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21

JULIAN

“Okay, Julian is next,” Elias confirmed, pointing as he went around the table.

It seemed so fucked to be making a sex schedule, but with our limited hours until the detective would come back and collect her, we needed to make sure we all got some alone time with Marlowe.

“Then Nolan, even though this isall his fucking fault.” Nolan averted his gaze and didn’t even bother denying it.

I didn’t know much about shifter laws regarding omegas. Why bother learning them when there weren’t any omegas around, right? So if Elias, an actual lawyer, thought Nolan had fucked up, I should have believed him.

But as pissed as I was at the situation, I still couldn’t find it in me to blame him. He’d been trying to protect Marlowe, and I had a hard time coming up with different decisions I might have made in his shoes. Hell, I’d probably have messed up even worse.

Archer sat to my left. He had shown up a little after Marlowe did, driving straight here from Chicago as soon as he’d gotten the messages, and after being given the rundown of what happened, he didn’t say much. Just quietly seethed while staring at the mayor.

“And then Archer, and then me,” Elias finished. “That’s as fair as we can make it.”

Marlowe’s moaning intensified, her sweet cries floating down-stairs and making my chest tighten with need. I didn’t even care if she was too tired to have sex again, just having her in my arms would have been enough. To cover my sheets in her scent. I’d barely even gottenthe chance to dance with her at the party, and now…

No, I had to stop negative thinking. Every time I started a fight thinking I’d lose, I did. For everyone’s sake, I needed to believe I could win.

I slumped back in my chair, my knees nervously bouncing. Archer snapped towards the movement like he was going to tell me to stop, but looked away instead before he said anything.

The treatment I was receiving from the pack had already changed dramatically since we left City Hall. From the bottom of the pecking order to polite deference, all because I was going to be representing us in the Rite.

It was… weird.

I didn’t mind being the “pup,” as Elias had started calling me. I was okay with being the youngest and newest member, because aside from some light teasing, everyone still treated me like an equal. Like family. It was all I’d ever wanted in a pack.

Now, though, these males were going to be walking on eggshells around me until the Rite was over. I needed to tell them it was fine, and I just wanted them to act normally around me.

I mean, I wasn’t blind to the fact that my fists were two of the main reasons Cam had brought me in. I was strong, I was a fighter, and it was my job to protect Marlowe from whatever tried to take her from us—vamps, creepy old alphas, or even her own brother if it came down to it.

The door upstairs opened, and Cam and Marlowe’s voices carried as they made their way down. I sat up straight, my heart pounding as she came into view. Her toned legs were bare, and on top she wore Cam’s button-up shirt from the party. Her thick, strawberry blonde hair hung loose, messy and gorgeous, framing her heart-shaped face. I started to get up but Archer held out his hand.

“Wait, before we continue with anything else, we need to talk about what I discovered today.”

I sighed dramatically. He had mentioned something about a “breakthrough” when he walked in, but I didn’t think now was really the time to talk about it. It was almost one in the morning, and Marlowe was leaving in seven hours. That meant less than two hours for each of us, not even taking into account that our omega was likely exhausted and might want to sleep sometime tonight.

“Nolan, can you make me some coffee? You always put in the right amount of cream,” Marlowe requested.

His face lifted slightly and he gave her a small smile that didn’tquite reach his eyes. “Of course, sugar. Anyone else need some?”

Only Archer took him up on his offer, and he got up to turn on the electric kettle.

Marlowe gave Cam’s arm a comforting squeeze and then left his side to sit on my lap. Her scent was muddled with both Cam’s and the Conclave’s, but I didn’t care. I wrapped my arms around her and buried my face into her neck. Her perfume had the strange effect of making me both horny and relaxed, and I just wanted to bring her into my room and away from the others so we could be alone, doing whatever she had the energy for, but I stifled a growl and waited until everyone had their drinks, settled around the table before Archer spoke.

He took a sip and then placed an old, leather-bound journal on the table. “I can’t believe I found this on my first day in the library, but if the accounts of this shifter soldier are correct, then everything we know about the Great War has been a lie.”

Elias blinked a few times, his face finally registering the news. “Wait, what? And why does this need to be talked about now?”

I couldn’t agree more. This wasn’t the time for a history lecture, for Moon’s sake. My hand possessively ran up Marlowe’s thigh, her skin turning to goosebumps. “Are you cold?” I whispered.

She shook her head and then rested it on my shoulder, her mug of coffee now in her hands. “No, that just tickles a bit. But please don’t stop, it feels really nice.”

My purr vibrated through her and I couldn’t take it anymore. “Can’t you just give me the cliff notes later?” I snapped

They all turned their heads towards me in surprise—it was my first time asserting any kind of dominance in the pack. Archer, the least typically aggressive of the alphas, growled in response to my push. “I understand the Conclave and the Rite are our more pressing concerns at the moment, but Marlowe should hear this, too.”