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“I've known him since I was young. They’re both my friends and have taken care of me for the past month.”

I ground my teeth so hard they cracked. That should have been my job. The distance between us tugged at my ribs. What I wouldn’t give to not feel so disconnected.

“Is he single, asking for a friend?” Sybil piped up.

“Does he know how to smile?” Beatrice asked as she offered a plate full of snacks.

Thorn stood off to the side, and narrowed his eyes in our direction, hearing her question easily. Clay was wandering around the lounge room, touching every expensive piece the designer insisted on. He pocketed a silver dove ornament. What did it matter? This house was sterile without Tully’s sun-baked honey and fig scent.

“He can smirk. Does that count? He and Clay are together, but that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t be open to it. Just know, he has a lucrative side business, and it isn’t entirely legal.”

“Perfect.” Sybil clapped her hands. “I love—” I growled at her words, and she let out a nervous giggle. “I mean, my friend loves bad boys.”

Absolutely not. I wasn’t having one of my sisters hook up with an alpha like Thorn. They needed to be treated like princesses, protected and spoiled.

“I need to say goodbye.” Tully gravitated to his side and Thorn tilted his head, closer than necessary. My teeth cracked again. I couldn’t tear my gaze away from them. They’d explained the phone call, and how they’d been tickling each other and that was what we heard on the phone. What would have happened if we had let it go? What would CJ have done to my omega?

“Not happening,” I warned my sisters as they licked their lips and watched Thorn and Clay.

“Don’t be a buzzkill. Just because you’re unhappy doesn’t mean we all have to be,” Beatrice scolded.

“This isn’t a singles mixer, and you’re supposed to be on my side, not ogling the competition.”

I tossed my hand through my locks. Messy was becoming my new trademark. I didn’t have the energy to maintain the perfection I’d always projected. I fought the insane urge to pick Tully up, toss her over my shoulder, and lock her in our house until I destroyed every threat to her safety. My suits mocked me in my wardrobe. They were tailored, expensive, perfection, and I didn’t want it. I wanted Pan, and Tully, in a tangled mess under my covers.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Sybil threaded her arm through mine.

My heart is broken. My pack is in pieces.

“I don’t know what to do.”

My sisters exchanged worried glances and Sybil rolled to her toes and pressed a kiss to my cheek.

“She’s been through so much, and this probably feels like whiplash. Right now, Tully needs support more than ever. Listen with an open heart and keep being your amazing self. We love you and we’re here if you need us.”

I gave them a trembling smile. The vice in my chest loosened. I was lucky. I had a family that adored and supported me and a pack that backed me one hundred percent. Tully thought she had no one. Thorn brushed a lock of hair off her cheek and I let out a whispered curse. What was wrong with me? I never let my composure crack in public.

When Tully wandered back, I couldn’t help myself. I nodded at Thorn and Clay as they left, ignoring the way my sisters ran after them. They’d still given her a place to live and been with her when she ran from us.

“I have another rule. Exclusivity. I don’t want to field rumors of you seeing other packs.” I smothered my seething anger.

Tully slid me a look of amusement. “Jealous?”

“Immensely.” I swallowed hard and her eyes flew wide with surprise.

After Chase, did she think I would watch those other alphas care for her without reaction? I craved her as if starving. My alpha instincts rippled under my skin, and it was only my practiced restraint that stopped me from becoming an overbearing beast. Even that was frayed.

“Walden,” Ajax warned, and I shot him a sharp look.

Somehow, he looked more composed than I did. I hadn’t been right since Tully left and I had to live with the hole she left in my chest. I loved her and Pan to distraction. What I felt for them cracked my perfect facade, and I resented Pan for it. I was supposed to be untouchable, and he made me crumble.

But a life without either of them was worse. I’d rather shatter into a million pieces than live with the loss of them.

Lloyd balanced a box of Tully’s things on the counter. She still had so little, but I was glad to see the pens and scrapbooking things I’d gifted her were amongst them.

“Thorn was riling you up. Take deep breaths, daddy and don’t fuck this up,” Pan whispered as he brushed a kiss across my cheek. His bubblegum scent lightened my dark mood as much as the tender brush of his lips. He’d been by my side since we left The Barracks and I latched onto his affection.

Tully watched the movement with interest.