When Breeana reached their home, the door was locked. They never locked their doors. A feeling of sickness washed over her. She ignored it and knocked on the door."Mom, Dad, Ari, please open the door. We need to talk."Breanna knocked harder and raised her voice all to no avail. No one answered.Breeana slid to the ground in front of the house and sat on the floor. Tears flowed from her eyes freely. She couldn't help but feel like she had alienated her entire family.Goddess, what had she gone and done? She imagined it from her family's point of view. How it must have felt for them to see her kiss and mark Reece at his mating ceremony with her sister. How could she tell them she had tried to resist it? That she had fought it every step of the way when they saw that.The painful thing about life was that if there were no results to prove it, no one believed that you put in effort. That you tried.What could she have done differently if she had known this would be the outcome? Maybe if
Reece fought the urge to drink. The last thing he wanted was for Breeana to know he had picked up a new habit, she would turn her nose up in the air at him. Since when did he care what Breeana thought about him?Since she became our mate. Ray sounded thoroughly amused and relaxed.Of course, he would be. He wasn't the one who had followed Breeana secretly to her house, watched her get drenched and yelled at fighting the urge to go about and rip off heads until Alex had shown up.Then he doubled back and went to the pack house, took a quick shower, dried himself up and got a blanket ready for Breeana.Okay, that way she wouldn't be cold until she got into the shower.After the hectic journey and even more stressful day, Reece realized that she must be tired. His bed was a mess. Goddess.He had asked the help to clean up the connecting room for Ariana and not to touch his so that she would understand that they were never going to have that kind of relationship. How was he to know that
"Reece?"Reece was startled. Had Breeana just called out to him? "Yes?" He answered cautiously. Did she want him to join her? No. That would only happen if her body had gotten hijacked."Could you please pass me a towel and a change of clothes?"Oh. Right. That made more sense.The towel part was easy but the clothes required more strategizing. Ariana had moved some of her clothes over and he'd had them transferred to the connecting room this morning, they would be close to Breeana's size but something told him that she wouldn't want to wear her sister's clothes at this time with things the way they were.So instead he grabbed one of his round necks and shorts to go with it then he went to hand it over to her."Breeana?" The bathroom door opened slightly and Breeana's outstretched hand took the clothes and the towel."Thanks."In minutes, she was out and Reece couldn't breathe properly once he saw her. The shirt hung past mid-thigh on her and she held the shorts in her hand. Her hair
"Reece I swear if you are hungover I–" Allen broke off mid-sentence as he realized what he'd walked in on.He turned around quickly.Breeana let out something between a squeal and a laugh as she pulled the duvet around her legs. Reece grabbed the nearest thing, a pillow and used it to cover his rapidly deflating erection."Really Allen? What are you even doing here at this time?"If looks could kill, Allen would be at least 12ft beneath the ground not that he knew with his back turned to Reece."The invite to the summit came in and you were supposed to meet the pack elders an hour ago." Allen checked his watch."It's the next day after my mating ceremony, how the hell am I expected to be at a meeting this early?"Allen coughed awkwardly. "You insisted on the meeting being moved yesterday if you can recall."That was right. When he'd thought he'd be getting mated to Ari. He'd scheduled the meeting early to avoid and limit any interaction they might have."I'll leave you now. I'll tell
The tension between Alex and Reece was palpable. Reece cleared his throat."Look Alex, I know this entire situation with Breeana and Ari is extremely delicate but I want us to put this behind us to serve this pack fully and dedicatedly."Reece tried not to cringe about how fake he sounded even though he actually wanted to iron out things between him and his childhood friend."Things aren't that easy, Alpha. You might have gotten your mate yesterday but my family took the hit for it. Breeana after being away from our parents for two years wasn't allowed to step foot into the house. And Ari? Ari was humiliated. She was hurt and she felt so betrayed that she tried to end her own life. How can I forgive you for that?"Alex looked like he was a footstep away from getting extremely mad and violent.Ari tried to kill herself? Reece had always felt she was too conscientious to try something like that. He felt a pang of guilt about the fact that he had been a contributing factor to that. If Br
Breeana looked at Reece. At her arm which he held. She was surprised to find out that she wanted to stay. She wasn't sure if it was because of the mate bond or because it was what she wanted.Reece was drunk. He wouldn't remember if she did. At least she didn't think so. And yet she wanted their first time if there was any, to be something to remember. Why was it so difficult to say no though? "Reece… I'm here. I'll be just outside the door."Her mating mark tingled as though mocking her. Since when had she been able to control herself when it came to the bond between them?He seemed to consider it. "But you won't leave. Even if I tell you to."Breeana's heart skipped a beat. Did he mean when he'd asked her to leave town he'd actually wanted her to stay?No, Breeana, he's drunk. He doesn't even know what he is saying."I won't. You wouldn't be able to make me do it even if you wanted to." Breeana smiled at him.That seemed to pacify him and he let her go.Breeana nearly ran out of the
Breeana still wasn't speaking to him. Reece looked over at her sleeping in the airplane chair.They were on the flight to Washington. After that kiss last night, Breeana had left the party feigning tiredness and giving her heartfelt congratulations to the couple.Reece had thirsted for a shot but remembering the look Breeana had given him when she had thrown out all his alcohol kept him on the wagon. So he'd also apologized for leaving early. Citing the trip as an excuse.When he entered the room, she was already under the duvet when he got in. He could tell she was still awake because of her breathing pattern but she closed her eyes so it was obvious she wasn't ready to speak with him yet.Reece left Alexander and Allen in charge of the pack in his stead. Alex was still unbearably formal with him and he secretly wondered if he'd lost his long-time friend forever.For the first time in years since his father passed away that he felt somewhat free. He would always worry about his pack
The arrangements for the ball were exquisite and tasteful but Reece couldn't take his eyes off his mate. She looked simply stunning. The deep blue gown brought out the blue in her eyes and the gown hugged her curves and flared out from the hips to the floor forming a small train. Her hair was pulled back into an elegant loose bun with little braids that framed her features.She held his arm as they walked, smiling at him as though he was the only man on this earth for her. Which he sort of was but that wasn't the point. The point was that she was pretending. She was still mad at him but he wouldn't have known by her smile.The other couples stood next to each other on the dance floor socialising and picking drinks off trays from waiters that passed by. A low orchestra played in the background and he could see Janine and Arthur playing hosts at the head table.Reece inhaled and braced himself for the onslaught of questions to come. Ariana had been a social butterfly that drew conversat