"We were doing what we thought—"
"We were doing what was easy." My voice cracks. "We chose her over Vee because it felt good. That's all it was."
Eli steps forward. His scent goes hard with fury, nothing like his usual controlled calm.
"You want to know whose fault it is?" He's glaring at Ragon now. Really glaring. Anger flashes on his face like a neon sign. "It's yours."
Ragon goes dangerously still.
"We all wanted to check on Vee." Eli's words come out shaking. "I asked. Drake asked. Multiple times. And you kept putting us off."
"Marie's heat—"
"FuckMarie's heat!"
The words explode between them.
Eli never swears. Ever. He's the calm one, the reasonable one. The one who mediates and soothes and finds middle ground.
Not anymore.
"You said 'She's fine.'" Eli's hands are shaking. "You said 'She's not in heat, Marie is.' You barked at us every time one of us came out of rut long enough to ask about Vee. Every. Single. Time."
"The heat was important—"
"More important than Vee?" Eli's voice cracks. "We needed to help Marie so you let Vee go into heat alone? Vulnerable to any alpha who walked by?"
"I didn't think—"
"Exactly. You didn't think. You just reacted. Pack lead instinct said bond with the scent match and you followed it without considering what it would cost."
Ragon's scent flares. Dominance pushing out. "I was trying to do what's right—"
"What's right? What you did, whatwedid, none of it was right. We destroyed an omega that we had a responsibility toprotect, Ragon."
The words hang in the air.
Ragon opens his mouth. Closes it. For the first time since I've known him he looks lost. Uncertain.
Like he's seeing what he doesn't want to see.
I hear soft footsteps approaching.
We all turn.
Marie appears in the doorway.
She's wearing one of Ragon's shirts. It hangs to her knees. Her hair is messy and her face is still swollen from crying. She looks small and uncertain and nothing like the omega who had us wrapped around her finger.
"What's going on?" She sounds quiet. Tentative.
Ragon turns to her. "Alex's pack took Vee."
The change isn't soft or slow. Marie's face goes pale. Actually pale. The color drains from her cheeks and her hand flies to her throat.
"They took her?" Sharp. Almost panicked. "Where?"
Her tone is weird. Off.
