Page 36 of Pretty When She Breaks

The way her customer-service scent had exploded in charred, nose-stinging terror when she’d scented me confirmed that.

“Have you lost your mind, Ocean?” Finch snapped. “We’re here for one thing. To set things right.”

“But what about after that?” I said, rubbing my arm. Finch stiffened at the topic change, but I pressed on. “What about our future? You never thought about that?”

“The future is dependent on this,” he snipped. “On getting Kaos better. On fulfilling our responsibility to avenge and protect him.”

I paused, looking at him. His normally neat hair was wild from him running his fingers through it. I shook my head. “Did you ever stop to think he might need something different?”

He scoffed, and I felt a flicker of anger. “You agreed this was the best way,” Finch said. “That he wouldn’t find peace until we’ve restored his dignity.”

“Maybe I’ve changed my mind,” I snapped. “It’s been years. Maybe we need to start building our pack as a family first.”

Finch turned back to his equipment, picking up a skipping rope. “I’m doing this for him,” he said, his voice cold. “He needsjustice. Or are you saying we should stop? That they get away with what they’ve done—what they’re still doing?”

“No, man.” I sighed, my frustration getting the better of me. “I’m saying you’re losing sight of what matters. How is Kaos supposed to move on from his past if you can’t even stand to be around him? If you don’t give thought to what this pack needs beyond this mission?”

Finch turned to me, but his face was mostly in shadow.His voice was cold as he spoke, almost spitting out the words. “Why don’t you go fuck this out of your system, Ocean? Come back when you’re thinking with your brain instead of your dick.”

I stood, pain blossoming in my chest as I glared at him. “Sure. Just keep pretending I’m the problem here. Hope that works out for you.” I slammed the door on my way out.

Kaos looked up at me from the desk, his rounded welding goggles glinting in the light. He flipped up the tinted lenses, revealing dark bags under his eyes, and turned from the mess of wires strewn on his workspace.

My face softened as I looked at him. He reached into his pocket and drew out a chewy candy, offering it to me.

“You guys okay?” he asked as I accepted his gift.

“Yeah, just the usual. He thinks he’s got everything figured out. I suggested he might not. Drama ensued.”

“Were you arguing about her?”

“Yeah.” I sat next to him, looking at where the red ribbon was still wound around his wrist. He looked down at it, running his fingers over the silky fabric. “What do you think?”

“I remember her,” he said, staring at the table.

I stilled. Kaos rarely spoke about his time in the fighting pits.

“She was pretty. But cold. Cruel.” Kaos rubbed the fabric against his nose again. “This, though…it helps me think straight.”

“That’s good,” I said.

He shook his head, eyes darkening. “It just shows me what she stole from us. If we’d found our proper scent match, and not her.”

“You didn’t see her last night,” I said gently. “She wasn’t cold. Or cruel.”

“She’s a good actress,” he replied, resting his head on my shoulder. “Please, Ocean. Stay away from her.”

“You don’t have to worry about me.”

I’d do whatever it took to protect the broken bits of his soul to find a new normal for him.

A new definition of happy.

Even if I had to somehow convince Finch to listen to me to make that happen.

SEVENTEEN

THE DUCHESS