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I reached out, needing it suddenly, a breath catching in my chest. It was as if, in that moment, I stumbled from the safety of Ace’s embrace into his.

I wasn’t prepared for what it felt like.

He was everything Bunny wasn’t. Ace was an unstable ball of energy, consuming itself for rebirth, arcs of flame bursting outward before petering out. But Rogue was the jagged rock of a mountain. Cool and calm.

It wasn’t just protection—Ace promised that, too. But Rogue felt steadfast.

He reacted instantly, shifting closer, hand cupping my cheek. I clutched at his wrist, desperate tears flooding my face.

At my side, I heard the low rumbling growl from Ace as he touched me, and fingers dug into my waist. But he could feel my need, even if he didn’t like it.

“You came… back…” I whispered.

“‘Course I came back,” Rogue murmured. “You’re mine, remember.”

I was…?

I blinked up at him. The calm was clearing the haze, and with it, the horror of what had just happened. I felt the cracks again, the pieces of me I’d gathered up desperately, trying to hold them close even when their edges cut deep. My voice was slicedto ribbons by the time it made it past all of them. “I wasn’t… enough.”

He paused, teal eyes narrowed as his thumb ran along my skin. “I’m sorry, Kitten.”

Oh… Not what I meant.

“No…” I said. This wasn’t good. “Youdon’t have to be sorry.” I was in heat—this was myfirstheat with him. My chest tightened as I looked up, panic sending my heart skittering.

He was perfect.

And my body ached, even with Ace claiming me.

But still, the darkness kept flickering back.To the moment an Alpha’s hands gripped my thighs as he pinned me down… The moment Knox sank his teeth into her flesh…

I didn’t know how to shut it off.

Ace was safe. He was mine—and that would never change now.

But Rogue… he’d just seen me lose Knox to another Omega. He didn’t know me the same. And he was so perfect, and this was our first heat together, and a part of me was panicking because I wanted—noneeded—it to go well.

I just had to stall.

“I think the first wave of heat is just passing, but I can be better by the time the next one comes.”

“Better?” He frowned.

I nodded. “I promise.”

How bad would it be if I couldn’t even bring myself to want him in heat? I could feel the sharp edges of those fallen pieces I was still clutching close. I’d just have to find a way to put them all back—and if they didn’t want to, I’d make them no matter how much it hurt.

Rogue was still looking at me with a frown.

Not good…

I wasn’t supposed to be sad. I was supposed to want him.

“I can be ready for you. It’s just… I wasn’t expecting to lose… him…” I couldn’t say Knox’s name; even thinking it almost shattered me, but I pushed on. “But I know you didn’t like him… and I can… fix myself.”

Bootstraps, Bunny.

Gotta give ‘em a good pull.