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My chest felt like it was going to crack open. All my unsaid protestations hammered in my throat.

“Tully, we need you. I need you,” Lloyd whispered as he waited, and waited for her to go to him.

But she took a step back. She rubbed her chest this time. The regular beep was the only sound.

“This pack isn’t complete without you, Tully, please,” Ajax tried, but she shook her head.

The starkness of this moment stripped me of all bravado. I crumbled to dust on the inside. Tully was drawing away from us and I couldn’t fill my lungs. She was my oxygen, my sweetness. If I didn’t have her… I couldn’t even linger on the horrible thought.

“I’m sorry,” I wheezed. “This is all my fault. Tully, I’m an idiot who got caught up and didn’t think about how it would affect you. I’ll do better next time. Open communication, clear boundaries. Whatever you need.”

She fidgeted and her eyes glazed with a faraway look.

“At first, I was furious with you all, and thought it was a cruel joke. But I cooled off by the time I packed my things. I think it’s a case of right pack, wrong time. Because I can’t be the mate of a mayor. Look at me.” She swept her hand down herself with a self-deprecating scoff.

“You are—” I started, but Tully cut me off.

“Not interested. You might be happy to work yourself to an inch of your life and live under the scrutiny of the city, but until a month ago, I was in hiding. In our heat bubble, everything was perfect, but we can’t stay there forever. We can’t pretend there are parts of our lives that don’t mesh.”

“Don’t do this.” Pan rose to his feet with an anguished cry. “You can’t leave me.”

Tully’s eyes glimmered with unshed tears and one of them tracked down her cheek, unleashing a flood.

“Why?”

“You give me hope, Tully. You fit in this pack, don’t—” Pan’s voice cracked.

“Don’t throw us away over a stupid mistake,” Ajax supplied for his brother.

“I can’t spend more of my life making myself fit in a space that wasn’t made for me. You thought you knew best and hoped I’d be desperate enough to forgive the manipulation.”

“You’re twisting this into something malicious,” I argued through gritted teeth. A band wrapped around my forehead and throbbed.

“And you’re still not listening.” Tully glared at each of us. “I let Chase bully me into being the omega he wanted. I will not do the same thing again. That’s something I can thank you for. I finally feel strong enough to accept I’m meant to be alone.”

Tully swiped at her cheeks, taking the arguments from my tongue. She was done with us.She was done with us? How could that be? How could I survive her leaving?

I became fire as she turned on her heel. Flames tortured my lungs and too-tight ribs. It was a thief, taking the color Tully created and turning it black.

“Please, stay,” I croaked.

Tully looked at each of us, pausing for a moment as if to mentally say goodbye. Lloyd pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes at what he saw in her gaze. Finality.

“If I stayed, the voice in the back of my head would always be there to poison our perfect beginning. I can’t be the omega you want because I’m not the omega I want to be. I need to stand on my own, rediscover a passion that makes me independent.”

“It’s over, for good?” Pan choked, and his palm was slick with sweat in mine.

“You follow your dreams. I’m going to work on discovering mine. One day we’ll find our happiness, but it won’t be together.”

30

Tully

One month later

“Honey, I’m home.” I waved at Thorn as he tried to close the door to Clay’s apartment. The scent of fresh cinnamon buns wafted out.

“You have your own apartment. One I helped you organize, if I’m not mistaken.”