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He sighs again, this one a bit growly with annoyance. “Banana cream?”
I instantly get a flash of Theo scowling at the banana on his plate during our first meal together. Ronan also refuses to eat them, blaming Banana Blast trauma from his smoothie bar days.
The enormous bubble of relief in my chest makes me grin. “The guys would have hated that.”
Declan frowns, clearly confused by my lack-of drama. “They did. Well, Theo really did. And Ronan wasn’t keen either. Archer agreed to a date, but he wasn’t into it. You know him, though, keeping the peace. I also think he wanted an omega the most out of all of us. Someone for him to be soft with.”
I roll my eyes at that description of Archer’s devoted attention—his desire to care for and cherish another person in a way most people would never humble themselves to. Especially this alpha.
“You’re such an ass.”
Declan smirks again, but his eyes are somber. “I know that.”
Something about the look has me reaching up to comb his hair off his brow. “Then what happened?” I whisper.
His shrug is deceptively casual. But I see the tension gathering between his eyebrows.
“It was clear she wasn’t a match for our pack. And, honestly, I knew I wasn’t feeling the things I should have been feeling if she was mine. We only went out for a month before I broke things off with her. But she came back a few weeks later?—”
The anguish in his eyes reminds me of the moment I woke up. Like he’s pleading for me to forgive him before I even know what he’s done.
I raise my eyebrows, urging him to finish his sentence.
But I never could have guessed the word that falls from his lips.
“—pregnant.”
chapter
fifty
I didn’t know my knot could deflate so fast.
Some combination of reliving this horrible fucking story and the stricken paleness of Meg’s face instantly shrinks me down. She doesn’t notice at first, frozen at my side.
My instincts roil inside of me, rebelling against this whole thing. Her swollen face, the red rimming her crystalline irises, the sweat caked into her roots, fingertip bruises I don’t remember leaving on her arms and legs—it’s all fucked.
My omega shouldn’t look dirty and exhausted and scared. I should keep her clean and safe and happy, always.
I should be fixing this, but instead I’m making it all worse.
Like I always do.
That’s all I ever do, lately.
She needs to hear this from me before she accidentally hears it somewhere else. But now I realize how many mistakes I’ve made, rushing into honesty without thinking.
I should have waited until she could have her other alphas nearby to comfort her. I shouldn’t have told her right after knotting her for the first time. Especially since it was a fucking accident, and I rutted her.
Shit. Fuck.
But it’s too late. I can’t stop now.
Meg’s voice comes as a numb, ragged whisper. “You have a baby?”
Her body catches up to her brain. She scrambles away from me, and her scent burns.
FUUUUUUUUCK.
