Page 2 of Priceless

“Good.” She’d just had her heat, helped through by the pack of incredibly hot men she’d hired to take her to her sister’s wedding because her asshole of an ex was the best man. Both Trinity and I were convinced they were already in love with her, but Isolde was stubborn, so I couldn’t wait to hear what had happened.

“You look pretty,” Isolde said. “Where are you going?”

I sighed. “The Caldwell Gala.”

Her eyes went wide. “That’s tonight? Why didn’t you tell us?”

“Tell us what?” Trinity popped into the video, her platinum hair a messy halo around her head.

Isolde hid her smile. “That the Caldwell Gala is tonight.”

Rin gasped. “Ocean.”

Pulling back from the mirror enough to give them both a look, I raised an eyebrow. “Because both of you would have been able to come?”

“No,” Isolde grumbled. “But I could still know about it.”

I laughed, and it turned into a cough because I still couldn’t take a full breath. “It’s okay. I’m aiming to make an appearance and then escape as quickly as possible. Laura is in rare form tonight. But don’t worry about me. I’m not the one who called.”

“Yeah,” Rin said, throwing a handful of cheese-chips into her mouth. They were her favorite and better for her diabetes. “Please tell us how you got repeatedly railed by five smoking hot men who do nothing but drool over you.”

Isolde laughed, but her eyes were sparkling. “It was amazing, and I do have something to tell you both.”

Rin and I waited, staring at her.

“We’re scent matched.”

“Excuse me, WHAT?”

The shrill tone of my best friend’s excitement crashed through the screen, making both me and Isolde wince. But she was also laughing.

“Yeah. So, I owe you dinner and coffee and flowers for the rest of my fucking life,” she said.

I ignored the pang of jealousy and pain that dug in under my ribs. It wasn’t a kind reaction to one of my favorite people in the world finding her scent matches. She deserved it. But that didn’t mean it hurt less.

“So what does this mean?” I asked. “Are you staying here? With them?”

Isolde had moved away after her ex broke her heart, and it was great to have her back.

She nodded into the oversized hoodie she wore, which clearly belonged to one of her new pack members. “Yeah, I am. I honestly have no idea what’s going to happen after the wedding. I’m kind of playing it by ear. Don’t know where I’m going to work, don’t know how long it’ll take to get the rest of my stuff from the apartment, but I don’t really care. We’ll figure it out.”

I pulled out the rest of my makeup and finished my eyes and lips with the light, barely there makeup Laura and my uncle preferred. I took a risk with some nude shimmer on my eyelids, but no more.

Rin and Isolde kept chatting, and I managed to smile and be happy for my friend when one of her guys came in and sat with her. But I felt hollow. Isolde had her pack and was starting a new phase in her life. Trinity had been promoted and was diving into her dream job, even if she was overwhelmed.

While I was here. Stuck in this house with no way out and no way forward because of a fucking contract. And there certainly weren’t any romantic prospects knocking down my door.

“Ocean.” Laura snapped open the door and glared at me. “Our guests are here. Now.”

I winced and glanced at my friends. “Gotta go,” I whispered. “Talk to you later.”

“I told you not to be late.” Laura somehow managed to hiss the words through her teeth.

My phone clearly displayed the time where I’d left it on the vanity. There wouldn’t be anywhere for me to carry it in this dress, and if they thought I was hiding and on my phone for the whole party, I’d never hear the end of it. “I’m not late. And regardless, no one is waiting for me to be there.”

I pushed past her into the hallway before she could say anything. Because it wasn’t anything I hadn’t heard before. I was a part of the Caldwell family, and I was expected to be there. One of these days I was going to snap and tell her I was the only real Caldwell left.

Instead, I allowed my face to take on the mask I always wore at these events. Or anytime I was in their presence. Some people thought I should just give them what they had coming to them. Those people didn’t understand I had five more years of this, and there was nothing I could do about it.

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