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“I think I might take a bath in the nest. My head is still hurting.”

Her absence snapped inside me like a rubber band and I swallowed a grunt of pain.

One step forward. Two steps back.

I watched her go, my gut heavy with regret.

Pan dug his fingers into his forehead with a weary sigh. I rounded the table and pulled him into my arms. We hadn’t had the best relationship, and now I knew how long he’d been struggling on his own.

“What’s this for?” Pan muttered to my chest, even as his fingers wrapped around my back.

“We’re brothers, and we should be better to each other. You can come to me with anything, I hope you know that.”

“Back at you, bro.” Pan’s fingers held me tighter.

How many years had I resented Pan for something that was out of his control? Our parents drove a wedge between us and today, I tore it out.

A text message came through and I pulled away to read it.

Walden: Be ready in twenty. CJ agreed to meet us.

38

Walden

I pulled up the spreadsheet on my phone. All the tasks were ready, but none were checked off. Yet. I wouldn’t stop until I did. I’d put on a suit for the first time in a long time, and it hugged me like it had shrunk. It used to be my armor, my protection as I stepped into view of others. But now I saw it for what it was, a crutch, and it had cost me Tully. But I wore it today because even though it didn’t fit right, it sent a message.

That Baylark Pack was powerful, and we would protect our omega.

“Are we really doing this?” Lloyd opened the door to the private conference room we hired for this meeting.

It was strategic. There were several meeting rooms, perfect for what we needed right now.

A confrontation with CJ.

“Tully won’t ask for it, but we’re going to take care of this for her.” I tucked my phone in my pocket.

A dozen notifications crowded my screen. Some of them were time sensitive regarding my run for mayor. But I didn’t care. There was only one name I wanted to see on my screen, and Tully was doing an excellent job of ignoring me.

“I don’t care who we take down as collateral damage as long as he’s destroyed.”

“Will your sisters kill us if we beat him up?” Pan swiveled around in one of the leather chairs.

“Yes. They explicitly warned me, no violence.” Despite the words, my hands clenched into fists.

Being a public figure meant never taking a wrong step, and it was so ingrained in me, even being here felt like rebelling against what I wassupposedto do. Take the high road. But fuck that. CJ played dirty, and I was going to do the same.

“Have you thought about what this is going to do for your chances of becoming mayor?” Lloyd fiddled with a placemat.

There was a platter of fresh fruit in the middle of the shiny, black table, but no one made any move to eat.

“Is everything set up how I asked?” I moved past Lloyd’s question, glancing at the frosted glass wall separating our meeting room from the one next door.

Ajax nodded, taking a seat, but I couldn’t relax. Tension coiled around my muscles like snakes waiting to strike. I poured five glasses of mineral water and passed them out.

“Do you think I’d make a good mayor?”

“Of course.” Pan burst out with a frown.