“Fuck, baby girl, still recovering from hearing you say we shouldmake you leavewhen you’re the best thing that’s happened to us.”
“You’re too sweet to me,” I said, pulling his hair down from its bun and running my fingers through it.
“No such thing,” Cam grumbled, leaning into my touch. “You deserve all the sweetness.”
A smile tugged at my lips at hearing my gruff alpha say something so sappy.
“Will you cuddle with me?” I asked, repeating his request from yesterday.
“Fuck yes.”
Cam lifted me off the island and carried me into the living room. Ben and Theo followed, piling around us as we turned on a movie.
I tried to get my body to relax, but an uncomfortable restlessness still gripped my chest. Guilt wormed its way into my stomach—guilt for messing everything up this morning, for making my alphas worry… and for not being good enough for them. They might disagree, but deep down, I knew it was true.
The Thai food arrived and Ben dished me up a big plate. I was hungry, but my mother’s warning about gaining weight haunted me. I ended up picking at my food, something the guys were clearly unhappy about. They kept looking down towards my plate.
“Can you eat any more, love?” Theo asked, tenderly cupping my face.
I shook my head. “I’m not really hungry.”
His eyes were tight, but he didn’t say anything as he took my plate.
ChapterForty-Two
Cam
Islammed my laptop shut, frustration coursing through me. Why couldn’t I fix whatever was going on with my omega?
The energy had been subdued all day after Josie’s upsetting conversation with her mother and thecleaning. I scoffed. I couldn’t fucking believe our omega thought we wanted her to clean the house. Didn’t she know we weren’t like the alphas she grew up with?
She’d settled down after we all talked, but things were still off. She’d been too quiet, her smiles too forced.
I fucking hated it.
She’d gone upstairs to shower a few minutes ago, and I had to resist following her up like a stalker. Maybe giving her space right now was the wrong thing to do. My alpha agreed.
I stomped into the kitchen, where Theo was bent over a book.
“What’re you doing?” I asked.
He jumped, quickly shutting the book.
I raised my brows and he huffed, showing me the cover:When Your Loved One is Traumatized.
“Catchy,” I said.
Ben pulled a chocolate cake from the fridge to frost and joined us at the island.
“Anything helpful in there?” he asked, leaning over Theo’s shoulder to flip through the book. I felt the weight of his helplessness through the bond. We all hated seeing Josie so dejected.
“Looks like you’ve already read it,” I said to Theo, noting how worn it was.
“I got it years ago,” he mumbled. “When we left North Woods.”
His words hung in the air, and it took me a moment to realize he must have gotten the book formeback in the day. My throat tightened and I pulled him in for a quick hug.
“The three of us have seen some shit,” I said, clearing my throat.
