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My stomach cramped, and my teeth latched onto my tongue to stop whining. The glittering lights in the room spun, and I squeezed my eyes tight, sucking in a shuddering breath.

“S-Sorry.” My stuttered apology did nothing to shift the dark upset in Seph’s gaze.

“Do you need a break?” Lloyd whispered in my ear. His squeeze on my hip was concerned. “Do you need to sit down?”

I needed to be teleported anywhere but here right now.

I had to get over it before the acidic anxiety burned a hole in my stomach.

“Chase said he was looking for you earlier,” Tomas said to Pan.

“Oh, CJ met me by the bar, was trying to convince me to join him out afterward,” Pan said, and at Walden’s sharp look, his grin dimmed. “Or not.”

CJ. CJ. CJ.

I didn’t want to acknowledge the connection my brain made. I trembled on the edge of a wire stage, the spotlight harsh against my face. Sweat prickled a lazy, telling line down my spine. The room swirled, and it took everything in me not to collapse.

“Is Chase not with you tonight?” There was no heart squeeze when I thought about the man who’d used and tossed me aside. There was nothing but sickness.

Seph’s eyes lit up, her features so bright. “He’s just getting me a drink.” She waved a hand.

“Wait, Tully. Don’t tell me you know CJ? What a small world.” Pan let out a laugh. “Has he been at the bar the entire night?”

Something inside me snapped, and I felt the crush of phantom bone and tendons as Pan nonchalantly tore me down with his revelation. I blinked against the rising pain, let it swallow me whole.

Chase was friends with Pan?

The one who Ajax disapproved of. It might have made me laugh, if I hadn’t been on the verge of a breakdown.

“You know Chase, he’s the life of the party.” Tomas lifted a shoulder.

Pan stiffened behind me and his hand lifted into the air. “There he is, CJ. Come meet Tully.”

My knees became jelly, and I trembled as the man I’d run from came into view.

Chase. CJ. They were the same person.

Time hadn’t punished him for the things he’d done to me. He slicked his chestnut hair back on top, shaving the sides short. The bristles used to feel like velvet underneath my fingertips. He walked with the confidence of a man who commanded attention all his life. Blue eyes, like shards of a glacier, flashed with surprise and delight as they landed on me.

When he’d sought me out at my parents' funeral, I’d swum in the comfort he gave.

He passed a wine to Seph and brushed a kiss on her cheek. Seph beamed, and I clamped my tongue between my teeth at the rush of bile. Chase and I fucked in dark, empty rooms while he’d courted Seph, unknown to me. Did Chase enjoy the illicitness of tasting me when he confessed his love to my friend?

He’d lied to us both.

Guilt was a jagged wave of razors inside me. Every turn unearthed long-buried shame. Sweat prickled down my back. His betrayal killed the naive heat I nursed for him in my chest. The perfect symmetry of his features hid a selfish monster. Chase aimed his trademark beautiful smile at me. But it didn’t cause a riot of butterflies like it used to.

Before I could stop him, Chase leaned forward and wrapped his arms around me in a hug. His cheek coasted across mine. The heat of his skin was a violation, and I wobbled at the rude touch. Seph made a small noise, and Tomas hauled him backward. Chase’s glimmering smile didn’t falter.

I gagged, turning to rub my cheek on Pan, when Walden stepped up with a growl. Ajax cupped my cheek and replaced Chase’s crawling touch with his own. I was in a safe cocoon of my pack, but I didn’t feel mollified.

Chase was right there. I wanted to scream out what he did to me, but I couldn’t. The words clogged my throat.

“Don’t touch our omega,” Lloyd said, firm.

Pan let out a soft laugh, dismissing Chase’s gross overstep. “Are you drunk? This is the beautiful omega I was bragging to you about.” Pan dropped a kiss on my head, adding. “But it seems like you’ve already met?”

Rage flashed in Chase’s eyes, a potent jealousy that burned my skin to a crisp. But an effusive apology replaced it in a second.