Page 112 of Pack Scratch Fever
My head aches. Weariness seeps into my bones, and I’m terrified I’m about the lose the one person I’ve ever longed for.
My scent match, my mate, is breaking down in front of me, and I’m the cause.
I didn’t look over those documents closely enough.
I failed.
I failed her.
“Piper, listen,” Avery says, holding out his hands. “It was an honest mistake, I’m sure. Poe would never have done anything to hurt you. None of us would. Ipromise. There has to be some way to fix this; we would never let anything happen to the rescue.”
She looks at Avery incredulously, while Blair keeps staring daggers at me. “It’s already happened, Avery. We have to shut down. We have to find places for all the cats to go, and I don’t even know who would be willing to take half of them. Especially Mister Whiskers.”
“Baby, we won’t let that happen,” Maddox says. Piper slides out of her barstool, and he tries to reach for her, but she slaps his hand away.
“Don’t. Touch. Me,” she hisses, and Maddox stills. “None of you will ever touch me again.”
No. That can’t happen.
“Tell me what to do to make it right,” I demand. “Just tell me.”
Piper just shakes her head and scoffs. “Fuck you, Poe.”
The venom in her words makes my chest ache.
Blair chews her lip and sighs heavily. “There are too many moving pieces,” she sighs, while Piper crosses her arms and leans against the bar. “Unless you’re willing to move all the cats into your house and renovate it so it’s feline friendly.”
I pause for a moment, and Piper takes it as a rejection of Blair’s suggestion. She sneers and shakes her head at me.
“Exactly,” she mutters. “The sale is done, and you cosigned it.” Then, she turns to Maddox and Avery. “I like you both,” she says, her voice softening. “Ido. But this was never going to work.”
“Baby, don’t—” Avery tries, and Piper slams her hand on the bar, startling us and the bartender.
“Leave mealone!” she yells. “Stay away from me, all three of you. I’m not your baby, I’m not your sweetheart, I’m not youranything.” Poison spews from her mouth as she laughs bitterly. “And the worst part is, this just shows me how much of a failure I am. My parents were right. I could never keep the rescue going.” She slurs her last words and slumps against the bar, angry tears in her eyes.
Her scent is murky with alcohol and despair.
You did this.
My own shortcomings have hurt the person that matters most to me.
The bartender, an Alpha with blonde cropped hair, looks to Blair. “Are they bothering you?” he asks gruffly.
Blair shakes her head. “We’re heading home anyway,” she says. She wraps an arm around Piper’s shoulders and helps her to her feet. “Excuse us,” she says, moving past us. Piper’s scent washes over me, and I fight every instinct to pull her into my arms.
My mate is walking away from me.
My mate hates me.
“We’ll drive you,” Avery offers. “At least let us get you two home.”
“Avery, please go away,” Piper sighs, resigned. “Don’t make this hurt any more than it has to.”
Avery’s face crumples as Blair looks back at us. “I’m stone cold sober,” she tells me. “And you really fucked up.”
“I’m sorry,” I say. “I truly am.”
“And I believe you, but it doesn’t matter. You’ve made our lives a lot harder now.”
