"I didn't have any other options!" Ben shouts, standing up so fast his stool tips backward and crashes to the floor. "I didn't know what else to do! I'mdying. Nobody sees it. You're all sobusy with your perfect lives and your perfect omega and your perfect pack that you don't even notice your own brother is falling apart!"
"We notice," I say quietly, and I step forward until I'm close enough to Ben that I can see every detail of his deterioration. The gray pallor of his skin that comes from malnutrition and drug abuse. The deep wrinkles carved into his face from constant stress and dehydration. The way his hands shake even when he tries to hold them still. The hollow look in his eyes that suggests he stopped seeing himself as human a long time ago. "We've always noticed, Ben, but we didn't know how bad it was."
"Would it have mattered?" Ben asks, and there are tears running down his face now.
"We would have tried," Jett says. "We would have gotten you into rehab. That's what makes this unforgivable, Ben. Not the addiction. The choices you made because of it."
"I'll go to rehab," Ben says desperately, looking between all of us like he's searching for any sign of mercy. "I'll check in tomorrow. I'll do whatever program you want. I'll get clean, I swear. Just don't—" His voice breaks. "Just don't abandon me. Please. I can't do this alone."
"You're not alone," Cassian says, and he steps forward to put a hand on Ben's shoulder. "You're never alone. But you need to understand something. You can't stay in Pine Hollow while you're using. You can't be around Grandpa. And you definitely can't marry Penelope while both of you are this much of a mess."
Penelope stands up, swaying slightly. "The wedding is off," she announces, like she's making some grand declaration. "I'm going back to Timber Ridge to be with my grandmother. I'll figure out the money somehow. I'll find a way." She looks at Sharon with something that might be regret. "I'm sorry I dragged you into this. You didn't deserve it. You were just trying to do your job, and I made it impossible."
"You did," Sharon agrees, her voice steady even though I can feel her shaking slightly against my side. "But I hope you figure it out. I hope your grandmother gets the care she needs. And I hope you find a better way to handle things than fraud and manipulation."
Penelope nods once, grabs her purse, and walks toward the door. She doesn't look back. She doesn't say goodbye to Ben. She just leaves, and I watch as Ben's face crumbles at the realization that he's truly alone now.
"Rehab," I say firmly, pulling out my phone. "There's a facility in Timber Ridge that specializes in cocaine addiction. It's expensive, but we'll figure out the money. You check in tomorrow morning, and you stay for the full ninety days. No leaving early. No excuses. And when you get out, we'll talk about what comes next."
"And the wedding?" Ben asks weakly.
"There is no wedding," Cassian says. "Sharon will handle canceling everything. She'll work with the vendors. She'll clean up the mess you made. And you're going to pay her back every cent she's spent trying to make your fake wedding happen. Understood?"
Ben nods, and he looks so broken, so completely destroyed, that part of me wants to take it all back. Wants to tell him it's okay, that we'll fix everything, that he doesn't have to go through this. But the other part of me—the part that knows what enabling looks like—stays quiet.
"I'll drive him to the facility," Jett offers. "Make sure he actually checks in."
"I'll call them and get him registered," Cassian adds, already scrolling through his phone.
I turn to Sharon, who's been standing through all of this with a strength that makes my chest tight. "You okay?"
"No," she says honestly. "But I will be." She looks at Ben, and there's something in her expression that's not quite pity and not quite anger. It's something more complex, something that acknowledges shared pain without excusing terrible behavior. "Get clean, Ben. For yourself. Not for your family. Not for anyone else. Do it because you deserve to live a life that isn't controlled by a substance."
Ben nods, unable to speak.
We leave The Sway as a unit—Jett with Ben, Cassian coordinating with the rehab facility, me with Sharon tucked under my arm. The cold night air hits us as we step outside, and I take a deep breath, letting it clear the smell of alcohol and desperation from my lungs.
"That was intense," Sharon says quietly as we walk toward Cassian's truck.
"It was necessary," I reply. "And it's not over. There's still the matter of protecting Grandpa, canceling the wedding officially, and making sure Ben doesn't come back to Pine Hollow until he's actually ready to be part of this family again."
"And Penelope's grandmother?" Sharon asks. "The one who's actually dying?"
"We'll figure something out," I say, surprising myself with the words. "Maybe we can't fix everything, but we can make sure an old woman doesn't die in pain because her granddaughter made terrible choices."
Sharon stops walking and looks up at me, and there's something in her eyes that makes my breath catch. "You're a good man, Pine Burnside."
"I'm just doing what's right," I say, pulling her closer. "And right now that’s making sure you’re alright and Grandpa is protected.”
"Everyone deserves help," Sharon says softly. "Even people who make terrible choices."
I kiss the top of her head, breathing in her scent—strawberry and honey and home. "Come on. Let's go back to the house. You need rest, and I need to make some calls. Tomorrow we're going to start cleaning up this mess. Together."
As we drive back through Pine Hollow, I think about everything which was said, but mostly, I think about the woman sitting next to me.
Sharon falls asleep with her head against the window, and I drive carefully, avoiding potholes, taking corners slowly. Protecting her has become instinctive, and I realize that somewhere between planning a fake wedding and confronting Ben at a bar, I stopped seeing her as just an omega who needed help.
I started seeing her as mine.
