Page 33 of Accidentally Forever

A piece of tomato clings to my plate and I push it aside with my fingers, my ears tuning into the hushed conversation happening around me.

"—it’s not just one or two clients," Lance says, the easygoing smirk from earlier wiped clean from his face. "It’s getting worse."

Puma doesn’t react right away but I see the flicker of irritation in his eyes before he tips his head back slightly, lounging in his chair like he isn’t secretly pissed. "How bad?"

Hawk, sitting across from me, exhales hard before shoving the last bite of crust into his mouth. He chews, swallows, then leans forward, elbows braced against the table, expression dark. "We lost a sale this morning," he says. "A big one."

The fake paintings. The rumors. The whispered suspicions spreading through the industry like wildfire. Gray sighs beside me, rubbing a hand over his jaw, the rasp of stubble audible in the quiet. "People must be getting paranoid," he mutters.

Puma makes a low sound, something between frustration and acceptance, then turns his gaze on me. "You worked there, love. Did you ever notice anything off, other than those paintings from the showing?"

I think back through all the shady things Xavier did over the months I worked through, scrutinizing every encounter I can remember. "Not at first," I admit. "Xavier always had shady connections, but it’s art. Everyone has shady fucking connections. But the last few weeks, something felt wrong," I say. "Some of the paintings were coming in with wet paint, like they’d been touched up. Sofie was the one who caught it first, but I didn’t think much of it at the time."

Hawk frowns, arms crossing over his chest. "You didn’t ask questions?"

A snort escapes before I can stop it. "You don’t ask questions when you need a paycheck. I’m sorry but that job was all I had to provide for Sofie and we were barely making it. I couldn’t jeopardize it and I didn’t know enough about art to truly question it. Yes, it felt wrong but I was already on thin ice." I’m not proud of it but Sofie had a roof over her head.

Puma lets out a heavy sigh as he drags a hand down his face, fingers brushing across his beard for a few moments before speaking. “No one faults you for that, Violet. Survival is never pretty. Xavier, on the other hand, is not smart enough to pull this shit off. There’s someone else running the operation and unfortunately, until we have more information, our hands are tied.”

Gray’s hand rests on my hip, his fingers moving in lazy, absentminded circles over the thin fabric of my leggings. It’s nothing. It’s everything. A small touch, a simple motion, but it holds me here, tethers me to the present in a way that words never could. Each slow drag of his fingertips sends a ripple through me, a quiet pull that makes it impossible to focus on anything else.

The conversation drifts in and out of my awareness—strategy, damage control, the fake paintings, the growing storm circling around us—but the words don’t stick. They slide right past, lost to the heat pooling low in my stomach, to the way my fingers tighten around the edge of the table as Gray’s hand shifts just slightly. My breath catches in my throat, so quiet I barely notice it but Puma does.

His gaze sharpens, zeroing in on the tension in my grip, the way my lips part just slightly, the way I shift ever so subtly in Gray’s lap. Puma reaches over and plucks me right out of Gray’s lap and sits me in a seat between them.

Gray grumbles, the sound edged with a mixture of amusement and irritation. His fingers twitch like he’s tempted to pull me right back, but Puma doesn’t even acknowledge him.

“Focus,” Puma says, but it’s not directed at me.

Gray exhales a dramatic sigh, rolling his eyes like Puma is being unreasonable, stretching his arms out before leaning back in his seat. Puma’s attention is still on me, his hand finding my cheek, his thumb sweeping along my jaw as I realize that this Alphaseesme.

I’ve spent years being Sofie’s protector, making sure she has everything she needs, being the one person she can rely on. I’ve spent even longer making sure I’m strong enough to survive, keeping my guard up, making damn sure I don’t get tangled in things that will only leave me exposed, vulnerable.

But now, I’m drowning in it.

Too many hands on me. Too many people paying attention, watching, caring. It’s lovely. It’s also overwhelming.

Gray’s gaze is still on me, weighted with amusement, the same knowing look he always has when he sees me getting thrown off balance. Lance and Hawk don’t stare, but I catch the way their eyes flick toward me between sentences, assessing, taking note. None of it is bad. None of it feels unsafe. But it’s a lot. Too much. The kind of attention I don’t know what to do with, the kind that makes something inside me tighten with unease.

Puma leans in slightly, voice dropping low enough that only I can hear. “Thought you might need a minute.” The softness in his tone is what undoes me the most.

His fingers brush against my wrist, a single, fleeting squeeze. A silentI got you. Then he turns back to the others, picking up the conversation without missing a beat, his presence still there, steady, but giving me the space I need.

The voices filter back in, the weight of the moment lifting just enough that I can breathe again. Gray’s talking about a client or something, a tight smile on his face. “I’ve got a meeting with one of our regulars in two days. Figure I’ll feel them out for whispers, see what’s going around. They usually have a pretty good handle on what’s going on.” Gray’s attention shifts to me, his entire face lighting up. “You wanna go with me, princess? That’s if we’re not tied up with Sofie’s heat.”

Hesitation flickers for half a second before I nod. “Yeah. I’d like that.”

Gray looks like he wants to jump me, drag me into his lap all over again, and smother me but he doesn’t. He just tugs at the lip ring, chewing on it for a few seconds as if pretending it’s my lips he’s nibbling on. “Dibs on Violet tonight.”

Lance snorts, shoving a piece of crust into his mouth. “Yeah, good luck fighting Sofie.”

Laughter bubbles up, slipping past my lips before I can stop it. A shake of my head, a roll of my eyes. “Shouldn’t you all be fighting over the Omega of the pack, not the Beta?” The words are out before I think too hard about them, but the second they hit the air, the mood shifts.

Puma, leans forward, elbows resting on the table, his gaze locking onto mine with quiet, unwavering certainty. “You’re just as precious as she is.”

Sofie has always been the delicate one these last few months. The one people doted on, the one people cherished, the one people fought to claim, protect, love. It was expected. She is an Omega, the center of everything, the bond that ties a pack together.

But Puma is saying that she’s not the only one this pack is centered around and it’s a disorienting feeling. Gray, ever the shit-stirrer, grins as he hooks a finger under my chin, tilting my face toward him. “You hear that, princess?” he murmurs, his breath warm against my lips. “You better start getting used to it.”

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