Page 103

18

ACE

Connor is doing fucking amazingat playing the dutiful, caring boyfriend, but I know this is eating him up inside, too.

Our Omega isn’t with us.

She doesn’t want to be near me.

I was the first one to bite her—and now she prefers to keep her distance.

And the worst fucking part is, I feel hereverywhere.

Her goodness floods my veins, yet I can’t go to her.

Connor and I are in hell, and we’ve done everything we can to try to fix it.

We’ve sent her presents, and I’ve spilled my heart to her in letters.

She’s my mate. My love, my life, myobsession.

My mate that doesn’t want to see me.

My only consolation is she doesn’t want to see Ben either, but rejoicing in that makes me feel a bit like an asshole.

Ben loves her deeply, and Devyn shutting herself off from him doesn’t help any of us.

Ikindof owe him an apology, too.

Kind of.

I probably shouldn’t have hit him, but in my defense, he ran his mouth for no reason and physically blocked me when I tried to reach my mate.

He’s lucky I only threw him into his kitchen cabinets.

But I can’t stop replaying the moment Devyn realized what had happened, once her Heat was over and she gently touched Ben’s cheek.

The look of horror and betrayal on her face stabbed me in the gut.

“You promised me no violence,”she had said.

I promised her that during our first date at the arcade.

And then Ben and I attacked each other in their kitchen, only feet from where she was in her nest, naked and vulnerable.

We fucked up, badly.

I lounge on the living room couch, waiting for Ben to arrive. I sip a glass of whiskey, hoping it will calm my nerves, and continue to watch reruns of Devyn’s favorite reality baking competition.

I like the idea that maybe she’s been watching it this week as well.

I lean against Connor, who idly strokes my hair and purrs.

“He’d better not be an asshole to me,” I mutter.

Connor tugs my hair playfully. “Be nice.”

“I’m always nice.”