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"Is it? Because I think you felt it too. That connection, that recognition. I think that's why you trusted me so quickly, why you let me stay with you through the worst of it."

"I was in heat. I wasn't thinking clearly,” Belle says dismissing the night.

"Maybe. Or maybe you were thinking more clearly than you ever have."

She stares at me for a long moment, her breathing shallow and rapid. "What are you saying, Theo?"

"I'm saying that whatever's happening between us, it's real. It's not manipulation or coincidence or heat-induced confusion. It's real, and it's worth exploring."

"And if I don't want to explore it?" Belle asks.

The question hurts, but I force myself to answer honestly. "Then I'll respect that. But Belle, I think you do want to explore it. I think you're just scared of what you might find."

"Of course I'm scared," she says, her voice breaking slightly. "Do you know what happens to omegas who trust the wrong alpha? Do you know what I've seen happen to people who let themselves believe in fairy tales?"

"This isn't a fairy tale, Belle. It's real life. Messy, complicated, scary real life. But that doesn't mean it can't be good."

"How can you be so sure?" She asks.

"Because I can smell how you respond to me, and I felt how you melted into me that night when you finally let yourself trust me."

She's trembling now, and her scent is a chaotic mix of need and fear and want. "This is too much."

"I know. But Belle, what if it's also exactly what you've been looking for without knowing it?"

"I can't," she whispers. "I can't do this right now. It's too much, too fast, too everything."

The rejection stings, but I can smell the conflict in her scent. She wants this as much as I do, but she's not ready to admit it yet.

"Okay," I say quietly. "But Belle? When you're ready to stop running from this, I'll be here. We'll be here."

"We?"

Shit!

The slip makes my blood run cold, but it's too late to take it back. "I meant I'll be here."

But she's too sharp to miss the plural, and I can see the wheels turning in her mind. "We, Theo. You said we'll be here. Who's we?"

"Belle..."

"Oh my god," she breathes, stepping back from me. "Felix. That's why he was so comfortable at the palace, why he knew his way around. You're together. You and Felix, you're... what? A pack?"

Fuck! There’s no holding back now. I can't lie to her, not when she's looking at me with that expression of dawning realization and betrayal.

"Yes," I say simply.

"And Marcus? Is he part of this too?"

"Belle, let me explain…” I trail off, but then she interjects.

“Is this why I got an invite? And I suspected that it was Mrs. Chen, was it you?”

She's putting it together faster than I hoped, her sharp mind connecting dots with ruthless efficiency.

"You've been watching me," she says, her voice flat with realization. "All three of you. This whole thing was planned."

"Not the way you think…”