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All except one.

My stomach flipped, and the acid burned a fiery imprint up my throat. Walden pressed a hand against my back, his way of reminding me he was there. I was glad my scent was gone, so they wouldn’t know how truly terrified I was. My former friend eyed Walden with curiosity, tracking the movement with open interest.

She wouldn’t smile if she’d known what her packmate had done to me.

“Seph Campion, right? Your father is Don of Campion enterprises?” Ajax introduced himself and the pack, while I tried to gain control of my scrambled brain. “We haven’t met officially.”

“What are you doing here?” I interrupted.

My pack slid me looks, and I knew the strain in my tone wasn’t fooling anyone. Damn my inability to mask anything. I drew in a deep breath, determined to pretend.

“You disappear like a ghost and askmethat question?” Hurt threaded her words, and I crossed my arms.

She melted back into her pack. My stomach churned as Neil and Tomas offered a polite smile. They didn’t know me, except in a passing welcome. But their images burned into my brain. It felt like a lifetime ago when I’d imagined being their omega.

Chase reeled me in with his lies and I’d fallen headlong into daydreams about life in their arms. Before he found out the truth about my fortune. Seph’s cheeks glowed with a tipsy, tinged red and she exuded warmth, the type that came with the certainty of love.

“I-I’ve been dealing with some stuff,” I lied, a lame attempt.

Seph’s face creased, and I wished there was something I could say to iron out the little wrinkle between her eyes, but it was impossible. That would require telling her the truth.

“We’ve got so much to catch up on, like your new pack.” She dug at my expression for something she wouldn’t find.

The version of Tully she knew died the minute I realized Chase had been using me. That wasn’t Seph’s fault. Her parents were the only wealthy family my parents stayed in contact with, and we’d grown up together. Shared our hopes for the future, talked about our dreams for a pack.

I wanted a family where I was an integral part.

Not a third wheel, like the family I’d been born into. I craved the connection a pack promised. Chase latched onto my desires and coaxed me into his thrall before pulling the rug out from underneath me. When I realized what he’d done, swapped out one heiress for another, I ceased contact with Seph.

“I’m not making any rash decisions right now.”

“Like dumping your best friend for no reason?” Alcohol loosened her tongue and festering hurt bled out.

Seph wouldn’t have been so candid in public without it. She was elegant in a way I couldn’t emulate. What made her perfect facade crack? Was it something to do with Chase? He wasn’t here. I searched over her shoulder.

“I hear you’re trying to market to Astaly? They have interesting laws over there with scent marking. Has that been an issue?” Walden interjected when nothing came from my thin lips.

Neil and Tomas nodded gratefully. Detracting from the tension, thick enough to strangle everyone. Seph turned her furrowed brow away from me and I sagged against Pan.

I wanted to walk away. The idea tasted bitter in the back of my throat.

“It’s been a challenge, but the high prince is more progressive, which could take Astaly from being sheltered to a powerhouse. Which will benefit Starhaven,” Neil said.

He had chestnut hair, the only similarity between Chase and him.

“Are you going to ignore me here, too?” Seph whispered as her gaze flickered to my bracelet.

She knew Walden had given it to me, and her eyes misted. I couldn’t find a smile to placate her. Seph didn’t understand why I was being so strange, so cold. I couldn’t have prepared for the ice in my veins, the way it froze my tongue and flooded me with chilling memories.

Walden’s hand landed on my shoulder, offering comfort as he, Neil, and Tomas carried on their stilted conversation about Astaly. About the company that wouldn’t exist if not for me. My insides twisted. Ajax and Lloyd pressed in close, Pan plastered against my back.

I wanted to ask where Chase was. Sweat sprang on my upper lip and I couldn’t stop the shiver of panic that charred my spine. What would Chase do when he saw me here? He couldn’t claim me, had never intended to, but would he try? Would he look right through me like he’d done the night he’d broken my naive heart?

I felt the fool again. Why did I let them convince me to come to this gala?

“I haven’t been a good friend,” I gritted out through my tight throat.

“I-I never thought I’d find out about you joining a pack from gossip. Remember when we were girls, and we used to write lists in our diaries? It’s everything you always wanted.”