"Perfect," she declares, then immediately frowns. "Actually, maybe the dresser should go?—"
"NO," we all say in unison.
She laughs, bright and genuine, and for a moment, everything feels almost normal. Almost like we're pack.
Almost.
Chapter
Thirty-One
FELIX
The dice hit the coffee table with a clatter that makes me want to stab something. Preferably the dice. Or maybe Carlisle, who's currently explaining the rules of some complicated board game with the enthusiasm of a serial killer describing his favorite knife collection.
"So if you roll a seven, you can either move forward or activate your special ability," he says, holding up a card covered in tiny text that makes my eyes bleed just looking at it. "Unless someone has played a counter-spell, in which case?—"
"This is fucking ridiculous," Juniper interrupts, but she's grinning as she snatches the dice from his hand. "Why can't we just play Monopoly like normal people?"
"Because Monopoly is for peasants," Carlisle replies smoothly. "This isRuin of the Dragons. It's sophisticated."
"It's pretentious bullshit is what it is." She rolls anyway, and of course gets exactly what she needs because the universe bends to her will when it comes to games of chance. "Ha! Suck it, British boy. I'm taking your dragon stables."
I watch from my corner of the couch, pretending to read but really just observing the chaos. The suppressants Elias gave meare working better than anything I've had before—my omega scent so muted I can't even detect it myself. Six months of freedom, he said. Six months of not having to worry about being exposed, being vulnerable, being exactly what I've spent years trying not to be.
But Juniper... fuck, Juniper's a different story.
Her scent fills the room like smoke from a fire you can't see but know is burning somewhere close. Sweet flowers mixed with something deeper, richer, more intense than it should be. She had a heat recently, but her body's already ramping up again, omega instincts in overdrive despite the suppressants she's taking.
Probably because I couldn't satisfy her properly. The thought tastes like acid, burning all the way down. A real alpha could have helped her through it, could have given her what she needed.
"Your turn, Doctor," Juniper chirps, passing the dice to Elias with a smile that makes something in my soul ache.
She's comfortable here. Relaxed in a way she never was when it was just us against the world. These alphas have given her something I never could despite my best attempts—safety without the constant need to look over her shoulder.
"I believe I'll explore the courtyard," Elias says after his roll, moving his piece with the kind of care you'd expect from someone who treats everything like surgery.
"Bad move," Archer warns from his spot on the floor, because apparently sitting in chairs is too mainstream for him. "The courtyard is cursed."
"I live dangerously," Elias deadpans, drawing a card.
Juniper cackles at whatever's written on it, leaning over to read despite it being against the rules. Her hair falls forward, and Bane unconsciously leans closer, drawn by her scent like amoth to flame. He catches himself, pulls back, but not before I see the hunger flash across his scarred face.
They all want her. Every fucking one of them pulled taut with the need to claim what biology says is theirs. But they hold back, maintain their distance, keep their hands to themselves even though it must be killing them.
"Felix."
I look up to find Bane standing over me, and when the fuck did he move? The man's the size of a mountain but moves like smoke when he wants to.
"Yeah?"
"Can I borrow you for a minute?" His tone is casual but there's something in his eyes that says this isn't really a question. "Juniper mentioned you know cars. Got something in the garage that could use another set of eyes and I'm all out of cards."
I glance at Juniper, but she's too busy gloating over apparently bankrupting Carlisle in whatever twisted economic system this game uses to notice. Her cheeks are flushed with victory, eyes bright with the kind of joy that comes from absolutely destroying someone at something trivial.
She's happy. Genuinely happy. And she hasn't glanced at the corners looking at shadows that aren't really there all evening.
"Sure," I say, setting my book aside.
