Page 94 of Tempted By the Alpha Outlaw

Reyes exhales and nods toward me. “Take him to a holding cell.”

Frankie’s jaw tightens. “Gladly.”

She steps forward, gripping my arm in a way that tells me she’s been waiting to do this. I don’t resist. I let her drag me toward the door, Grant following just behind. I hear the redhead sigh, shaking his head. “Damn…what the fuck, dude?”

I wish I had an answer for him.

The air shifts the second I step outside. More people are awake now, like the rumors are already spreading, and I feel the weight of every gaze on me. The whispers have already started. I knew they would. This was always going to happen.

But then my breath catches—because Magnolia is there.

She’s walking toward us, her mother at her side, her expression set with determination. I realize in that moment she was about to rat me out–good, I fucking deserve it–but the second she sees me, she stops.

Her lips part, her fingers tightening into fists at her sides.

I can feel the moment it clicks for her, the moment she realizes exactly what I’ve done. I see it in the way her eyes flicker to Grant, then to Frankie gripping my arm like she’s ready to toss me into a fucking river.

Her breath shudders out of her. She knows.

I take a step toward her—instinct, desperation, stupid hope—but Frankie yanks me back with a growl.

“Don’t.”

Magnolia sways forward, like she wants to close the space between us, but she doesn’t. She just stares at me, her throat working around words she doesn’t say. Her mother holds her arm protectively, pulling her in close.

I should say something. I should tell her I’m sorry.

I should tell her that none of this matters if she’s not safe. That all I care about is her, and the little life inside of her that she doesn’t even know about yet.

I should say something.

But I don’t.

I just hold her gaze for one last second, one last moment where it’s just us, before Frankie tugs me away and Magnolia disappears behind me.

31

MAGNOLIA

Whispers spread through the den like wildfire.

Colt is called a liar. A traitor. An outsider who never should have been trusted.

And me?

Foolish. Reckless.

I gave myself too quickly, too completely, to a man who was never truly mine.

The judgment cuts deep, curling around my ribs like a slow, twisting blade. Every glance I meet is heavy with it—some sharp, some pitying, some just plain cruel. And I want to ignore them, to square my shoulders and hold my head high, but the truth is, doubt gnaws at me, relentless.

What if they’re right?

What if I was just a stupid girl with a fragile heart and a mate bond that led her straight into ruin?

I hide away at home, taking time away from the school, retreating into the comfort of the house that raised me–but even here, the whispers creep in. Everyone tiptoes around me, even my reckless, clumsy teenage brother. They all know I’m on the edge.

It’s never been like this.

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