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“There’s just one thing I need answers to,” Walden rumbled as he fed Pan a chocolate. “We grew up in each other’s circle, Tully. But how did you meet Lloyd?”

“Is it a dirty little secret?” Pan teased.

Oh, it was dirty, and because of who I was, it had to stay a secret. But the truth burst out of me, coaxed by the soft, encouraging smile toying with Ajax’s lips and Lloyd’s scent lapping at my nostrils.

“You know I didn’t have any money, and I couldn’t get a regular job because—”Chase would track me down.

“You’d cause a stir wherever you went?” Ajax supplied for me when I trailed off.

The screen flickered with the black and white film. But they were all watching me.

“I started an account on Only Omegas. I didn’t expect to like it so much.” They strained to hear my whisper. “Then Lloyd messaged me.”

Ajax’s chest rumbled. A laugh, a growl, a mix between the two. His fingers left a maddening tattoo of heat on my upper arm as he drew circles.

“I told you.” Lloyd shot a smug look at Walden. “I knew she was—you were—special.”

“But you didn’t know who she was?” Pan’s jaw dropped open. “Angel. I’m thinking I need to call you something different.”

The lust on his face hypnotized me. As did their scents, and underneath me, the merest hint of Ajax’s thickening cock.

“So, it was all innocent?” Walden’s eyebrows met.

I’d been as interesting as furniture to Walden growing up, and I wondered if that could change. He was eight years older than me, more worldly and powerful. But I’d learned something withmy work. How the silk rope felt in my hands as I tugged men to their knees for me. That power had a name. Walden wouldn’t look at Tahlia and be unmoved.

“I called myself Tahlia.” I rocked my ass gently over Ajax and he grunted. “And thought about Lloyd every time I took a new photo. He watched me touch myself, and when I came I-I—” I cut off.

What was I thinking? Lloyd’s flushed pink cheeks, lust, heavy lids, and hands crawled over his body like relief lay in some secret corner. But I knew there was only one place he would find it, and I wanted to give it to him so badly my teeth ached. It was this dark room. The muted sound. Their amplified scent. My heat was one perfect lungful away from crashing.

“You thought about how much you wanted to keep him?” Ajax’s arm tightened around me. “Did you imagine it was his fingers on you? It could be, all you have to do is stay.”

“I-I had a jacket. One Fenella borrowed to go on your date and it smelled like a-all of you.”

Walden cursed, and the chair squeaked as he dug his hands hard into the material.

Ajax buried his head in my neck.

“All of us?” Pan gulped.

“Gods, the way I wanted to crawl through that phone and touch you,” Lloyd confessed.

“I wanted you to keep me. Claim me. Cherish me,” I whispered, admitting my true desire.

My parents kept me away from the spotlight because I couldn’t handle the pressure. Then Chase kept me a secret and painted my soul dark with rot. His betrayal twisted up parts of me that were already splintered. Only Omegas gave me a taste of what it was like to be coveted.

I wanted to be wanted.

But I craved to be claimed.

My cheeks flushed with heat at how loose my tongue was. Logic was blurring at the edges.

“I would, Tully. Cherish you, always.” Lloyd whispered, and the tone of his voice dragged a whine up my throat.

“We would be so lucky,” Ajax added.

“W-what about just through my heat? Could you take care of me?” My teeth chattered together with rising need. My fingers sought Ajax, and he sucked in a shuddering breath as I traced his arms and full, bearded cheeks. “I think it’s here.”

“Baylark Pack would be honored,” Walden croaked, and he tugged his tie loose.