What if Trinity realizes she doesn’t need us anymore? What if facing her family’s judgment makes her decide this whole charade isn’t worth the trouble?
What if she sends us home and never wants to see us again?
The questions loop through my mind on endless repeat, each one more terrifying than the last. So when the reminder about today’s data center evaluation popped upon my calendar at five a.m., I seized on it like a lifeline. Business I understand. Contracts and specifications and ROI calculations—those make sense. The mess of emotions swirling around Trinity and this fake pack arrangement? That’s uncharted territory.
“We needed to give her space,” I say again, more to convince myself than them.
“She wouldn’t have needed space if we hadn’t let her be humiliated like that,” Matheo finally speaks, his voice flat and cutting. His angry gaze flashes to Kyren in the rearview mirror. “You met her before this week, didn’t you? As a fucking heat-breaker.”
Kyren shifts uncomfortably in the back seat. “Look, it’s not what you think?—”
“It’s exactly what I think,” Matheo cuts him off. “And I’m guessing things didn’t end well. That’s why she was so distant when she first saw you at the villa.”
“Matheo,” Kyren starts, but his voice lacks its usual swagger. “You don’t understand?—”
“No wonder she looked like she’d seen a ghost.” Matheo’s hands clench into fists. “Do you have any idea what that must have felt like for her? Thinking she’d hired someone who’d already rejected her once?”
I find myself in the surprising position of stepping in. “Ease up.”
Matheo’s head whips to the side as stares at me. “Are you seriously defending him right now?”
“I’m not defending anything.” I keep my eyes on the road ahead, more than a little surprised to find myself sympathizing with Kyren of all people. “But I can see how heat-breaking work would be hard on an alpha’s pride. The stigma is a real thing. We saw that tonight.”
Kyren’s voice is quieter now. “You have no idea what it’slike, always feeling like you’re not enough. For an omega, for a pack, for anyone.”
“That’s bullshit,” Matheo snaps. “Trinity?—”
“Trinity deserves better than all of us,” Kyren interrupts. “She deserves better than a guy who whores himself out for the chance at an omega. Better than someone who can’t even hold down a real job. And she sure as fuck deserves more than a fake pack.”
Lucas leans forward between the seats. “What if our pack wasn’t fake?”
The question hangs in the air, seeming to swell bigger in the sudden silence. I glance in the rearview mirror and catch Lucas’s earnest expression.
“What do you mean?” Matheo asks.
“I mean…” Lucas hesitates, before he clearly comes to some decision. “Watching you and Kyren make out yesterday morning was one of the hottest things I’ve seen in a while.”
Matheo flushes red to the tips of his ears. “We were just caught up in the moment. Giving Trinity the experience she wanted.”
Lucas laughs, the sound breaking some of the tension. “So when Trinity says she wants to see an alpha take a knot, or two knots at once, you’ll probably get caught up in the moment then too?”
“Lucas,” I warn, though I can’t suppress a smile.
“I’m just saying,” Lucas shrugs. “We’ve been living together for almost a week now. Sharing a bed. Taking care of Trinity together. Maybe we should acknowledge that this feels like more than just an obligatory arrangement.”
I pull the car over to the side of the volcanic road and put it in park. The silence stretches as we all process Lucas’s words.
“He’s not wrong,” I finally admit. “When I touch Trinity, when any of us touch her, it doesn’t feel fake. And the way we’ve all been looking out for each other, it’s been pretty damn nice.”
“I’ve never felt pack bonds this strong,” Kyren says quietly. “Even when I was younger and thought I wanted a traditional pack setup. You all are a damn sight better than most of the guys from my frat.”
Matheo runs a hand through his hair. “Trinity’s going to need time to process what happened last night. But if she’s willing to give us a chance after all this, then…”
“Then we need to figure out exactly what we might be together,” I conclude. “We don’t have to define it all right now. But we should at least acknowledge that staying together might actually be what we all want.”
“And it’s definitely what’s best for Trinity,” Lucas adds softly.
I look around the car at these three men who’ve somehow become essential to me in the span of a week.
