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They’re not trying to get my business; they’re trying to destroy my life. To make me crawl back to them on trembling knees. I’d rather die, but I can still admit I’m worried. Not about me, but about my friends. My alphas. Pack Morgan may have signed a pre-bond but if Jacob finds out I’m seeing another pack seriously, he’ll go after them to spite me. He will destroy their reputations and future just to prove there’s nowhere he can’t reach and no one he won’t mow down to make me pay.

So, the real question becomes how far am I willing to let this go? How much damage do I continue to let the Parkers do before I just give up?

Maybe losing Nymph is the best route to minimize the damage. If I get Pack Parker to sign quickly, I can protect Nate, Dez and Connor’s future, even if it means demolishing my own. They didn’t ask for the drama when they helped me with my heat.

Anger and grief war together with an unending sadness. This business was my home and safety when I had none. I don’t want to give it up to men who will do their utmost to disrespect it. I want the future I planned. The one I was promised so many years ago.

Sasha clears her throat like it’s not the first time she’s tried to get my attention. “Pack Parker is offering you an out on the contract repaymentifyou hand over the store willingly.”

What the fuck?

“It’s not worth that much,” I say dumbly. No doubt it’s another of their ploys, but I really can’t see why they’d walk away from that much money just to screw me over.

“We both know they don’t care. If I were you, I’d let them torch it. At least you won’t be stuck repaying them for the rest of your life.”

“Nymph is my baby, Sasha. I started the business from the ground up. Spent every moment I had to grow it, nurture it, turn it into something I could be proud of. I am not going to throw it all away because some chucklefucks can’t stand that I left them.”

“You may not have a choice,” she says carefully. “I know this hurts, Daph, but you can start something new, something their hands have never touched.”

But I don’t want to.

“How do we stop this?” I ask through numb lips.

Her sigh is so sympathetic I want to curl into a ball and die. “If we can find the contract, it would change things, but we can’t hinge our entire approach on something we may never get.”

Sasha pauses, obviously waiting for me to offer a suggestion, but what else is there? I either find that fucking contract, sign over my company and watch them burn it down or fight them in court and probably lose, anyway.

“I’m sorry, Daphne. I hoped it wouldn’t come to this, but you need to be prepared in case things don’t go our way. I’m still trying to find Taylorson and we’ve started rereading pack law while we’re at it. Hopefully, we can find something that makes all of this moot. I’m sending over the offer now. Take a few weeks to think it through, but it’s your best shot at getting out of this relatively unscathed.”

My mind floats above my body, so disconnected they don’t even feel like we’re connected. I hear myself say, “I understand,” but I don’t feel it. I don’t feel the phone slipping into my pocket, the cold sinking in my body as I walk back into the chaos of the storefront. All I know is the breath sawing through my lungs.

In. Out. In. Out.

I look at the warping floors, the bare walls, the home that my dream was supposed to become and all I see is destruction. All I see is the end.

I’ve lost.

But it doesn’t feel world-destroying this time. Unlike every other time they’ve broken me, I alreadyhavethings Pack Parker hasn’t touched.

My friends. The duplex. Pack Morgan.

Losing this place will hurt, but it doesn’t have to be the final blow. If leaving taught me anything, it’s that I can rebuild my life without toxic influences dragging me down. I can get through this. Shore myself up to the hurt that will come as the Parkers rip my dreams apart for fun and then figure out my next steps. Right now, I need to do what it takes to end this.

I pull up my mother’s unopened thread and start reading through her messages.

Mother

Mechanics. You left your stable pack for mechanics? That’s embarrassing, Daphne.

Corey is absolutely distraught over you not returning his messages. He’s barely left the house. The boy looks like he hasn’t slept in days.

She sends a picture that I immediately delete, though I notice the alpha’s just as messy as last time. Bet she took that photo the day of the court case to use against me later.

Mother

Your father’s birthday is coming up. It would be nice for you to apologize for ruining the arrangement he so carefully made for you before that happens.

This little stunt of yours has made us the laughingstock of the country club, Daphne. I will never forgive you for it.