Page 198 of Ashley & the A-Listers

River tried to act as normal as possible as he walked through the entryway, counting his steps until he made it to the opening of the living area, finding the three pack mates curled up on the couch together. Cameron was leaning against Ashley, who reclined on Dylan.

The floor creaked as he came to a stop and Cameron bolted up, shooting him a… grin?

“You’re finished!” Cameron said, and spilled off the couch to come closer. He grabbed River’s hand and pulled him over to join them. On the table was a small gift bag, tissue paper sticking from the top of it.

Ashley stood up, too, and River swallowed before he read her expression.

She was solemn, and his heart leapt as he carefully approached.

Cam tugged him down onto the couch and River went only because he wanted to get this over with.

“I messed up,” Ashley said, and River snapped his gaze to her.

“What?”

“I’m not a very good pack alpha,” she continued, clearing her throat. “Not like I should’ve been. So first… I’m sorry.”

Confusion filled him. No one owed him an apology for any?—

Cameron stood from the couch and as he did so, the oversized lounge shirt he wore slipped off his shoulder, revealing a bite mark.

He stared, eyes moving from the mark to the alpha it clearly belonged to, and back to the omega.

River’s lips parted, closed.

They’d bonded. Completed their little trifecta. A bonded pack.

“Oh,” he breathed, as fresh anger and unfairness whirled with the ever-present guilt he lived with.

They’d bonded. Without him.

His insecurities roared and hurt welled.

“I keep doing this, not thinking,” Ashley continued, shaking her head. “I should’ve waited, because I had this little plan… Well, I wanted the three of us to bond. Together. As one. So you and Cam could feel each other. I got ahead of myself, and I… I jumped the gun. And I’m sorry.”

She wanted to bond them?

Cam’s perfume swelled in distress, and he perched on the edge of the table, right in front of River.

River and Cam used to get lost in each other like that. Maybe they still did, during a heat. But not since Ashley came along—or at least that’s what it felt like.

She’s replacing you.

“I wasn’t thinking,” Cameron said, a frown in place. “I’ve been doing that a lot recently, and you don’t deserve that. I’m sorry, too. Since we rushed things, we wanted to do this part… properly,” he added. “We got you something.”

His scent shifted, an extra-sweet note filling the air. He was so easy to read when he wasn’t on suppressants. And yet River still didn’t know if he could trust it.

“You did?” River asked, blinking, shocked. Maybe this was a parting gift. River didn’t fit in with this pack, and it was never more apparent than now. Everyone had a bite; everyone belonged—everyone but him.

“Of course we did.”

“What?” he asked.

Cameron pushed the bag closer, and gave him a nod. “Open it.”

River’s hands only shook a little as he pulled the small bag off the table, onto his knee. It was decently heavy, and he felt the shape of a container through the bag.

He hesitated with a piece of tissue paper pinched between his fingers. He was angry. He didn’t want a gift to make him feel better. Another part warred with him, claiming he didn’t even deserve a gift because of what he’d done.

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