"I hate blood," she mutters, keeping her face buried in my suit jacket.
"Fuck, I'm sorry, Princess. I'm so?—"
"Let's just get out of here," Reyna murmurs. She peeks up at me through her lashes. "I'm hungry."
"Let's go get you fed, then," Stone says, reaching out and trailing his hand down her back as if he needs to touch her to make sure she's okay. "Hell of a punch you just threw."
"You work at a fighting ring for half a decade and you learn some things," Reyna shrugs. "What can I say? I'm a woman of many talents."
"You—you can't leave!" My mother's panicked voice cuts through the fragile bubble that had formed around my pack and me.
I straighten, squeezing Reyna one last time before I guide her to cling to Stone.
"I can and I will, Mother," I say, my voice dangerously low. "You've never once acted like my parents. You've always picked him."
I cast a disgusted look down at my brother, who still lies in a crumbled heap on the floor, sniveling and crying as he tries to breathe past his broken nose and probably broken jaw.
"Well, now I'm picking for you. I'm done with this sham of a family. You'll never hear from me again."
"We—we'll press charges," my father says, glancing down at Maximus. His voice is the weakest and most uncertain I've ever heard.
"Press charges?" Stone snorts from behind me. "Good luck with that, considering your son participated in illegal omega prostitution and trafficking rings."
They clamp their jaws shut. My mother just falls to her knees beside my brother, cradling his head in her lap. They've chosen their sides.
I didn't have any concern over the legal ramifications of beating my brother half to death, not when he did what he did to Reyna. Maybe I should have.
If my parents did choose to press charges, even though the case may eventually get thrown out, it would ruin my reputation enough to fuck with my position on the council, especially because everyone there is already on edge because of this investigation. There are certainly members of the council who would love any excuse at all to get rid of me.
"Let's go," I nod to my pack.
I glance at our omega. Despite the insanity of the night, she's still holding her head high. Even though she's gripping the lapels of Stone's suit jacket that he must've given her, like it's her lifeline.
"I'm proud of you," she whispers, as we pass the balcony doors back into the house.
The words pierce right through the walls I've built up around my heart. I don't think I've ever heard those words before.
"Thank you, Princess," I murmur, my voice low. "Thank you."
The four of them follow me into the bathroom by the sitting room and wait patiently as I scrub my hands clean of my brother's blood. When the water stops running pink, I shut off the water.
"I should take a look at those knuckles when we get back home," Reyna says softly, reaching out and touching the split skin tenderly.
"It's fine."
"No, it's not fine," she snaps, narrowing her eyes at me. She looks like a cute kitten when she's all fired up like this. It makes my lips tug up into a grin.
That just makes her narrow her eyes even more.
"I'm going to take a look at them, even if I have to sneak into your room at night to do so," she huffs.
"Sneaking into Killian's room, huh?" Theo teases, holding open the front door for her. "Hot. You can sneak into my room at any time."
"Fuck off," she says, shoving him playfully as she rolls her eyes.
The air around us thickens with tension as we all pile into our car. The silence between us is so thick you can cut it with a knife.
"What happens next?" Reyna asks softly.