The words are a command.
My whole body trembles. My scent is a mess—fear, shame, fury. My tongue feels glued to the roof of my mouth.
Eli murmurs something behind me. "Breathe."
"Do you understand?" Drake repeats, more gently but no less firm.
"Yes." I choke on the word.
It tastes like defeat.
His scent eases. The pressure loosens. My knees go weak with the sudden flood of relief and humiliation.
"I need—" I don't even know what I need. Space. Air. A hole to crawl into.
I turn and crash directly into Eli's chest.
He's already there, arms open.
I fold into him without thinking, burying my face in his shirt, hands fisting fabric. His arms wrap around me, one broad hand cradling the back of my head, the other splayed between my shoulder blades.
His scent washes over me, pushing back some of the jagged edges. "I've got you. You're okay."
I am not okay. I cling anyway.
Somewhere to my left, Marie makes a noise.
Small and low, but my instincts hear it clearly.
A growl.
Possessive. Unhappy. Omega instincts flaring at the sight of another omega plastered against one of "her" alphas right after a dominance display.
I feel Eli's chest stiffen under my cheek.
Drake's scent, which had just started to settle, spikes again—this time with anger. Ragon's dominance slams into the room like a shockwave.
He says her name. Just her name, but the warning in it is unmistakable.
"What? I didn't— I just—"
"You do not growl at her for seeking comfort," Drake says, and his voice has lost all the gentleness it had with me a moment ago. "Not now. Not ever."
"I didn't mean— It was instinct. I—she—he's mine."
Ragon steps closer, looming. Even with my face buried in Eli's shirt, I can feel the shift.
"Instinct is not an excuse. Not in this house. You will not treat her as a rival. She is part of this pack. She needs us. You will not begrudge her that."
Marie's breath hitches. "I'm not trying to begrudge— I just... he was being alpha with her. It's confusing. My instincts don't know where to land."
"Land them away from attacking the other omega," Drake snaps.
Eli's hand strokes my hair, trying to soothe even as the air crackles around us.
"I'm sorry," Marie blurts, voice high and strained. "I wasn't— I didn't mean to— It just came out."
"Then you'll learn to swallow it," Ragon says. "Or you will spend a lot of time in your room until you can be in the same space without treating herlike an intruder."
