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He pulled out his phone and messaged the group chat.

Kalen (admin): What happened? I heard the plan when Novikov came to fetch Mikel .

He had switched to using Yulia’s last name, and even though he had typed the word, she could almost hear the venom he had put into it.

Elijah: Brilliant move, Illy .

She tapped out her response as Mikel melted away from her side, Oscar and Theodore moving to flank her.

Isobel: Two people took us up on the offer of

She accidentally hit Send before she could think of the right word.

Moses: That was just mean.

Isobel: Sorry, I meant

She hit Send again, purely because she still couldn’t figure out what word to use.

Isobel: The offer of cuckolding.

“What the fuck?” Theodore muttered, staring down at his phone.

She quickly barrelled on.

We picked the wrong door , she added through the bond . It wasn’t Amina. Just some guy. She switched back to her phone.

Isobel: I whipped him and called him a worm.

Half of the group burst into laughter, but she noticed Elijah, Gabriel, and Kalen didn’t look amused. They had already pieced together that the guy had gotten off on what she did.

Kilian: Some guy really paid a bunch of money for you to do that while Mikki stood there and watched?

Isobel: He called the guy a worm too. It was a team effort. Kalen?

Kalen (admin): Yes?

Isobel: What happened?

Kalen (admin): A bachelorette party happened.

She fiddled with the side buttons on her phone, anxiety twisting inside her stomach.

Isobel: I feel sick.

Kilian: Baby.

Theodore: Illy.

Kalen (admin): Yeah, me too .

Kalen (admin): No one wants to call me baby?

Moses: I can confidently answer this.

Moses: And the answer is no.

Isobel: Did anyone touch you?

Kalen (admin): I lied and told them there would be an “intimate service fee” on whichever credit card was used for the booking, assuming it was her husband’s, because she was twenty-one and said she did online content for a living. They practically sat on their hands after that.

The air deflated out of Isobel so fast she almost melted into the ground.

They all split up to go to their separate rooms as soon as they reached the dorm, with nothing more than a few murmured goodnights, and she stood in her shower for longer than usual as she contemplated the nervous buzz in her belly.

It had started as soon as Kalen and Mikel had turned to go in the other direction when the rest of them hit the stairs, but now it was a low and gentle pull, too hesitant to be a bond side effect.

It didn’t feel good to be separated from Mikel after what they just went through together. It had been awful and stressful, and she had been forced to talk him down from a ledge afterwards. And now they were just going to separate and pretend it never happened?

She stepped out of the shower and half-heartedly dried her hair, slipping into her dressing room to reach for one of Oscar’s shirts.

She hesitated, switching instead to a silk pyjama set.

It had little shorts and a tank top that showed half her stomach.

It was obscene and ridiculous, and likely cost so much that the scant amount of material might as well have been spun from gold.

Fighting an attack of self-consciousness, she quickly slipped a robe on and walked into her bedroom, some of the tightness inside her chest loosening at the sight of Oscar and Moses in her bed.

She wanted to join them. Badly. It would be so easy to tease Oscar into fucking all this restlessness out of her skin, and he wouldn’t think twice about tossing Moses out of the room or forgetting his existence completely if it got Oscar what he wanted .

But she didn’t want to do that to Moses. He wasn’t a spare limb attached to their bond or an afterthought, and that’s exactly how it would make him feel.

“Those are a lot of feelings,” Moses noted carefully, both of them eyeing her as they pulled themselves to sit up, sensing she wasn’t about to climb into bed and fall asleep.

“I don’t feel good being separated from Mikel right now,” she admitted, staring at the floor. “And climbing into that bed is really tempting, which makes me feel even worse.”

“Are you sure he’d welcome the company tonight?” Moses asked, surprising her that neither of them reacted negatively to her words.

She nervously twisted her fingers together. “Shit, I have no idea.”

“Go.” Oscar jerked his chin at the door. “You’re right. None of us had to watch you in that room tonight. He probably needs you.”

“And you’re both okay with that?” She narrowed her eyes on them. Of all her mates, these two were the least likely to be understanding of the others.

Moses shrugged. “I don’t love it. It’s my night. But he would do it for us and … I could feel what he was feeling, walking back tonight. I’m annoyed and relieved at the same time.”

“Just come back here before you fall asleep,” Oscar said. “Give us at least a few hours before we have to reset the cameras and go back to our own beds.”

“Deal.” She tapped on her phone to loop the cameras and then turned for the door, but Oscar halted her.

“Isobel.”

She glanced over her shoulder.

“Show us what you put on for him.”

She faced them again, unwinding the ties of her robe and pulling it open.

“Fuck me,” Oscar snarled. “I change my mind.”

Moses didn’t say anything; he just dropped his eyes down her body and then stared at her until she left on shaky legs, hastily retying her robe.