We walk in the front door just like that, and Nik shoots a green-eyed glare at Kaden that could bore a hole through a solid steel wall.
“Towels. Now.”
Kaden shrugs as he heads to the bathroom. “You said to sober him up,” he mutters. “It was this or coffee, and coffee would take too long.”
I stand in the foyer, dripping and cold, my eyes glued to the floor. I refuse to look at her. I—
“Kip?”
Her voice wavers, with a slight hiccup, like she’s recently been crying. I know she’s not buzzed like me. Mags can drink Nik under the fucking table and still walk a straight line.
My twin returns with a pile of towels, and together we get me dry enough to sit on the floor—on a towel—while this discussion proceeds. Sitting on the couch or an armchair would require a complete change of clothes, and from the expression on Nik’s angular face, I doubt he’d appreciate me stalling any longer.
I don’t like the disadvantage of being on the floor while the others are seated above me. It feels like I’m being put on trial, and my judge, jury, and executioner are all staring me down.
“Well?” I grouse. “What’s the verdict?”
“We’d have to discuss things to come up with a verdict, Kip. I figured we’d all get together before letting Mags explain, and then we’d go from there.”
My eyes finally meet Mags’s in what I hope is a scathing stare. “Well? Care to explain?”
I shouldn’t have looked at her.
Puffy, swollen eyelids surround her red-rimmed grey eyes, and if a master sculptor were to construct a statue depictingthe most miserable omega in the world, it’d look like Mags does right now.
Nik sits beside her with his arm around her shoulders, and from her posture, he might well be holding her upright. Even Kaden reaches out to pat her hand, and I know for a fact that he was nearly as furious as I was this morning. Now, our twin bond radiates concern and regret, though I don’t know what part of it he regrets.
Mags draws in a shuddering breath, then replays the morning’s conversation in one long string of word vomit, like she’s afraid if she stops she’ll never be able to start again.
Her mate—God, that kills me—stays calm and collected, like always, though I take note of the slight stiffening of his shoulders when she admits to her initial goal of confusing the mate bond with a pack bond mixed in. He doesn’t let go of her, doesn’t stop her confession, doesn’t let any reaction show on his face. Mags, however, seems to physically shrink back into herself, and I wonder if there isn’t some powerful emotion being relayed through their new bond.
“… and then Kip left, and Kaden went back to bed, and that’s how you found me.”
Silence as deafening as an explosion follows.
I don’t like this. I almost wish we had pack bonded, if only so I could have some sense of what Nik’s thinking and feeling right now. I wouldn’t blame him for being angry, but anger alone won’t break a mate bond, and it certainly won’t make him any less in love with her.
Hatred, though, could break it, and that would break her.
I risk stealing another glance at Mags. She’s got her face scrunched up with her eyes shut, like she expects a physical blow at any second. I know Nik would never hit her, so it’s probably not anything she’s feeling through the bond. This is pure Mags, pure terror at the repercussions of her own actions.
The ice in my heart melts at the sight of her in this state. I realize now that the poor girl doesn’t know any life beyond the grift. She doesn’t know how to live authentically, how to make an honest living, or even how tobehonest. It must be killing her to have her emotions laid bare like this, even just to one person for now.
I don’t remember getting up, don’t remember moving, but all of a sudden, my arms are around Mags. Both our bodies shake with great, gulping sobs. Nik rubs her back, and Kaden rubs mine.
“Are you sure you sobered him up?” Nik whispers to my brother.
“As sober as he’s gonna get, yeah.”
When I’m able to speak coherently again, I nuzzle Mags’s neck and mutter low and quiet, just for her.
“I’m sorry I ran away. I love you, Mags.”
A deep, rumbling purr vibrates the whole damn couch, and I back up a bit. Nik’s trying to console her. Her mate wants to make her feel better.
I’m just in the way.
“Where are you going?” she sniffles. “Don’t go. Not again.”
