Page 5 of HoneySweet, Part One

Elias

They came on a Saturday, three weeks after I had been at Vera's. The doorbell rang at eleven in the morning and I heard Vera's footsteps in the hall, the sound of the front door, and then a pause that went on a beat too long.

I was in the guest room with one of Nana's journals open in my lap, not reading it, just holding it. I heard their voices through the wall, low and careful, and something in my chest tightened. They had come, whatever they were going to say, they had come in person to say it.

Vera knocked twice and opened the door without waiting. She stood in the doorway with one hand still on the frame.

"Carter's here," she said, keeping her voice even. "Well... Carter and the other two. They'd like to speak with you."

I set the journal on the nightstand and stood. Three weeks in borrowed clothes with my bag still half-unpacked. I smoothed my hands down the front of the shirt. "Okay."

"You don't have to," she said quietly. Her fingers tightened on the doorframe.

"I know." I crossed the room toward her. "I want to." She stepped back and I went past her.

They were in Vera's living room standing rather than sitting. Carter was nearest the window, hands clasped in front of him in that composed way he had when he'd already decided something and was prepared to deliver it. Devon stood to his left with his arms crossed, jaw set, not meeting my eyes. Kyle was slightly behind both of them and he was the only one who looked directly at me.

Devon had set something on the coffee table. The container from the bakery on Clement Street. The cardamom pastries.

I stared at it. He had brought them anyway.

"Elias." Carter's voice was level, the voice he used when he'd thought through a conversation in advance. Not unkind, but not warm either. "Thank you for seeing us."

"You came in person." I sat down on Vera's armchair without being asked. My hands folded in my lap on their own. "Whatever you're going to say, you came in person to say it. That means something."

Something crossed Carter's face. He pressed his mouth together once. Then: "We've talked as a pack and we've made a decision. We're ending the courtship." The room went very quiet. Devon's jaw tightened. Kyle had gone completely still.

"Because of what Dr. Ansley said," I said, my voice came out flat. "My reproductive system. That's why."

"That's the core of it, yes." Carter's voice stayed even, measured. "We had built this courtship with a specific future in mind. Children, within the first couple of years. An Omega who could carry them. That was central to what we were building. What you're facing changes that fundamentally."

An Omega who could carry them.

I heard the words and let them sink in. My hands had gone very still in my lap.

"How long." Something in my voice had shifted, gone quieter in a way that meant the quiet was running out. "How long had you been planning to ask?"

Carter held my gaze, he did not hesitate. "We were planning to ask formally when you turned eighteen. Three weeks from now."

Something happened in my chest. A slow, quiet crack.

"So you had already decided I was what you wanted." My voice had gone very low and very slow. "You had agreed on it. Three weeks away from asking."

"Yes." He held my gaze and said it simply, and something in his expression shifted just slightly, the composure costing him more than it had a minute ago.

"And now I'm not." I kept my eyes on Carter. "Because I can't give you children."

Carter's expression stayed composed. "Because the situation has changed and our needs and your situation are no longer compatible. This isn't a reflection of your worth. It's a practical decision about what our pack requires."

A practical decision.

Something in me went very hot.

"Elias." Devon's voice had gone rough at the edges. He had unfolded his arms and was looking at me now, his warm dark eyes carrying something that Carter's face was not showing. He took half a step forward and stopped himself. "We do care about you. I need you to know that hasn't changed."

"Don't." The word came out sharp and Devon stopped moving. My hands were gripping the arms of the chair. "Don't tell me you care about me while he's standing there calling this a practical decision."

"Elias." Carter's voice stayed level. Patient. Which made it worse. "I understand you're upset⁠—"