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I continue to stare at him, bewildered.

“Stop,” he growls, “or I’ll take it back.”

For the first time in days, I have a feeling that everything might be all right.

All we have to do is not mess this up.

20

DEVYN

It startswith little texts from Ben.

It’s been a week and a half since I temporarily moved to Tammy’s house, and it’s the longest I’ve ever gone without seeing Ben.

But I keep his gifts close, and Wilson sleeps next to me every night.

“You’re smiling at your phone,” Skylar observes while I’m on my break at the café. “Is this little fight over?”

I make a face at her. “It wasn’t a fight,” I insist. “I was scared.”

Her expression softens. “I know, kiddo,” she says. “But I think it’s time you saw each other again. He misses you like crazy.”

My stomach flips. “Did you see him?”

She nods. “Dev, he looks like shit. He looks like he’sdying, and I can’t even imagine how your Alphas feel.”

Guilt and shame make my breath catch.

The last thing I want to do is hurt them, but I’m still embarrassed by what happened.

“You look awful, too,” Skylar insists, and my mouth falls open.

“I donot.”

She shakes her head. “Let me rephrase. You look like you feel awful. You have a fresh mating bond and you’re not around your mates. You look…incomplete.”

I can’t stop the pout that I give her.

“Oh, stop it. You’re still pretty. Quit being a brat, and go find your boyfriends,” she says. “After your shift is done, you should visit Ben.”

I start to panic, but then I read through our texts again.

I miss you. Can’t wait for you to come home—I’ve been trying to make cookies without you, and it’s not working.

He attached a photo of brown sludge on a baking sheet.

Ben has stayed strong the entire time I’ve been away, never trying to make me feel guilty and just giving me the space I asked for.

I haven’t been strong enough to read Ace or Connor’s texts yet.

When I think of them, I’m overwhelmed with emotion.

My inner Omega screams in despair, horrified that she hasn’t been around her mates in so long.

Who knows what would happen if I read those texts?

“I’m not a brat,” I murmur. “I’m just…frightened.”