Page 83 of Breeding Clinic

She hits the button to answer her call and holds her phone up to her ear. “Hey, one sec.” Kat glances at Josh. “Say hi and happy birthday to your mom for me.” Then she spins to leave while talking on the phone with her friend. The crowd swallows her and her conversation up.

“Hey, Kat, wait,” Josh says, chasing after her.

Liam steps into his path, blocking him. His face is thunderous,a warning that only an idiot would ignore. “I don’t think so.”

Josh holds up his hands in surrender. “Hey, man. I’m not trying to edge in on your claim. I have my own pack. I only want to talk with her. I don’t like how things ended. I was hurting too. I didn’t handle it well. Let me apologize to her. Please.”

Liam looks slightly less murderous, but no less wary. I slide off my stool and go to his side, putting a hand on his arm. “Don’t throw first,” I whisper, low enough so that only he can hear it. This asshole’s rich and famous. We don’t need problems. I don’t want to have to make an embarrassing phone call to my uncle.

Liam’s frame vibrates with tension. One bad move from the ex-alpha, and Josh’s gonna be on his ass on the floor. And not a damn person in this bar will say they saw anything. They know Liam. That he’s level-headed and fair. So if he kicks someone’s ass, it’s because they asked for it. Still, in this modern day of cell phone recordings you can’t ever be too careful. The last thing we need is a lawsuit.

Gabriel drains his ale and sets the glass down, then joins us. He crosses his arms over his chest, the movement making his tight black shirt strain over his hard won muscles. He’s been putting in a lot of hours at the gym. He’s nearly as beefy as some alphas. And Liam’s got about four inches in height on Josh. I don’t want the trouble, but my pack could grind him into the dirt if we had to.

“Let me go and apologize to her,” Josh says, holding his palms up in a placating gesture.

Liam leans in. His voice dips low in a tone so deep it’s nearly a growl. “If you make her cry, I don’t care how rich or famous or loved by the public you are. I’ll break your fucking legs and you’ll never kick a soccer ball again.”

Josh’s eyes widen. He sizes Liam up for one second before he must decide that he’s completely outmatched and disadvantaged. Even with the crowd of witnesses around us. Liam’s not the bluffing sort. His great-grandpa kept pace with the Irish mob after prohibition. Big balls run in the family.

“Yeah, I got it,” Josh says. “No tears. I’m just gonna…” Carefully he slips around us. We turn, tracking his movements. I grab Liam’s shirt sleeve to keep him from tromping after the alpha.

“Let me follow him,” I say.

Liam and Gabriel let me go. I’m the least intimidating and the most level-headed of the three of us. I can watch the alpha without escalating things.

The crowd parts for me, their gazes lingering with questions, as I make my way outside to the parking lot. Josh is there already, talking to Kat beside her car. Her arms are crossed and she’s frowning, but she doesn’t seem distressed.

She sees me from across the parking lot, but nothing in her posture or expression changes. I raise my eyebrows dramatically, silently asking if she’s okay. Kat flicks her fingers at me in greeting, then turns her attention back to her ex.

I can’t hear all their conversation from back here. Only fragments. He asks how she is, making awkward small talk. When she doesn’t bite, he finally apologizes.

Slowly I inch closer. If he does something stupid like touch her…

“I hate that I lost so much,” she says. “You were such a big part of my life for so long. I can’t look at old photos because you’re in nearly all of them. I couldn’t talk to old friends about it because they were your friends too. It took a year for people to stop asking me about you. It was so damn alienating. And I can’t talk about any of it.”

My heart twists in my chest. Does she think she can’t talkabout her old pack with us? It’s not a fun subject, sure, but we’d never tell her to stop. Not if she needed it.

“I’m sorry,” he says. “I’m so damn sorry for it all, Kit Kat.”

Her expression turns thunderous. “Don’t call me that. You lost that right when you told me to pack up and go.”

“I’m so sorry. I was hurting and I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t handle it.”

“Like I could?” she spits out, throwing her hands wide.

“They were my babies too,” Josh says, his tone broken. Full of emotion. “I couldn’t lose another baby, Kat.”

Kat’s face twists from one expression to another. Anger to shock, then something like pity. She collapses in on herself, and the muscles in my body tense, ready to spring forward if she needs me.

“I know,” Kat says softly. I barely catch the words from this distance. “I get that.”

“I couldn’t lose another one. I’m sorry, Kat. But I didn’t have it in me to keep trying. I didn’t want it as badly as you did. Didn’t understand how it was worth all the grief and pain to you. The fucking heartache. I needed to move on or I’d never get over it. But I’m sorry that I wasn’t there for you enough. With practice and my games and all the missed doctors’ appointments. As hard as it was for me, it was worse for you. And I wasn’t what you needed me to be. I’m not asking you to forgive me. But… I guess I just wanted you to know I’m sorry. I wish I’d been kinder to you.”

She’s silent for a moment. All of us stand there, waiting. Undecided if I should intervene now, I hesitate. My body thrums with the urge to rush in and scoop her up. Save her from this asshole. But my feet are rooted to the spot. She deserves the chance to handle this however she wants. So I wait for a signal, a sign that she wants my help.

Kat folds her arms again, but appears less angry. “Me too. Iwas so angry that I couldn’t do the one thing I’d always wanted. The thing that was supposed to be as easy as breathing because of my dynamic. I felt like a bad omega. And then when it kept happening, you didn’t want me anymore.”

Josh reaches out and touches her upper arms, rubbing them soothingly. For a moment I see red. But Kat doesn’t shove him away from her or back up out of reach. My anger turns to fear.

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