Page 164 of Sweetheart: Part One

“It goes, Rogan,” Ebony hissed.

Zeus turned to him. Up until now, I realised, Zeus hadn’t looked at Ebony once, but there was hatred in his gaze when he did.

“Where are her bites?” Triton asked. “Since you’re so very protective of your pretty little omega—”

“She’s not.” Drake cut him off, something desperate in his voice, as if he couldn’t stand them thinking that.

“She’s our Sweetheart,” Love said, voice clipped but much more stable. “But I agree. I’d prefer you weren’t snapping photos of my packs’ private moments.”

“Sweetheart?”Triton asked incredulously. “Fuck me sideways if that sweet piece of ass is a beta.”

Even Rook almost cracked, his whole body shifting forward as Triton said that. Love went still as stone, and Ebony’s lip curled with hatred.

DRAKE

“It’s none of your fucking business what she is,” I snarled.

Zeus grinned. “Alright.” He lifted his hands defensively. He leaned close, voice low enough that his words were just for me. “I’d like it said that the photos on my phone are my business and I do what I want with them—But!” He cut off as I shifted forward, still held back only by Ebony. “I’ll let you have at it, since you’re clearly so emotional.”

He lifted his phone, flipping it to me as a peace offering. I stared between Zeus and the phone, searching for the trick.

A long moment passed, and then Zeus withdrew his offer. “Well, I guess if you don’t want—?”

He cut off as I snatched the phone from his hand with a snarl.

I wasn’t focused, my aura still out, Ebony’s hand on my shoulder as I stared at the screen of Zeus’s phone.

Before me his desktop apps stared back, his background a close-up of shot of a woman. All I could see was creamy pale skin of what was possibly her neck, and the edge of red lace. It took me a moment to figure out what I was doing, and tap into his photos.

I stared at the thumbnails before me, scanning them until I found what I was looking for. For a second, I was caught in rage at the zoomed-in photo of me and Vex. I had her face in my hands as I kissed her.

A growl rose up my throat, but I deleted it instantly. I tapped out, scrolling up and down as if there might be more hidden. I didn’t find any, instead I was met by a sea of thumbnails that all looked similar. All silky smooth, pale skin of a woman, too close to identify, all the shots different.

Pale skin. Wine red lace.

Neck, stomach, chest. That was all, photo after photo, an occasional video. No face. There had to be hundreds I was scrolling through, unsure of why or what I was looking for anymore. Then Zeus’s voice jolted me out of my rage. “Do you see her anywhere else? Or do you plan on deleting all my photos for good measure?”

I dragged my eyes from the hundreds of pictures, back to the pack who had once been the centrepiece of every nightmare I ever had.

Mechanically, I handed the phone back to him.

I barely process what happened next. The Lightning pack left, and I turned, needing to see her—to make sure she was okay.

There she was, tucked under Rook’s arm, staring at me with such concern.

“Fucking pricks,” Rook was muttering. “They’re just trying to get a rise out of you. Don’t think on it. They need to move on.”

Ebony’s eyes were fixed on me, furious, protective. He lifted a hand, cupping my neck, a little crinkle of a snarl on his face, which was his best way, I thought, of asking me if I was okay.

I nodded.

It was the best I had.

The others knew I’d come from that pack, but Ebony kneweverything.

He was the only one who did.

“We can leave—” Love began.

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