Sonnet laughed before pouring almost the entire bottle of blueberry syrup onto her pancakes. Kai raised an eyebrow and then froze, watching as she licked off a dollop of the syrup from her fingers.
“What?” She asked, all of them looking at her. “I like sweet things. Sue me.”
Jude barked a laugh. “We should go into town and get some ice cream.”
Zayden placed his notebook on the table and flipped to a page with an entire list of activities. One saidtake Kai whale watching. If he didn’t know Zayden’s handwriting by heart because he was the one who wrote all of their songs, he would have convinced himself it wasn’t Zayden’s idea.
“We have an appointment this morning at 10:00am. After, we can go into town, and all explore it together.”
“An appointment?” Kai stabbed his fork into his sausage. “Already?”
“Is it for your music?” Sonnet asked.
Zayden didn’t look up from his breakfast plate or notebook, and he especially didn’t look at Kai. “We’ve made a few appointments while down here to improve our band,” heexplained, because why would the perfect alpha Zayden not want to use the wordtherapy? “Since we only have a month, Maddox was able to set these appointments up right away. I’m sorry, Sonnet. But we’ll have to leave you alone for about an hour.”
“That’s okay! Is your appointment in town? Maybe I could do some exploring of the shops on my own while you’re all busy.”
“Alone!” Jude gasped and pretended a knife was being stabbed into his heart. “We can’t leave our mate alone.”
“Sonnet can handle herself,” Kai gruffed, thinking back to her sassy attitude last night. He looked at her and shrugged his shoulders. “Let her explore. If I were her, I’d want space from us all. Especially you.” He pointed his fork at Jude.
Zayden nodded slowly. “We can drop you off near the shops and cafes.”
“Just don’t do anything fun without me,” Jude whined.
Where they were going, they weren’t going to have any fun of their own. Appointment to improve the band? What a corny answer.
They were all going to see a specialized shrink, but they were too embarrassed to say it out loud. No potential mate wanted to hear that her alphas were so broken they were on the verge of breaking apart and needed a therapist to help salvage what was left.
Dr. Burdough had better have some witchcraft of her own, because it was going to take real magic to make Kai open up and want to fix all these broken pieces inside his pack and himself.
Chapter 24
WE’RE IN THERAPY! See? I can make anything exciting if I just say it loud enough.
Doesn’t count if you’re only saying it in your head.
I’m not going to shout anything out loud right now. Especially not with the guys looking the way they are. They all look constipated.
Talking about your feelings can be hard. For others, I mean. Not for us.
Never for us.
Except maybe sometimes, like when Jude messed up really bad and was too scared to tell someone because then they’d be mad and disappointed and if the people he surrounds himself with are mad and disappointed, then he’s failed them, and if he’s failed them, he’s failed himself, and if he’s failed himself, then he would have also failed his omeg—
Felix’s hand dropped onto Jude’s knee and squeezed. He stopped shaking instantly.
Jude wasn’t shaking because he was anxious about being in therapy and having to talk about his feelings. Jude’s favorite thing to do was talk. He just had a deep, very irrational fear of psychologists and therapists.
When he was in community college getting his AA, he took a psychology class and met a girl there who was obsessed with the human mind and behavior. She knew so much she could accurately pinpoint what someone ate for breakfast, what they were going to say, and even little personal details about them. The professor used her as an example of what someone could accomplish by majoring in psychology, but Jude knew the truth. It was all a front for women to become powerful witches.
There was a knock at the office door, and in walked Dr. Burdough, and sure enough, she looked exactly like how Jude had pictured a powerful and modern witch. Her eyes were sharp, her nails long, and her hair pulled into an elaborate braided bun.
He side-eyed Kai and hoped he understood his expression, which read,"don’t throw a tantrum or she’s going to get you." He rolled his eyes.
“I hope I didn’t keep you all waiting too long,” she said, puffing a pillow for her chair before sitting down. She crossed her legs and smiled. Her teeth were so white they looked hypnotic. “I’m Dr. Burdough. It’s nice to formally meet you all. Your manager has filled me in, and I feel very honored to be the one to help.”
“Hopefully Maddox didn’t say too much,” Kai grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest and melting into the couch.
