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“He works in the middle of the night when he thinks we’re sleeping.”

That I didn’t know, but I suspected. It was part of the problem, or a symptom at least.

“What’s wrong?” Mackenzie’s bottom lip trembled.

I casually picked an olive out of the salad and bit into it. If he would just talk to me… But that was part of the problem, too.

“Justice has hit a wall,” I tossed the olive pit into the grass, “and we have to pull him through it. And we might not have a lot of time.” I regretted that last part almost instantly.

“I swear to god, Ren, if you don’t tell me…”

“Take a breath, Mackenzie.” Theo rubbed her back.

I went for a cherry tomato next, smirking to myself. Theo had remembered I didn’t like when they burst in my mouth, so he had taken the time to cut them in half.

“This is really Justice’s story to tell, but at this point, I’m not sure he can get there on his own.” I didn’t change my posture from the relaxed sprawl I was in, nor change my tone. They didn’t need my own trauma about all this to amp up the situation.

“I think I had mentioned that Justice’s parents weren’t great. That is a severe understatement.”

Theo nodded. Mackenzie twisted the hem of her dress in her fingers.

“Both his parents were thrown out of their packs. Their bonds were broken.”

“Fuck,” Theo breathed. Mackenzie’s eyes went wide.

“There isn’t much you can do about the aura damage that comes from broken bonds, except…”

“Form a new bond,” Theo completed my sentence. That made me smile, despite the topic of conversation.

“So that’s what they did. They were desperate. Aura damage eventually leads to madness and death. They hated each other. But no other pack would have them, so they did it anyway. And then thought it was a bright idea to have a kid. I’m going tospare you the details.” Liar, I was sparing myself the details. “They were too broken, too stupid, to actually parent a child. When they couldn’t handle it, or they needed a babysitter, they would lock him in a closet. When he cried, they’d upgrade to a padlocked freezer chest in the garage.”

He had missed school, again. I had searched his house, top to bottom, screaming his name when I heard the pounding from the garage. I had taught myself to pick locks that day.

“Oh god,” Mackenzie’s voice was small.

“The claustrophobia?” I just nodded at Theo’s question. “And the panic attacks.”

“Justice doesn’t have panic attacks. He’s just… He’s just stressed. We all get stressed.” She wasn’t in denial, she just didn’t have the right frame of reference for everything.

“That’s why he was on the cruise, Mackenzie,” I added softly. “He was spinning out long before that. He was forced to take that vacation. To get a grip on his life, and he comes back as a pack lead with two omegas and the criminal ex who ruined his life.”

“So, we’re the problem?” Her voice shook. I took the knotted hem out of her hands and smoothed it against her thigh.

“No. Justice is the problem. Good news though. You are the solution. But we have to be smart about this, and I don’t think we have a lot of time.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Ren. Is Justice dying or something?”

“No, pretty girl.” I sat up and pulled her to me to kiss her forehead. “Justice is rolling out coping mechanisms that will turn into habits and then conditioned behavior that he won’t be able to break.”

“The eggs,” Theo’s head was hanging.

“The eggs.”

“So before Mackenzie’s next heat, which should be two months?” I paused, doing the math in my head, “And Theo’s right after that…” I practically stuttered as Theo’s aura lit up.

“What?” I said, turning to him, my eyes sharp.

“What what?”