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Selene climbs up on my island and sits there, watching me.

“Is being an omega so bad?”

“Yes!” I shout at her. “Yes, it is. I’m an alpha! That was the point. It was supposed to settle, and I was supposed to become an alpha, and then I could go home.”

The panic beating in my chest is getting hard to contain.

“You don’t understand- I can’t be in the MC because I’m vulnerable. I can’t run the Raines empire because I’m vulnerable. This is ruining my life, and now, I can’t be with-”

I clamp my mouth shut on the words I almost spewed out. I don’t want them to know that it’s her I want. That she’s the one who haunts me.

She’s not a scent match. We’re not a scent match, not when I’m like this.

But I want her all the same.

She pushes off the island, landing hard, and stalks over to me. I stand still while she reaches up and then yowl loudly when she yanks on my hair.

“What did I tell you?”

I stare at her.

“Being an omega isn’t a weakness, it’s a strength. Your alphas will kill for you, but you can still attack. You can be exactly who your father raised you to be, Bailey. Nothing changes, you’re just more. And, yes, I know you’re Andy’s son. But it changes nothing. He’s being shortsighted. There’s nothing wrong with you.” She whispers into my ear, rubbing circles on my chest. “I wish like hell I could take your pain away.”

I stare into those blue eyes that haunt my dreams and try to find calm, fight to find the confidence that she has.

“You will still be Bailey. Nothing changes.”

Her voice is soft, and is that regret? Why regret?

I whisper the truth to her. “I don’t want to be this.”

Her mouth quirks up at the sides. “In a perfect world, I would have you and them, and I wouldn’t be this person that I have to be. I would just exist as Selene, but life isn’t fair. You are more than you dreamed you could be, and I…will do what I do best to survive. You’re still you…incredible, sexy you.”

She steps back, and though I reach for her, she slips away from me.

“What? What are you going to do if you can’t stay with me?”

“I’m going to take care of everyone like I always do,” Selene says as she walks out of the front door and out of sight.

I expect her to come back, I watch for her to come back. Panic beats at me, my mind screams. I want her here. I need her here.

Kingston grabs me before I can stop him, and, as soon as I catch his scent, I lose myself in him completely. Falling into him, drowning in him. But the scent of her remains, a ghostly memory and a tease of life stealing what should be mine.

The heat explodes through me, out of me. So much stronger than I’ve ever felt.

“We’re not going to let you fall, Bailey. We’re going to help you fly.”

Kingston wipes away my tears as he walks me backwards into the nest.

I reach for the door frame, but it slips through my fingers, and then the back of my legs hit the edge of the bed. I sit down, staring up at the huge alpha as he peels his shirt off.

My mouth waters as I look over the cut expanse of his chest. I want to lick, touch, bond, mark it all up, make him mine.

Fear flickers as he reaches for his jeans’ button, but all he does is flick it open and put one knee on the bed beside my thigh. He reaches out slowly, with enough time I can tell him no, but I don’t have a voice, I have heat; I have need, and everything I was a few hours ago seems lost.

“No pain, no promises in the moment. We just want to help you.”

“Selene-”