God. Five years.Five yearswith Vee and I threw them away because someone smelled right and cried pretty.
Biology didn't make me forget her.
I let it. I used it. I chose the easy high over everything I'd actually built with Vee and called it fate because that was easier than calling it what it was.
A choice.Mychoice. Every single time.
I drag myself out of bed. My legs barely hold me. I have to grab the dresser to steady myself.
I smell like Marie even if my bed doesn’t.
That jasmine and vanilla cream soaked into my skin. It’s under my fingernails and in my hair. Days of it cling to me like a second skin.
I can't even make out Vee's scent on me anymore.
It's gone, scrubbed away by someone else's pheromones. Someone else's claim.
I'm disgusted with myself.
The nausea surges again and I barely make it to the bathroom before I'm sick.
I kneel on the cold tile and heave until there's nothing left. My body trying to purge things that can't be vomited away.
When I finally stop shaking, I sit back against the wall.
I need a shower. I need to scrub off every trace of her.
But first I need to know where Vee is.
I need to see her. Talk to her. Apologize.
I need to fix this.
I haul myself up and stumble out of the bathroom and down the hallway. My body moves on autopilot. Zombie mode.
Voices drift up from the kitchen, low and tense.
Ragon. Eli. Jasper.
I make my way downstairs. Each step feels like moving through mud. My muscles protest and my head pounds.
When I reach the kitchen they all turn to look at me.
Ragon looks like he hasn't slept in days. His hair is a mess, the longer strands falling out of the tie at the back of his neck. His scent is acrid with anxiety and what smells like barely controlled rage.
Eli looks pale and exhausted. There are dark circles under his eyes and his usually neat hair is sticking up like he's been running his hands through it.
Jasper's expression is carefully neutral but I also see the pity there.
"What's going on?" My voice comes out rough. Scratchy from disuse or dehydration or both.
Ragon's jaw tightens and his hands flatten on the counter. "Alex took Vee."
The words don't make sense at first.
My brain stutters trying to process them.
"What?"
