"No."
I stop dead.
"From this moment, until I say otherwise, no alpha in this house is to comfort you."
I stare at him. "What?"
"You will not seek touch from me, from Eli, from Drake, or from Jasper. You will not climb into anyone's lap or into anyone's bed but your own."
Terror claws up my throat. "You can't—"
"You will remain alone and reflect until you remember your place in this pack."
The words drop like ice.
Alone.
No nest-sharing. No card night cuddles. No Eli's arms, no Drake jokes. No weight, no warmth, no hand on my hair when the memories get too loud. No knots to make me feel whole andwantedagain.
"You can't do that. You can't take that away. I'm an omega. I need—"
"What you need is to understand that your claws do not decide who bleeds."
"I was defending myself."
"From words. You want to correct Marie, you come to me. You do not attack her in public or private. You do not jeopardize this house."
My vision blurs. "You're punishing me for all of it. Not just today."
"Yes. I am."
Jasper is at the top of the stairs now, leaning against the railing, watching.
"Eli won't—he'll never—he won't go along with this."
"He will. Because I am his alpha, and this is my call."
The betrayal lands like a physical blow.
My body veers toward his room anyway. Ragon steps by me without touching but his presence is enough to block. My omega instincts slam against his wall and bounce back, dazed.
"Go to your own room."
My legs stutter beneath me like a machine with missing parts. Each step is a negotiation with gravity.
I brush past Jasper in the hallway, one palm sliding along the wall for balance.
He looks at me, eyes dark, cataloguing.
I see it hit him—the way I instinctively angle toward the sound of Eli's voice down the hall and then flinch away like I've burned myself.
I go to my room.
I close the door.
The nest is there, a crater of blankets and scent and memory. It smells like all of us and like nothing I'm allowed to touch.
I sink to the floor beside it instead.
