I’m in shock, if I’m being honest. My brain is still trying to process everything she just told us. The radio show. The anonymous tip. The undercover investigation. Ash being completely fake. All of it.
And yet, at the same time, I can follow her logic and can see how things would unfold exactly the way she described. She got information that suggested we were discriminating against Omegas, and she came to investigate. No one planned for scent matches to enter the equation. How could they?
“So let me make sure I understand,” Mason says slowly, running a hand through his sandy-blond hair. “You came here believing we were the bad guys. Created an entire fake identity to expose us. And somewhere along the way realized you were wrong?”
“Yes.” Her voice is small, broken.
“And you didn’t think to just… ask us? Talk to us like normal people?” There’s no anger in Mason’s voice, just genuine confusion.
“I should have.” Anita wipes her eyes with the sleeve of the coat. “I know that now. I should have approached this completely differently, but I was in investigative mode, and I thought I needed proof before confronting anyone.”
Mason scratches his head, looking lost. Like he doesn’t know what to say. None of us do.
We’ve been lied to. Thoroughly. Completely.
“When I was myself,” Anita continues, her voice shaking, “when I was just Anita with you, that was me, no one else, no ulterior motive, just me being drawn to you four in ways I couldn’t resist.”
She lets out a bitter laugh. “And then you all went and made me swoon and forget every promise I made to myself about staying independent. I should have had control around you four, but clearly I don’t. And I got myself into this fine mess.”
She’s crying harder now, wiping at her tears almost angrily, and every tear feels like a knife in my chest.
I’m trying to come to terms with it all, to process the fact that while we were falling for her, she was investigating us. Tryingto uncover if we were shady, discriminatory assholes who hurt Omegas.
That part fucking hurts.
Slater is pissed. I can see it in every line of his body. His stare is intense, burning, his jaw is clenched so tight I’m worried he’ll crack a tooth, and his lips are pressed into a thin line.
He feels betrayed like we all do. She was someone we trusted, someone we all started to care about deeply, and she was lying to us.
Jasper exhales loudly, the sound filling the tense silence. He’s the one who discovered the truth, who had to sit with it alone on the boat while they waited for rescue, who had to make that call and bring us all together.
“I can’t stop apologizing,” Anita says, looking at each of us in turn. “I never wanted to hurt any of you, and I will never stop sayingsorryfor what I did.”
Her gaze lands on Slater. “You stood up for me today, for Ash, when Reed was being an asshole. You defended someone you thought was just an employee. That’s who you are, a good man, a fair leader. And I repaid that by lying to your face every single day.”
Slater’s expression doesn’t change, but I notice something flicker in his eyes. She stares at Jasper next. “You gave me a ride home this morning and made me feel safe even though I was terrified I’d ruined everything. And the whole time, I was lying to you about who I was. I’m so sorry.”
Jasper’s jaw tightens, but he nods slightly.
Then Mason. “You’ve been nothing but kind. Patient. Gentle with me even when I didn’t deserve it, and I lied to you while you were being vulnerable with me.”
Mason glances away, unable to hold her gaze.
Finally, she’s locking eyes with me, and those hazel irises are swimming with tears. “And you, Dylan, you made me laugh,made me dizzy with attraction to you, made me feel like myself even when I was pretending to be someone else. You gave me joy in a situation where I should have felt nothing but guilt. I’m sorry I couldn’t be honest with you.”
My heart is racing, thundering against my ribs like it’s trying to escape. It’s taking everything in me not to cross this room right now and pull her into my arms.
Because she looks genuinely heartbroken. Remorseful. Like she’s tearing herself apart from the inside out. And I’m not a fighter, never have been. I’m the pack member who smooths things over, who makes people laugh, who finds the joy in dark situations.
But this isn’t just about me. It’s about all of the pack, about trust, and about having an Omega in our family, which means we need to know we can trust her completely.
“The complication of the scent matches makes this so much harder,” Anita continues, her voice breaking. “If you weren’t my scent mates, I could walk away and never look back. But you are, and that makes everything more painful. I understand your reactions, and maybe you hate me now. I would hate me too.”
“We don’t,” I say before I can stop myself.
Three heads turn to look at me.
“I’m pissed,” I clarify. “Confused. Hurt. But I don’t hate you.”
