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It was too late.

My twenty-four hours were up. Chase warned me and he was good on his word for once. He’d leaked every picture, and the headlines were bloated with smug judgment. I knew this would happen, but I wasn’t prepared for how I would feel.

Not broken.

Not beaten.

Each word was a punch, but I spat the blood out of my mouth and set my shoulders. Pan pulled me into his embrace and I let him, thankful to find I didn’t need it. My shoulder throbbed with the mark Chase left. But that was the last time I would let him touch me.

Physically or mentally.

“I will kill him,” Pan promised.

“I don’t want him dead. I want him ruined, and for him to watch me succeed despite this.”

Pan let out an uncertain laugh, not recognizing the coldness in my tone. “I thought you were meant to convince me to do good deeds, angel.”

“Tattoo a devil on the other shoulder, Pan. This angel is feeling the need to destroy.”

37

Ajax

I wanted to be near Tully and I wasn’t above pacing outside the nest. I could pretend she wasn’t hiding in there and at any moment she might invite me in.

Gods, I wanted to hold her.

She’d retreated as soon as she returned with Pan from The Barracks, thin-lipped and quiet. Her distress left a sour trail through the house. I couldn’t imagine her thoughts right now. She’d clawed her way out of the prison that Chase’s treatment forced her into. Tully was creating a legacy of her own terms.

But that was hanging by a thread now as Chase leaked the photos.

I turned over the shirt I had in my hand, wringing it in hopes it would lessen my nerves.Why did I even bring this? Tully didn’twant to weave my scent through the nest. I berated my foolish heart.

She didn’t retreat to the nest for want of us.

It was a neutral, safe place she could hide until she calmed her instincts.

I understood it.

When I saw Chase’s hands on her, my mind turned animal and it was only the space of a breath that stopped me. My skin crawled at the memory and the calculated look on his face. I’d never liked the alpha. Hated how he brought the worst out in Pan. But I didn’t know he could be a monster. One who destroyed Tully and driven her somewhere I couldn’t follow.

How I wish she didn’t need to keep herself safe from me.

We were all reeling from what happened. Lloyd was shaking with jittery adrenaline and he’d retreated as soon as we realized Tully wasn’t coming out of the nest. Why would she? It was safe, well stocked, and she didn’t want comfort from us. Pan seethed at his piano, and I thought I heard cacophonous sounds earlier this morning. He was always extra sensitive when he talked about playing the piano, and I’d been surprised when he volunteered to donate instruments. Pleased, but surprised.

In the past, my brother would have slunk off to some club and returned with red-rimmed eyes and a sharp reek of shame and defiance. I can’t say my stomach didn’t flutter with apprehension. But Pan proved me wrong and the only thing creasing his forehead was worry for Tully.

Walden took the leak badly.

He still wore a bewildered puppy dog look of disbelief. It was too sad to pile on in his rumpled sweats. He’d gone to work and scared his assistant so much she rang me because of how disheveled he looked. I could have told him any declarations of love would be met with distrust. That’s why I kept mine tucked in my chest. Alive with each thud of my heart.

“Oh, sorry,” Tully squeaked as she came out of the nest to find me standing there, like a creeper. Her expression shuttered. “Actually, I’m not sorry. I don’t know why I said that. Was there something you needed?”

I loved the way she puffed up her chest, bravely defending her space. I mourned the loss of her soft trust, but didn’t blame her caginess now. After everything Tully had been through, we were lucky she let us into the same room as her.

Tully wiped away the grit of sleep. I swallowed a noise. She wore an oversized shirt that swallowed her to her knees. A teal one I’d tucked in the cupboard after the glorious heat we’d shared.

She was wearing my shirt. Tully smelled like me.