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“And you?” I ask, because I see what he’s doing. Focusing on Connor so he doesn’t have to think about his feelings. But I want them, messy as they may be.

“It was surreal. Two weeks before, we’d been talking about Nate moving into the house and our future kids. When everything blew up, it felt like a dream. Something so far out of reality that it didn’t make sense.”

The world blurs as I try to hold my tears because I know that heartache intimately. “You loved her.”

Instead of agreeing right away, Dez thinks it over. “I think I loved the idea of her more than Shelby herself. I wanted someone to cherish so bad that I put all my energy into a partner who didn’t want it and definitely didn’t deserve it. Now I’m glad it happened.”

God, this alpha. This beautiful, intelligent man. He’s saying it was all worth it because we found each other.

I offer my agreement with every press of our mouths. “We’re a lot alike, you know.”

“How so?”

I’ve thought about telling Pack Morgan about my past since that awful fucking dinner and while Nate’s learned a lot, I wasn’t ready to tell them all. But I think Dez will get it on a deeper level than the others could.

He knows what it’s like to be there but not be chosen. To be seen but not wanted. We have the same wounds, same scars, same healing, if we’re lucky.

“My former pack’s parents were business partners with mine,” I start. “They’d been discussing a merger for years and when my tests came back as omega, they decided I’d bond their sons’ pack as a way to cement the business merger. I was fifteen.”

“Holy shit, they sold you?”

The truth is far more complex than just saying I was sold. My former in-laws bought an omega for their sons and a breeder for the family from a good pedigree. I was property with a hefty price tag. A broodmare, not a fucking person. When I think about it that way, it makes sense that my exes treated me so badly. They felt entitled to.

“Children are married off to better business dealings in that circle all the time.” I kiss the underside of Dez’s tense jaw, fingers stroking along his arm with a purr. It’s stilted and quiet, but it’s there.

My alpha leans into me, following the sound with a soft rumble of his own. “That doesn’t make it right.”

“I know that now.” I pause, staring out at the city and picking at my sweats. “My pack wasn’t good to me. They left me alone a lot. Promised me a bond and a baby, but neither ever came.”

It feels like the worst secret. A pack had me for that long and refused to bite or breed me, even when I begged. My heart feels raw at the confession and when I try and fail to tell him the rest, Dez clutches me closer. “It’s enough, Daph. You don’t have to say anything else.”

I want to, I really do, but I just can’t. Can’t open the most painful wounds, knowing it could cost me everything.

We have time,I promise myself.One day, this pack will know everything, and they’ll love me for all of it.

“Why did you stay, little muse?” When I tense, Dez brushes his lips along my hair. “I’m not judging, I just want to understand.”

“There was a contract. Pretty sure it wasn’t legal, but it said if I left early, I had to pay. My parents threatened to disown me if I went through with it and that’s exactly what happened.”

“Nate said they were both at the courthouse.”

“They’ve been flying out for the dissolution. Lying on the stand about my abuse, about me bringing things to their attention. Everything. They told the judge thatIdecided not to bond or have a baby because my alphas were too busy, but I was just agreeing with them because I didn’t want to fight.”

Dez hauls me into his lap, surrounding me with his arms and that perfect scent. “Your biological family sounds like a bag of dicks.”

“They are.” I laugh, leaning into him more.

“They don’t deserve you. Not a single one of them.”

“They didn’t deserve either of us.”

He hums his agreement. “You’re not going into court alone again.”

Chills cover me at the idea of putting Dez and Pack Parker in the same room. Not because my alpha can’t defend himself, but because I know my exes. They’ll take his existence out on me, and I’m already struggling to survive under the weight of their attention. “You don’t need to do that?—”

Dez wraps a gentle hand around my jaw, still my words without trying. “Never again, little muse.” His growl makes me shiver, head tilting to show him my throat. He takes the offering, sucking marks along the skin.

When he lets me go, I feel warm and fuzzy inside. Not just from the physical attention, but because I know Dez means everything he says. “Yes, Alpha.”