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I don’t remember standing, don’t remember how I got halfway across the room while the scent of our mutual distress burns my nose. All I know is the way my instincts scream to comfort and soothe. To fight it out and reconcile.

Screw that.

Why should I shoulder the world because men like Connor are too fragile to check their own behavior or try to see past their insecurities? It’s his job as pack lead to have a level head and clearly, that’s not something he can manage. The man needs therapy. No way will I do his emotional labor unpaid and unappreciated. Been there, done that.

He tracks the one tear I let fall, face twisting. “Daphne.”

“Just to be clear,I’mthe one that filed andI’mthe one who’s been pushing to get the dissolution finalized so I can move on with my life. To I wash away the eight years of begging for a bite and getting absolutely horseshit in return. You’ll read all about it, but my exes’ most recent tactic to trap me involves stealing the company I built by hand and destroying my livelihood. Because if they can’t have me, they want to be sure no one else will want me.” I look him over, this small man who lets his pain cut others and my lip curls. “Must be working.”

“That’s not true, Daph. We want you.” Nate’s voice breaks, and I don’t need to see him to know he’s crying. I feel his pain in my chest, this awareness of him that’s been there since Diamond’s. When he found me, I thought…

It doesn’t matter what I thought. Reality has a way of tearing dreams to pieces and leaving the remnants at my feet. This pack is just more lost potential. Anotheralmosthappily ever after.

“You want a scent matched omega. I get it, it’s supposed to be the love of a lifetime, but I’ll tell you a secret. It’s a trap, Nate. A lure to draw us in, so people who don’t have the capacity to love us can use our weak spots to rip us open. There’s no love here, only pain. So much fucking pain.” My voice is softer than it should be because I can’t bring myself to lash out at Nate. Won’t snap and snarl at someone who is so full of love that it spills out of him with every word.

But he can’t keep dreaming of a future for us when there’s no chance it’s coming true. I’m too far gone and while I don’t give a shit about what happens to Connor, Nate and Dez deserve so much better than a damaged omega. One connected to another pack, at that. They’ll be someone’s wish come true. They just won’t be mine.

“I don’t believe that,” Nate says hoarsely. He’s still kneeling, and I ache to reach out. I’d brush a hand through his hair, whisper that none of this is his fault. There’s always a risk whentwo planets exist on the same path. The collision just happened way too soon this time.

Instead, my mouth lifts into the saddest smile at his optimism. Faith that I’ve forgotten how to have. “I know.”

The phone sits on the table, untouched for so long that the screen shuts off. I motion to it. “You want to know about mypack, Connor? There’s your ticket to the drama.”

Connor clears his throat. “Daphne, I’m sorry. I reacted poorly, but?—”

“It doesn’t matter. I’m done.” I remember saying those words a year ago, and I wish that same rightness would take over now. Exhaustion and unrelenting sadness weigh my body down until I’m not sure I can move.

But I do. I move away from him. From the table that seemed so charming an hour ago. One step, then another.

There’s no point in hearing anything else. Whatever life intermission this was, it’s over now. It has to be.

When he realizes I’m not reaching for it, Dez takes the blanket I brought off the chair. I won’t touch it again. Not with lies woven into every thread. “It matters, Daphne. You matter.”

“No, I don’t. I never have.” Not to anyone but my friends. Swallowing past the ache, I edge toward the door. “Thanks for dinner, but I think we should just leave whatever this is in the past.”

I was fooling myself that I could have the pack I’d spent my life wishing for. That these men could hold me, want me while my world is crumbling.

“Daph, wait.” Connor stands, hand reaching, but Nate’s low growl stills his movement. Pack lead or not, he’s not strong enough to best the biggest alpha without help. “I’m not going to hurt her.”

“You already did.”

Their scents blur, as bitter as mine, but I don’t interrupt the fighting.

Dez watches me leave with that fucking blanket in his grip, devastation etched across his face. I mourn him as the door cuts our connection for the last time, but I don’t go back. I can’t.

My hands shake as I walk the five steps to my place. The tears wait until I’m back in the echoing silence. They’re hot and heavy along my cheeks, a visual of the pain exploding inside me. Aches from head to toes and the tips of my fingers. Rejection in physical form.

Sprinting for the stairs, I hesitate on where to go. I want to burrow into my cozy nest, but I can’t. Not when I spent the night ensuring it smells like them.

Out. Get them out.

My skin crawls as I tear my bedroom window open. Every last sock and sheet from the heat gets tossed outside, the force nearly ripping the curtains down with it. The descenter hurts my nose, but I douse everything that’s left until not a hint of Pack Morgan remains except what’s on my skin. My clothes.

Off. Off. Off.

The shirt collar rips, and I nearly destroy the shorts and my panties too as I frantically bundle them into the fall air but even naked, I still feel them all over me. Hands in my hair, palms along my waist. I have to get their scents off me or I’ll never fucking sleep.

In the bathroom, I turn the shower as hot as it’ll go and scrub until my skin hurts. Until the only thing left is the scent of heartbreak.