside him, shoulder pressed to his, like she’s afraid to leave his side.
The brave omega looks deceptively calm as Grason pulls stingers out of her skin. Her arms are dotted with angry red marks, some already swelling, some still weeping faintly. Grason’s jaw is tight as he works, eyes focused with a precision that tells me this is the only thing keeping him from exploding with rage right now.
And Tansy doesn’t flinch while he works. Not once.
“It’s okay, baby,” I whisper to Beck, my hands moving slowly along his sides, thumbs brushing steady, firm circles into his ribs to keep him calm.
Grason lets out a heavy sigh as he sets the tweezers aside, then straightens slowly. “All done.” His eyes move from Tansy to Beck, to Warren at the table, and finally to me. His voice is careful when he speaks. “Did Jimmy say if anyone else was involved?” he asks Warren. “Anyone at all.”
Warren shakes his head. The motion is sharp, frustrated. “No. He didn’t mention anyone else. Only—” He exhales hard, scrubbing a hand over his face before catching himself and switching hands to keep the ice pack in place. “Just Caleb.”
He stares down at the table, shoulders curling inward as if he’s trying to fold himself smaller. “I should’ve seen it. The constant phone calls. The desperate need for approval.” His mouth twists. “I feel like a fucking idiot.”
“No.” The word comes out of me flat and immediate. I don’t raise my voice, but it cuts clean through whatever spiral he was about to tumble into.
Warren looks up, startled. “Cass?—”
“No,” I repeat, firmer now. “You don’t get to put this on yourself.”
Heopens his mouth again, guilt sharpening his expression, but I don’t give him the space.
