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We’re not there yet. But we will be. Come tomorrow I’m going to prove to Eviana that my pack and I are everything she doesn’t know she needs. And in order to do that, I need to make peace with Xar and finally lay this bullshit between us to rest. For her sake.

“Fine,” I mutter, dragging a hand through my hair. “But if she wakes up swinging, I’m not saving you.”

Xar smirks faintly but doesn’t respond, his focus already back on Eviana. The sound of his purring deepens, and I can see the subtle change in her body as the tension starts to melt away. Her breathing evens out, and she shifts slightly, instinctively curling closer to him in her sleep.

Damn it. He’s right.

I glance at Dane, who’s watching silently, his arms crossed as he leans against the doorframe. “You,” I snap, pointing at him. “Go make something. Meals, drinks – anything we can keep ready if the power goes out.”

Dane straightens, raising an eyebrow. “Bossy tonight, aren’t we?”

“Just do it,” I growl, needing to find some semblance of control.

He sighs but heads toward the kitchen, muttering under his breath about overbearing alphas.

I turn my attention back to the room, my eyes sweeping over the sparse furniture and bare walls. The whole place feels empty,cold, a reflection of the way she’s been living. It’s no wonder her omega’s been screaming for help.

With a frustrated sigh, I grab a notepad and pen from the table and start moving through the house. I make notes on everything that needs fixing, replacing, or just adding to make this place feel like a home. Proper curtains, rugs, cushions, blankets. The basics. Things her omega needs but she’s too stubborn – or too scared – to get for herself. Some fucking pictures on the walls. A teddy or a plushie or something. Two. Ten. Walls any colour other than fucking beige. I’m going to give her it all.

I don’t know how much shit omegas normally need, but I get the feeling Eviana is going to need even more, and that’s more than okay with me anyway. What’s the point in being filthy rich if you’ve promised your pack mate you won’t spend it on drugs? May as well spoil our new omega instead.

If it were up to me, I’d make this entire house one giant soft furnishing, making it as cosy and as comfortable as any omega could ever dream of.

But it isn’t up to me.

By the time I make it back to the living room, Xar hasn’t moved. Eviana is still tucked against him, her face relaxed, her breathing steady. And that damn purring hasn’t stopped.

“She’ll fight us every step of the way,” I mutter, dropping the notepad onto the table with more force than necessary.

Xar glances over, his expression unreadable. “Then we fight harder. She’s worth it.”

I nod, jaw tight. “You’re right.” I pause. The words come slow, harder than I thought they'd be. “And I’m sorry.”

Xar’s brow lifts slightly, but he doesn’t speak, just waits – like heknowswhat’s coming.

“I should’ve listened to you. About her. About everything.” My voice drops, quiet and rough. “You knew before the scent. You felt it. And I blew you off.”

He shifts slightly, arms folding across his chest. “Yeah. You did.”

The bluntness isn’t cruel. It’s just true.

I stare at the floor for a second, the weight of it all hitting harder than I want to admit. “I was so damn wrapped up in myself, in the noise in my own head, I didn’t want to see it. I didn’t want to believe she could be real. That she could be ours. I didn’t want to admit that an omega might be exactly what we need. And when you tried to warn me about Lena—” I cut myself off, grinding my teeth. “I didn’t want to believe that either. Because that would’ve meant admitting I’d screwed up. Again.”

A beat of silence stretches between us. Then:

“You did,” Xar says simply. “But you also came back.”

I let out a sharp breath, almost a laugh, but it’s bitter. “Barely. I numbed everything. Booze. Again. After I swore I wouldn’t. Running away from every good thing we had. I made us vulnerable. I madehervulnerable.”

“You made a mess,” Xar says evenly. “But you’re here now. And you didn’t turn to drugs again. That counts for something.”

My throat feels tight. “I thought I lost her. Up on that roof. And when I smelled her – really smelled her for the first time...it was like something in me broke open.”

Xar’s eyes flick toward the closed kitchen door where she disappeared. His voice softens. “It was never going to be easy with someone like her. But she’s it, Blaise. She’s the one.”

I nod, swallowing hard. “Yeah. I know that now.”

Neither of us says anything for a while. We just sit in the quiet, breathing through the storm outside and the one still settling inside.