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And worst of all, I gave in to my baser instinct and mated Devyn without a second thought.

Some pack leader I am.

Ace grimaces. “Those letters didn’t help,” he murmurs, and I’m thankful that I get to hear his voice again.

“Well, we’ll find out tonight,” I say. “Ben is coming over. We all need to talk.”

“We’re doingwhat?”

“He’s our packmate, whether you like it or not. We need to discuss how we’re going to fix this.”

He huffs. “You could have told me.”

“I just did.”

“You could have told me earlier.”

“I didn’t want you to obsess about it,” I say, “or have something else weigh unnecessarily heavy on you.”

He takes my free hand that’s resting on my thigh and interlaces our fingers.

“Thanks, pumpkin,” he mutters. “I guess.”

I have to stay positive for Ace, even though I’m not sure how this meeting will go.

But if we can’t repair this rift between us, it won’t be a healthy pack for Devyn.

Ace doesn’t speak again until we pull up to the driveway. He sighs deeply when I park; then I turn to look at him.

His eyes are tired and devoid of the spark of mischief he usually has.

It makes my heart ache.

“I don’t hate Ben, you know,” he says. “I’m just jealous of him.”

“I know you are.”

“He got to meet her first. He’s been with her this whole time. I’m just fuckingjealous.”

I nod. “I don’t blame you.”

He chuckles, then brings my hand to his lips. “We’re bonded for life,” he mutters. “What. The. Fuck. A detective and a convict.”

I shake my head. “No. You’re just Ben and Ace.”

He shoots me a look. “Why are you being so supportive and intuitive all of a sudden? Where’s my workaholic, preppy, grumpy boyfriend?”

“Still here. Just trying to keep it all together.”

Ace sighs heavily. “I love you, pumpkin.”

I grimace at the name. “I love you too,Ansel.”

He narrows his eyes and lets out a low growl. “Just so you know, I’m never going to stop calling you pumpkin. Maybe I’ll get Devyn to use it, too.”

“If Devyn calls us anything besides assholes, I’ll be happy. I’ll take anything at this point.” He lets go of my hand, and we exit the car and head into our new home.

All that’s left to do is wait for Ben to arrive.