Page 130 of Trick Knot Treat

“Love isn’t enough, is it? You need mutual goals, a future, dreams, shared desires, and values. Love is a useless emotion if there’s nothing solid to ground it to.”

“Clint,” she says helplessly. “What is going on?”

My world is silent. Horribly, awfully silent. It’s like I’m in a vacuum or a tunnel, everyone has disappeared but me and his rejection.

“It’s just not going to work out. Sometimes it doesn’t.” He steps back and gives her a smile that I would happily kill to have.

“Clint,” I whisper.

He stiffens, his shoulders tightens. “I’m heading out of town. Bags are packed. Going to go now before everyone gets sappy and sad. Take care of yourself, Omega. Tell…”

He looks up, he looks lost.

“It was fun. Every minute. But it’s back to reality now. Enjoy your life with your bond.”

My chest heaves. Idiot. Doesn’t he realise I just needed time to figure it out? That I was never going to do it? I open my mouth to tell him, but before I can, he’s gone. Jace is screaming his name, fighting to get free of Sebastian and Fox. Zaire is staring in shock, while Felix is being pulled away by Sofia, Cordelia, and their family.

I stand there, feeling ridiculous. Hurting, aching. People are talking, pointing, and laughing. The pain burns brighter, filling me completely and expanding until I feel like I might burst.

I have to go home, he will be waiting, it’s a joke.

Then I jolt and remember that he’s gone, and this isn’t my home. I turn and run down the stairs, sending magpies and seagulls into the air. I run along the beach, refusing to stop.

When I get as far as the land will let me run, I turn to the ocean, walk out until the cold water laps my thighs, and then I scream.

When I turn around, Harvest is there, waiting for me.

He is always there. My best friend would have said yes, even if it destroyed the world. He wraps his arms around me, familiar and warm, and I hate that I wish they weren’t the arms holding me.

I wish they were my alphas or Felix’s.

“Are you going to be okay, little princess?”

I shake my head. “Not even a little bit.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Get them back. I need to talk to them, make sure they are okay,” I mutter. “I just need a minute.”

“So, I take it we’re not going home yet?”

“No, Dad can wait. I need to sort this out with them.” Inside my head, a voice calls me a liar, but I shove it back in the dark.

He steps back. “In that case, I need to go see a guy.”

He walks off, leaving me alone on the beach. Or almost alone. Spectre dances up to me, rearing up and being his adorable self. I hug the massive dog and then find myself in Zaire’s arms.

“Zaire.”

“You ran off.”

“I needed a minute to shout.”

“Ah, is that what you were doing?” he says and brushes my hair back from my face.

“That and buying some time to fix this.”

He sits on the sand, pulling me between his legs. I turn sideways, resting my head on his shoulder.