Page 100 of Pretty When She Breaks

“No thanks,” he said dismissively.

An icy fist had gripped my heart and was starting to squeeze. “Oh.” I shifted on my feet. “We could just chill and watch some TV, then?”

Jule pulled out his phone, checking the time and looking at me down his nose. “Look, I’m meeting with father in ten, so if you don’t have anything important to say, get lost.”

I took a step back, the ice fist squeezing my heart tighter. I shook my head. “No, I?—”

He snapped the door shut in my face without letting me finish, leaving me alone in the corridor. What was that about? He’d always sworn nothing would change if he ever got his aura.

He’d promised.

Or, actually, he’d promised he would never get an aura. And he’d been wrong about that.

I swallowed past the lump in my throat and left, making my way down into the bowels of the Casino, where our hangout was. I hadn’t seen Jade for a little while, though maybe she was there today.

As I ducked under the wooden entrance, I saw a note pinned to the wall. I reached over and tore it down, my heart rate picking up. A note? Jade hated writing; she was self-conscious about it.

I read it, and then re-read it, my heart rate not slowing.

Laural,

I need some space. Going out of town 4 a bit.

Don’t kno when I’ll be back.

J.

Btw- Tell Jule to go fuck himself.

I scrunched the note up in my hand, trying not to cry. First Jule was acting cold, now this?

FIFTY-FOUR

THE DUCHESS

“Laurel?” my father said, snapping my attention back to him. I was sitting between Prince and Dax in the private dining room, Madison next to Dax. The senior Lucas pack was here, too, Ashton, Marcus, and Gordon all looking at me expectantly as I blinked at my father.

“Changing things up?” I said, echoing the last thing I remembered hearing.

My father’s lips pursed in disapproval briefly. “Yes, your pack will take over the Blood Well.”

Why on earth would he be training Finch and Kaos to take over the fights? I opened my mouth before I realized, with a rush of embarrassment, that he was talking about the Lucas pack.

“We’ll have to redo how the Duchess Suite is going to run, like, now,” said Dax smoothly. His top two buttons were undone, revealing a smattering of dark chest hair and a gold chain.

“Now?” I asked politely, and my father’s lips thinned further.

I was distracted today by what Finch had said. How was he so confident my father and the Lucas pack would be gone within the next month? It wasn’t possible, was it? That I could be free of all of them just like that?

“Yes, now we’re engaged,” Dax continued, looking amused at my struggle to follow the conversation. “You were a wonderful attraction to this place, but we can’t keep letting you drape yourself over every alpha that walks through those doors. You understand how that would look for us.”

“Besides, you’ll have a lot on your plate, adjusting to being our omega,” Prince said. “I’m sure you won’t object to stepping away.”

“Oh,” I said, cocking my head. They were trying to take away my job? Yeah, that couldn’t happen right now. I needed to be up there to help Finch.

“Yes?” Dax leaned forward slightly, his eyes fixed on my face.

My mind raced, frantically trying to come up with a way to change this. “I agree, of course,” I said, dipping my head, exposing a sliver of my neck to him. “I’m completely ready to step away from hosting as a duchess and embrace a more mature role in the suite. I’m sure I can play the charming wife for guests just as well as the charming duchess, and for the few I can’t win over, the fights are an excellent backdrop for threats. I think a rebranding would be appropriate to signify the change—the Royale Suite, perhaps?”