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He snatched my wrist and brought it to his mouth. His tongue pressed against my scent gland.

“It’s not a ploy, Tully. This is real.” Walden’s gaze flashed.

Walden would never give up his name. Ever. It meant everything to him.

“B-but your campaign? You want to be mayor, don’t you?”

Walden stroked my wrist, ignoring the persistent photographers. A year ago, I would have wilted under the attention, but I’d grown so much and even after everything we’d gone through, it was because of these men and Walden.

“I’ve been following a checklist, Tully. Ticking things off and thinking that was all there was to life. But none of it is worth anything if I don’t have you and Pan. This pack needs you more than any legacy or achievement.”

There was a real possibility that my chest was going to burst.

Walden laced our fingers together and dragged us away from the press. He leaned in close enough to brush his nose against mine.

“I want our family to be our legacy, and whatever good we do in our lifetime will be enough. But can you see yourself wanting to be a part of that future?” Walden asked.

I balanced the truth on the tip of my tongue. I wanted those things too, a family and a career. Chase built on the weaknesses my parents helped create in me. I’d made myself smaller to suit him. But it was up to me to take the courage hiding in my veins and do something with it.

“Tully?” Walden prodded. He chewed on his bottom lip.

The rest of the pack crowded my back, with their lungs full, while they waited for my answer.

“Seph sent me the video of you all confronting Chase.”

Walden’s shoulders slumped. “Are you angry?”

I shook my head and his expression turned wary.

“We will always be the monsters in the dark for you, treasure,” Ajax said, and I reached out to grab his hand. I squeezed it three times while I stared into his wide eyes.

“Or just your walking, talking credit card. Would you like that, angel?” Pan said.

A laugh burst out of me. Perhaps the first real one in months. It came with trust, a revelation. Their scents wove around me and to anyone else, it would have been too much, a mess. But to me, it was home. Our jagged edges were only smooth when we pressed against each other.

“I’m going to get a drink,” I said.

“Allow me,” Walden said, and the rest of the pack went with him. I slipped through the crowd, making conversation with the attendees. It was surreal to see my face blown up, and clips of the episodes playing in the background. To think I’d been scared to leave my bedroom. Now look at what I’d achieved.

“Miss Hartlock, can I call you Tully?” Toni Syme, the human delegate, interrupted me.

“Toni, are you enjoying yourself?” The last time I’d seen the woman in front of me, I’d been a different omega. A weaker one, threatened by her confidence.

“It’s pretty fascinating.” Toni swallowed her wine dregs and discarded the glass.

“What do you mean?” I frowned.

“It’s interesting how differently the HLA is thought of in Starhaven, compared to human settlements.” Toni picked up one of the custom napkins, pink with a glittery heart and lock. She shredded it into four pieces.

“The HLA stands for nothing but violence.”

Toni shrugged. “I’ve seen a lot more of the world than you have, sweetheart, and they’re just saying what the government is thinking.”

“Including you?”

Toni let out a tinkling laugh. “Of course not. They aren’t my opinions. I’m just being a realist. Do you think your little documentaries make a difference?”

Little documentaries? Like I was a child, playing at being an adult. I bit the inside of my cheek to stop the insults brewing on my tongue.