I don't argue because he's right.
But I'm doing it anyway.
Because Arden and Chase deserve their dream of an omega. They've held to what they promised. They've waited and built something worth having.
I won't be the reason they don't get it.
I go to my room and lay on the bed in the dark.
My phone buzzes.
A text from Arden: I love you. We're going to figure this out.
I read it three times. I don't delete it.
I just set the phone face down on the mattress and sit in the silence, holding the weight of what I've already decided.
Arden is going to be furious when he finds out the truth of it.
He's going to say I'm punishing myself.
He's going to be right.
And it still isn't going to change anything.
Because Arden deserves better than what I am right now. So does Chase.
I'm starting to think the hardest thing I'll ever do isn't staying in that room during Marie's heat.
It's walking out of Arden's pack knowing I finally told him the truth and he forgave me anyway.
And choosing to leave despite it.
Chapter 23
Vee
"You're cheating."
"I'm not cheating."
"You are absolutely cheating."
Finn throws his cards down on the table. "There is no possible way you drew three matching cards in one turn without cheating."
Malcolm grins and leans back in his chair. "I'm just lucky."
"Lucky my ass."
I bite back a laugh.
We're playing some card game Alex pulled out of a closet. Something with matching sets and strategy I don't fully understand yet. But watching Finn lose his mind over it is worth the confusion.
"Maybe you're just bad at this," Alex says mildly. He's studying his own cards with the kind of focus that suggests he's three moves ahead of everyone else.
"I'm not bad at this. He's cheating."
"I literally shuffled the deck," I point out.
