Page 47 of Pack’s Pledge

I didn’t want her to see that.

She shouldn’t have to deal with your bullshit.

I had embarrassed Conall, and worse: I had embarrassed myself.

“Where to?” Adrian asked. “Did he take Britt home?”

I shrugged.

“Damn. I wanted to talk to her before she left, make sure she was cool with everything that happened—”

My vision blurred.Fuck.I blinked back tears.

“Hey, Beau,hey,” Adrian said, hurrying over to me. “Beau, baby, are you—”

“I’m fine,” I said, straightening up. “I’m fine. I don’t need your—”

“Iknowyou don’t need it, but Beau…” Adrian pulled me into his chest. I closed my eyes, standing in the circle of his arms. “It’s okay towantit.”

I let out a long, shuddering breath, feeling Adrian’s broad chest rise and fall against my own, his citrus scent washing over my synapses. Despite myself, I relaxed into his hold, my shoulders slumping into him as he rubbed one broad hand over my back.

“Come here,” he said, leading me to his room, pulling me into his unmade bed with him, into his tangle of sheets, sheets that smelled like mint and lime and alpha and home. He curled around me, his heart thumping against my back, slow and steady for several long minutes, until my eyes had stopped stinging and my throat didn’t feel tight.

“I fucking hate scenting,” I said, but there was no bite to my words, and Adrian knew it. I could feel his chuckle rumble through his chest into my own.

“You say that, but…”

“But it’s in my nature,” I said. I couldn’t keep the bitterness from my tongue as I spoke, and I knew Adrian could feel it too. Could taste it in my scent, as well as through our bond.

“Mmm,” he hummed in agreement. “You’renaturallya greedy bastard.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“I know,” Adrian sighed. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Even less than I want to let you cuddle me.”

He wrapped a leg around mine, pulling me closer, tighter, nearly suffocatingly tight. My eyes fell shut, and my body limp.

“How about now?” he challenged.

“Fuck you,” I said, but the corner of my mouth twitched, and I knew he had won. “Fine. If you let me go.”

His grip loosened, and I squirmed away, sitting on the edge of his bed. The warmth faded from my back, and I resented the fact that I missed it. “Did I do something wrong?” I asked, after a long quiet moment. “During… I can’t remember.”

“No,” Adrian answered. He didn’t hesitate. A small, tight coil of anxiety, lodged in my spine, loosened, until I remembered that what that meant was worse.

“Great. It’s justme, then.”

The mattress shifted, and then Adrian was sitting next to me.

I tried to meet Adrian’s eyes, but I couldn’t. “Britt doesn’t want to see me again. It’s fine,” I hurried out. “I know I’m not… I’m not what people want. Not long-term. I get that.”

“Britt said that to you?”

She didn’t have to. She probably didn’t want to have to look me in the face after watching me—

“Beau,” Adrian said. “Britt said that to you?” he asked again, and I nodded.

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