Page 2 of Sweetheart: Part One

I sighed, rubbing my face and standing from the couch.

AnotherSweetheart?

Jas had to leave off at some point, right?

She was our manager, and she went through Ebony to sort the Sweetheart visits. I was pack lead, but in this, I gave in to my brother.

Only, we were on the third this year. One week they'd stay with us, then we'd reject the contract—if they evenmadeit that long—and Ebony would settle down for a little while.

That was how it went every single time.

I headed down to the office where we met them. It was always the same: they’d start off with stars in their eyes and simpering voices that scraped at my sanity.

It would end with a swift exit cloaked in the NDA they’d signed before they even got here.

He never wenttoofar—Ebony knew how to toe the line so he’d never have visiting Sweetheart privileges revoked. But no Sweetheart finished the week glad we were the pack they were assigned.

Some were still willing to stay. Those irked me the most. The status that came with being our Sweetheart was worth enough to them to tolerate Ebony.

We only had to make it a few months more, then we were off to Germany for the biggest movie deal of our career. The Dragon Hunters franchise was set to take our name global, but that wasn’t why I gave a fuck about our acting career. It was about the stimuli of being on set. Ebony and Rook were the most balanced they’d ever be when we were working.

I sighed.

Two months. That was all, and if tolerating another Sweetheart week was the cost of keeping Ebony sane, I’d unhappily pay it.

Around me, cream wallpaper lined broad hallways, and the heels of my oxfords clipped marble, each sound a claw scraping the back of my brain. Unwilling to linger on age-old irritants of a life I’d never wanted, I returned to lighter issues—like drugs and ruts and Sweethearts.

Drugs worked just fine to keep our ruts manageable, and had for the last few years, but none of us were stable alphas. It came with the territory. It was a high bar, becoming as successful as our elite pack had in the last four years, and it wasn’t an environment mellow alphas survived in. We were all high strung in our own ways; vicious, territorial, obsessive.

Eventually, we needed to look at other options. Even with more frequent acting schedules, with less time off between, Ebony was cracking around the edges.

He could always use another outlet, and until I had a better answer, marble floors and Sweethearts would continue scraping away at my sanity. Because this life I’d built up around us was the best I could manage. And it still wasn’t enough.

He didn’t want them here because of what they should offer—touch, or sweetness, or love.

No.

One thing I’d never been able to get on Ebony, was a solid diagnosis. Instead, I was left covering for him at every misstep, with the words antisocial personality disorder, or psychopath suspended between us.

Undefined and uncharted.

But I was his brother, and I knew more than anyone else on this planet that Ebony wasn’t capable of love.

TWO

VEX

The beta who met me at the gates was the same one who'd spoken over comms, and he looked about as enthused as he sounded. Rob—as he’d introduced himself—was their house manager: a spindly man in his mid-thirties wearing a neat grey suit and a pair of white runners.

He'd raised his eyebrows when he'd seen me, and quietly uttered the word, "Fascinating."

I could only assume—based on what he was eyeing—the statement was about my outfit.

I didn’t care. How I looked today was one choice I’d all but drawn blood for. Dark bond or not, no other alpha would tell me how to seduce my mates.

Up close, the home was even more extravagant than I’d imagined. It was a modern, sprawling building, with tall windows through which I could see a broad spiral staircase. Even the double doors we entered through were twice my height.

I felt a pang of grief as my gaze swept across the foyer and the cream marble floors leading to the stairs. To the right was an open concept kitchen, and off the main area were several doors and hallways.

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