"Careful," Drake murmurs.
"Careful? Is my heartbreak inconvenient? Is it making the transition harder?"
"Vee," Drake says, wounded. "That's not fair."
"None of this is fair!"
Ragon leans back slowly, controlling himself. When he speaks, his voice is iron wrapped in velvet.
"You will not take this out on Marie. She didn’t ask for this. She's an omega. Like you. Scared. Confused. If you lash out at her because you are hurt, you will answer to me."
My instincts cower. My rational mind screams.
"So I'm supposed to swallow it. Smile and be the good omega who welcomes the new girl."
Drake's face crumples. "Vee—"
"This feels like you picked her, and now you're keeping me around as a spare."
Drake looks like he's going to be sick. "We're trying to do this in a way that doesn't destroy you."
"Too late."
Ragon pinches the bridge of his nose. For a moment he looks tired. Truly tired.
"Listen to me. We have a plan. It's not perfect, but we've thought this through carefully."
I stare at him through blurred vision.
"We have three alphas," he says. "Most packs with two omegas have at least four. We know if we bring Marie in without compensating for the power imbalance, it will be unfair to both of you."
"So you're getting another alpha. Like picking up milk."
"We've been interviewing," Eli says quietly. "Carefully. We've turned people down."
"His name is Jasper," Drake adds. "We've met with him. He's good. He said he'd only join if he felt he could protect both omegas equally."
The wordprotectslides under my ribs.
"So you've been meeting Marie and interviewing Jasper. Planning to bring them both. And you're telling me now."
"Yes," Ragon says. No apology.
"Why now? Because you bought me blankets and felt guilty?"
Drake makes a wounded sound. "That's not what today was."
"Wasn't it? One last perfect day before everything changes?"
"Let me explain the plan," Ragon says, "and you'll understand."
I wait, trembling.
"We're going to bring Marie home. We're going to mark her and bond her officially into this pack first."
"And I watch," I say bitterly.
"And then," he continues, ignoring my interruption, "once Marie is marked and bonded, once that connection is secure, we're going to bond you too."
