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The heat that melted his hazel gaze stole my breath. Smokey with dark smudged liner. He had a gold hoop with a diamond in one ear and a silver chain choker with a solid silver ring attached to it. I filled my lungs in a panic, and the sweet scent of grape bubblegum coated my nostrils. Pan circled me with his head tilted. Leaning in and filling his lungs, not even bothering to attempt manners. Lloyd tugged on my jacket, tucking me behind him once more.

Trembles turned my muscles into jelly.

“You know better, Pan,” Walden grumbled.

Pan disregarded them with a sneer. They bolstered him to circle around Lloyd and inspect me once more. My skin prickled, a combination of his intense gaze and the mixture of their scents. The house was filled with them, and my body responded. Heat throbbed between my legs, and when I rubbed my thighs together, they were slick.

“Hello, angel.” Pan’s teeth poked out in a sharp grin and the hair stood on the back of my neck.

“Pan.” The three other pack members admonished him, but he only laughed.

It was empty, cruel. His fingers reached to brush a lock of hair that had fallen. I jerked back with a whimper. It was only that noise that seemed to cut through his heavy focus. His face blanked, and he sauntered back to the kitchen bench.

“Tully is staying the night, and I promised her this was a safe place for her to rest,” Lloyd warned.

Walden muttered under his breath, as if he disagreed with the distinction of one night. I swallowed as a wave of dizziness washed over me. I would need to have a discussion with him before I left. To bargain for his silence.

Ajax wandered back and straight into the kitchen. He pulled out the butter and it fumbled from his jerky grip. Pan stared, his fingers tapped out a pattern on his ripped jeans.

“How did this all occur?” Pan waved a hand in my direction.

“You would have the answers if you came to the Historical Society Meeting like you promised you would.”

Pan narrowed his gaze, but Ajax turned away from him.

“Would you prefer to eat alone?” Lloyd asked.

“Maybe,” I said. “Can I have a shower first?” I whispered as he interlaced our fingers.

His smile was a sunray, and he nodded so hard his golden hair flopped over his eye.

You don’t know this beta.

I admonished myself, horrified by the warm glow melting through my chest. His hand wrapped around mine felt so damn nice, but I needed to keep my head on straight.

“Let me show you the guest room.” He pointed to an open doorway.

We took a few steps before I remembered Walden’s jacket over my shoulder. I slipped it off and held it out to him. My fingers trembled as he looked me over.

“Did you want your jacket back?” I offered it with a little shake.

His jaw tightened, and he rested his hands on the bench. Clenching them into fists. There was too much knowledge carved into the creases of his face.

“Keep it.”

I sighed and bit my tongue. I’d spent many nights when I was younger and naiver, wondering what it might have been like to be a part of Walden’s pack. Foolish, childish. I wondered what he saw when he looked at me now.

How could his opinion change when he found me on my knees, all my worldly belongings strewn around me? My sexy lingerie like a stop sign.

Lloyd ushered me upstairs and down the hall. It felt like a show home. Nowhere did I see any stamp of personality that thepack had shown me downstairs. I thought it was beautiful when I saw it initially, but now I wondered where the heart was.

Lloyd opened the door into a spacious, carpeted room. The lush four-poster bed was small in the enormous space. Someone tucked an occasional chair into one corner, and a study nook into the other. A designer. The thought bubbled in my stomach and with it came hysterical laughter.

This pack had a designer make them a pretty, empty house and here I was, an omega with the same credentials. Beautiful, but worthless. My name was the only worthwhile thing I had, and the weight of it drowned me.

“The bathroom is just through here.” Lloyd slid open a door to reveal a glistening tub and a double shower.

My knees buckled at the sight. The showerheads in Fenella’s apartment either dribbled or sprayed so hard it felt like the water took off three layers of skin.