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Son…

“Ethan and Cooper are related,” Riley confirms, reading my facial expression. “There was a miscommunication between them at one point, and Ethan thought that his father would care if he was bi.”

Craning my neck to look up at Cooper, I watch as he kisses my forehead and shakes his head.

“That’s absolute bullshit, Princess. I don’t care who he loves,” he says.

Settling against him again, I nod. The tips of Ethan’s ears are bright red as he sits with the memory of how he thought his father would react.

“I was wrong,” he breathes. “I am an idiot.”

“Do better,” I tell him before glancing at Riley. He’s hiding a smile as he watches me underneath his lashes.

“I fucking love that you put him in his place,” he says. “I can defend myself, Little One, but I appreciate that you’re in my corner.”

“All the nicknames,” I murmur, though I don’t mind that one or Princess.

“Well, you’re adorable. We can’t help ourselves,” he says. “To pull this train back onto the tracks, I made Ethan’s wants and needs a priority, so I found a way to get into the facility by pretending that I agreed with their doctrine.”

“That omegas should be used, and that we’re malleable,” I grunt. “I have so much propaganda running through my mind, it’s disgusting.”

“There’s a woman who runs a women’s organization that’s creating some chaos in Minneapolis,” Riley explains. “Weeping Willow gets their content from Emilia and pays her well for it. She’s a complete bitch, though. It’s part of the treatment plan that they had you on.”

“Along with sensory deprivation tanks, negative reinforcement, and torture,” I add. “Yeah, I was there.”

Cooper snorts, and I glance back up at him again.

“You’re going to wrench your neck like that,” he says, placing me next to him so I can curl up and still see them all. I miss his warmth, but his hand remains splayed on my thigh.

Ethan looks a little sad that he’s not holding my feet anymore, but he can deal.

“I made that noise because you have such fire,” Cooper says. “The sarcasm, the way you say things unapologetically, I love it all. You’re already coming out of your shell. Even when I knew you as your teacher, you had very timid moments. I want you to yell, fight, and make up with me.”

Ethan makes a noise, while Cooper rolls his eyes.

“Just as you’ve changed, Nina, so have I. Before I met you, I thought I needed control to be happy. I needed to dominate, expel my frustrations on my sub, but that all fell to pieces when I lost you. I need you anyway I can have you.”

“We’ve all been changed,” Riley says. “The only way that Weeping Willow would let you go is if you admitted that you didn’t have alphas that belonged to you. Nina, the way you fought them… It didn’t matter what they did, you refused to let anyone take Cooper and Ethan from you. I realized when I first walked into a room with you that you were mine too, but my hands were tied. I couldn’t get you out.”

“No one could,” I sigh. “I was dying.”

Cooper growls, but I squeeze his hand. It bothers him to hear about the hospital, so I want to get it over with.

“You were, so I made a compromise with the doctors,” Riley explains. “If they could give me uninterrupted time with you,without cameras or anyone hovering over us, I would make you forget your alphas. I hypnotized you after convincing you that this was the best way, and then erased every memory you had of Ethan and Cooper. I even blurred them from your childhood, since your mother was married to Cooper for a brief period of time.”

“Married,” I muse. “Really?”

“She was a different person, or I thought she was,” Cooper grumbles. “She was sweet back then, and then I stayed longer than I should have, for you.”

“I remember the way that you’d fight her, refusing to put on dresses so you could play,” Ethan says. “I didn’t get to see you very often, but it’s always stuck in my mind the way you’d fold when she got angry.”

“My mother has a way of gaslighting you into believing that your actions are hurting her,” I say. “It’s always that I was expected to perform a certain way or I’d embarrass her.”

“Which is bullshit,” Cooper says. “Kids should be able to be kids and not dolls to be paraded around.”

“I wish I knew what that was like,” I reply. “So you made me forget everything, Riley? Even you?”

“Yes,” he says sheepishly. “I used my alpha bark so that it would stick, because I didn’t want it to come back at the wrong time. Now, I’m worried that I won’t be able to bring back those memories, though. I also made you forget me in a selfish moment. I fell in love with your fire and spirit while at Weeping Willow. I didn’t want you to remember all the fucked up shit I had to do to keep my cover.”