“I can hear you both thinking,” Rhett mumbles, half-asleep.
“Shit.” I sit up, guilt prickling. “Did we wake you?”
Rhett doesn’t answer right away. His eyes stay shut, but his brow furrows like he’s bracing against pain, or a memory he doesn’t want. When he finally opens them, they’re dull—hollow with the weight of everything he’s been carrying.
“No,” he rasps, voice cracking. “I was already awake.”
He pushes himself onto his feet with shaking arms, but his muscles betray him, and he collapses back against the wall with a hiss of breath. Myrick moves like he’s about to help, but Rhett lifts a hand in warning.
“Don’t.”
“Rhett,” Myrick says softly, “you have nothing left. You’re—” He stops himself. “We need to talk about bringing in Oli.”
Rhett’s jaw clenches. “No.”
“You didn’t kill him, right?” Myrick asks, like he's trying to sound casual, but there’s a real edge of fear.
“No,” Rhett mutters. “He’s alive. Locked up.”
“Can you let him out?” I ask, barely more than a whisper.
“No.” Rhett’s voice hardens, louder this time. “He doesn’t get near Charlie.”
I stare at the alpha, trying to read him, but there’s nothing left in his face—just exhaustion and something rawer buried underneath. I keep my voice gentle, trying my damnedest to sound respectful. “What’s going to happen to Oli?”
He doesn’t answer. Just stares at the floor like he’s waiting for it to open and swallow him.
“Rhett.” I try again, quieter this time. “What are you going to do?”
The alpha’s dark eyes finally lift to meet mine. “I’m going to get Charlie through this,” he says, flat but firm, like he’s repeating a line he made himself memorize.
I nod slowly, hesitating. “Okay… but what aboutafter?”
The words hang between us like a dropped weight. It’s heavy and tense, and I squirm, uncomfortable.
“Oli mated him.” I swallow hard, my voice cracking before I can even finish. “You know what that means. Charlie needs his mate—and if he doesn’t get Oli, if the alpha is taken from him, he’ll d?—”
“I won’t let him have Charlie,” Rhett growls, his voice low and dangerous, eyes burning as they lock onto the markat Charlie’s neck. The sight of it tears at something inside the alpha—I can see it. I know it kills him that Charlie doesn’t bearhismark. But a second mating bite, especially during an omega’s first heat, can be very dangerous. Even deadly.
“Rhett,” Myrick says softly, his voice filled with concern. “We can’t?—”
“Charlie ismine,” Rhett snarls, and this time it’s not just pain in his voice—it’s something deeper. Fiercer. “And I’ll die before I let him go.”
I’m not sure what to feel first—pride, love, or fear. I love how much Rhett wants Charlie despite the fact that he’s been mated by someone outside of our pack. But I’m also scared of what will happen to the omega if his bond with Oli is forcefully broken.
“Rhett…” I whisper. “Charlie is mated. That bond isn’t going away. You might hate it, but it’s there. And it’s already forming.”
Rhett shakes his head, breath quickening. “Charlie doesn’t need him. He needs?—”
“He mightdiewithout Oli,” Myrick cuts in, voice trembling now. “You know that.”
The silence that follows is brutal.
Rhett goes still, like the words turned him to stone. For a long, heavy moment, no one breathes. Then Rhett whispers—like it’s been clawing its way out of his chest. “He should’ve been mine.”
No one says otherwise, because we all know it doesn’t matter. Oli was here when Charlie transitioned. Biology chose. Fate took over, and love doesn’t always get a vote.
Rhett shuts his eyes. When he speaks again, his voice is threadbare. “I’ll get him.”
