Page 157 of Sweetheart: Part One

I frowned, squinting. Then my hair stood on end. I recognised her, too.

Was thatHavoc Saint? Agold packomega, boldly walking through a place like this?

I cocked my head as she turned back to Prey when they reached the table, saying something excitedly. Those were definitely golden eyes.

Itwasher.

But she was… she was different from most gold packs. She had secured a princess bond with her mates.

She was safe, unlike the rest of us.

“Do my eyes deceive me, or does Prey have an omega?” Rook asked, sliding back into the booth and following my gaze. He was watching Love.

Love shrugged, glancing over, but I could see something sad in his eyes as he took the two in.

“No, that omega is packed up already,” I put in. “Not with Prey.”

The Saint pack drama had made news. Dark bonds, fated mates, and princess bonds: it had been a fight for a happily ever after that had given me hope I’d never had. “They must be friends.”

Something sad coiled in my chest as I watched. Prey was smiling as Havoc mimed something with a large gesture and then started loading food onto her and Prey’s plates.

Once I had my mother. Aisha. Someone who wanted to be around me for me.

My eyes slid to Drake.

He was the closest I’d had to that in months. Something real and genuine. With Drake I was safe, and Alastor ruined that, because I hadn’t had a choice in that, either.

“Shame,” Love said mildly.

“Do you know her?” I asked. From what I knew from the news, there was a feud between the Crimson Fury pack and Prey Nightingale, though I had learned to take those things with a pinch of salt.

“Used to be good friends when we were younger. Me, her and Rook.”

“Oh.” I glanced back at Prey, surprised.

“We both came from Elite packs,” Rook said. “High expectations and all. But Ebony got jealous as usual, and blew it up.”

I glanced at Ebony, who was leaning back in his seat. He’d looked nothing but bored up until this point, but he flashed his canines in a nasty grin.

“If you ask me,” Rook went on. “He was threatened by the idea of a female alpha. Mommy issues and all.”

Oh, wow. They’d beenthatclose? Like… might have been pack, close?

“She didn’t fit,” Ebony said. I couldn’t help looking at Love. His jaw ticked, something tense in his expression.

“Her movies do better than yours,” I noted, looking back at Ebony.

Ebony shrugged. “There’s an element of luck in all of this.”

“Luck?” I asked, eyebrow cocked. “Prey’s an amazing actor.”

Rook snorted, but Ebony didn’t look phased. “Honestly, she outclassed Rook at every turn, but I let Love choose which one he’d like me to keep, andhe chose wrong.”

Rook froze, glancing between Love and Ebony with narrowed eyes.“What?”

“That’s not…” Love blew out a breath, cold eyes fixed on Ebony. “What the fuck is wrong with you today?”

Ebony looked down at a nail as he picked it. “Oh? Was that still a secret?” he asked. “It’s so old I forgot.”

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