Eventually she shifts back again, stepping out of the room entirely. “There’s nothing else to talk about, your highness,” she says as she turns her back on us. “You’ve made your choice, and I have made mine.”
And then she walks away from us again.
But this time, she’s not in a fancy gown, with her hair perfectly curled. No, this time she’s wearing nothing but my shirt and her long honey blond locks are a tangled mess. Beautiful either way, and utterly devastating to watch.
The five of us follow at a distance, keeping enough space between us so she knows we aren’t going to try to stop her, but unable to let her just leave our sight. We watch as she pads barefoot across the pool deck and slips into the main house.
“We have to fix this,” Grieves growls. “We have to make her understand that she needs us.”
Thayer runs a weary hand down his face. “She knows she needs us, mate. She doesn’t think we need her.” He lets out a harsh laugh, that sounds choked as bloody hell and I can’t blame him for it. “We’ve been spouting on about our duty ever since we met her. She’s worried that’s all we see her as now.”
“I don’t think I can go through with it,” Court says, sounding haunted. “I can’t do that to her. I was already… fuck, sending her away broke me. It broke us. I can’t bear the thought of even pretending with Isadora anymore. Even if we never touch her, I can’t do that to Pixie.” I feel him looking at me, but I don’t take my eyes off our omega, still framed by the door, but now hugging her dark haired pregnant friend. “I’m sorry, Sythe. But the only thing that matters to me now is her.”
I can’t smother the bite of betrayal that his words bring, the sting of hurt, and its teeth only dig deeper when the others echo his sentiment. In time that feeling will fade, I know it. Just like Iknow if given the choice, if I were anyone else—even one of them—I would feel the exact same. I would give up my pack for her if it was the only way for us to be together.
But I’m not anyone else. I am the Prince of Bravonne and I don’t have the same options that they do.
So I nod. “I know. She’s our priority and we’ll figure out a way to get her through this. One that we can all live with.”
I really hope they don’t see that for the lie it is.
Episode 13: The Damage Done
Florence
I
flee into the main house, slipping through the side door and slamming it behind me before flicking the lock. Still feeling skittery and wired, I press my forehead to the glass, ignoring how I can feel the Ashbourne pack watching me from next to the pool.
But they don’t try to follow me. Maybe they understand I’m at my breaking point.
“Ren?” Haven’s voice reaches me just before the omega does. Her small hand slides onto my shoulder and squeezes. “You okay? What’s going on?”
I turn into her embrace, burying my face in her neck and breathing in the familiar pineapple and chili scent of my best friend. “I can’t believe you let them into my house,” I mutter eventually.
Haven sighs and strokes a hand up and down my spine, as the footsteps of much larger bodies join us. “Listen, babe. Ticbrought you home passed-out cold and burning up with fever, we couldn’t wake you up. We had a doctor come and check you out and were told the best thing we could do would be to bring your pack to you, but barring that? Fever reducer and wait and see.”
I let out a shaking breath. “And then they showed up and you were worried enough about me to let them near me.”
She nods and brushes a kiss on the side of my head. “Yep, exactly. And you can’t tell me you wouldn’t have done the same if our positions were reversed.”
She’s right, I absolutely would have done the same thing. Or more likely, I would have flown to Bravonne weeks ago and dragged them to her side by their dicks just to give her a little relief. I’m honestly surprised she didn’t do that.
“You want me to send the boys over to kick them out? They can go find a hotel.”
I consider it. They deserve it, for sure. But a part of me—my alpha obsessed omega part—really likes the idea of them in my space, their scents mingling with mine. I have the brief flash of them in my tiny nest built in my walking closet, and she all but purrs in my chest.
I know they won’t enter it without my permission. Even they aren’t that bold. But a weird part of me hopes they do.
I shake my head. “No, they can stay.”
She pulls back, hands braced on my shoulders as she scans her worried gaze over me. “You sure?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, do you want them up here so you can have your space back?”
After a moment’s hesitation, I shake my head. “No. Not today. They can stay there.” The corner of my mouth hitches up at the thought of the five of them sharing my tiny little house.The couch isn’t a couch so much as a love seat that none of them will fit on. So most of them will be on the floor.
