Page 124 of Pretty When She Breaks

You can’t offer them anything.

The words were stuck in my head, spreading like poison, their truth heavy on my soul.

The ladder leading up here creaked, and I jerked upright. I looked up in time to find a pair of blue eyes glimmering at me in the dim light.

Julius?

Was he here to kill me this time?

I rose slowly, carefully, but as I shifted, long blonde hair tumbled from around her face, and I realized it was Laurel, not her brother.

She stepped into her sanctum, and we just stared at eachother for a second. Her face was red and puffy, and she wore nothing but a red dress.

I had no invitation here; I was an intruder to her most sacred space. An unwanted monster lurking under her bedding.

I waited for the explosion, for her to scream or attack me.

Her lip trembled, and she launched herself forward with a sob. I tensed, not wanting to hurt her. Her fingers were clawing at me, but they were not tearing at my skin; they were tangled in my shirt, pulling me closer. Tears streamed down her face, and her body was racked with sobs as she clung to me. Her scent was pure anguish.

Hesitantly, I wound my arms around her back. She rested her head on my chest.

Why?

Laurel Fairchild, of all people, knew exactly what kind of monster I was.

But she was here, trembling in my arms as we stood in her nest.

My alpha stirred in me.

Protect, it demanded.

This fragile omega, so broken in my arms.

Me?

I couldn’t help anyone.

Not Finch.

Not Ocean.

I wasn’t enough.

Yet…she clung to me.

She smelled wrong, tainted with blood and Dax and Madison, all over her skin, and I growled and rubbed against her, marking her with my scent to try and rid her of their corruption. I followed my instincts and pulled her down into thepile of blankets and pillows, unsticking her hair from her wet face and stroking my hands through it.

It felt right.

There was just her, my omega curled up in my arms.

Broken.

And, somehow, I was what she needed right now.

I kept stroking her hair and felt a purr rumble to life in my chest, stuttering like a broken engine before surrounding us in this safe space. She started to calm, her sobbing quietening as she rested her head against my chest and her eyes slid closed.

I had done that.