Page 59 of Accidentally Forever

His expression is unreadable, but there’s something in the sharp lines of his jaw, the way he rolls his shoulders back, that makes it clear he isn’t fucking amused. One of the officers steps forward, the one in charge, his uniform stretching over too-large muscles like he’s trying to intimidate his way into an advantage. “Puma Ashford?”

Puma exhales slowly. “Yeah. That’s me.”

The officer crosses his arms. “We have some questions for you.”

Puma tilts his head slightly, unimpressed. “At three in the fucking morning?”

“We received new information about your involvement in the forgery case. Puma Ashford, Lance Ashford, and Hawk Ashford—you’re under arrest for the purchasing and distribution of fraudulent artwork.”

Sofie’s fingers dig into my arm, but I barely register it, my mind still catching up to the words that just left the officer’s mouth. The words echo, bouncing around inside my skull, rattling loose something panicked in my chest. No. That’s not possible. Fraud? Distribution? Arrest?

This isn’t how it works. Cases like this take months, sometimes years, to investigate properly. To build enough of a case for charges, let alone a fucking arrest. There’s no way they have enough evidence already. None of the information I gave them yesterday would have pointed them in the Ashford Alphas’ direction.

The officers don’t give us time to argue. “We can do this the easy way,” one of them states flatly, his tone impassive, his expression hard. “Or we can cuff you and drag you out.”

Sofie stiffens at my side, her scent shifting from warm and honey-soft to something sharp, uneasy. A quiet, nervous sound escapes her, barely more than a breath, but it still spikes something furious in my blood.

Puma just sighs, rubbing a hand over his jaw before reaching for his coat like this is nothing more than an inconvenience. “No need for dramatics, gentlemen.” His voice is calm. Too calm. The kind of calm that makes my stomach knot up, that tells me he’s already thinking five steps ahead. “Let’s go.” Lance and Hawk exchange a glance before moving in tandem, grabbing their jackets without a word.

I feel like I’m drowning. “Wait—” The word barely makes it past my lips. My chest is tight, lungs refusing to work right. “You—you can’t just arrest them for some bullshit charges. This takes time. There’s no way—”

One of the officers turns his gaze on me. “Ma’am, we have probable cause.”

Probable cause. Probable fucking cause. My stomach knots, twisting into something painful. “That doesn’t mean you get to skip protocol.” I have no idea what I’m talking about but I’m hoping something works.

The officer sighs like I’m nothing more than an inconvenience. “Tell it to your lawyer.”

Panic claws up my throat, frantic, desperate. This is wrong. This is fucking wrong.

I turn to Puma, hoping for him to say something, to do something. He meets my gaze, everything about him composed even at three in the fucking morning. That’s what pisses me off the most—the way he looks like he’s already played this scenario out, already calculated every move, already accepted that this is happening. I am barely processing it and he’s already playing out something he’s planned for.

He steps closer, gently prying my fingers from where they’ve locked around Sofie’s wrist in a death grip. “Dove,” he murmurs, voice a steady anchor in the chaos. “Gray will take care of you both. Call Banks.”

Gray stiffens beside me, every trace of humor drained from his face, his entire body going rigid with something cold. “I’ll handle it,” he says.

Lance and Hawk nod, but their eyes stay on me, watching, waiting—like they know I’m about to do something reckless. Like they think I’ll fight for them. Like they think I’ll make this worse. Sofie was right about wanting to do something,needingto do something. But there’s nothing I can do in the moment as Puma whispers to us that they’ll be back soon. And then just like that, they’re out the door, the police cars heading back down the driveway until I can no longer hear the engine or see the flashing lights against the large windows of the house.

Sofie is trembling against me but I can tell she’s in shock. Gray stalks into the kitchen, his voice sharp as he shouts into his phone, most likely speaking with Banks. I want to fall apart, drop to my knees, yell into the void but that won’t help anyone. No, my priority is my Omega and make sure that she’s settled.

“Come on, baby,” I urge her back toward her nest. She doesn’t go right away. Only until I gather her up in my arms does she seem to shake out of the stupor she was in. Sofie curls into my chest, letting me place her back in the multitude of pillows, Gray joining us soon after. I tell her to rest, that maybe our Alphas will be back in the morning.

However, even tucked between me and Gray, wrapped in the warmth of the nest, she stays tense. Every so often, a little whimper slips from her lips, her body twitching like she’s caught in some restless dream. Every instinct in me screams to fix it, to make it better, but there’s nothing I can do to untangle the worry curling around her like a vice.

Exhaustion finally drags her under. The moment her breathing evens out, I watch her for a long while, letting my own breath match hers, grounding myself in the rise and fall of her chest. Safe. Warm. Protected. But none of those things apply to Puma, Hawk, or Lance. A slow, burning frustration churns beneath my skin, making it impossible to stay still. Instead of twisting and turning and waking up Sofie, I slip out of bed, hoping I can find something to distract me.

Gray moves the second my feet touch the floor, following me out into the hallway. “Princess,” he murmurs, voice thick with sleep. “Where are you going?”

My body pushes forward on instinct, straight to the office, too restless, too fucking pissed to stay in bed and pretend everything is fine. Gray follows, his footsteps trailing mine, a sigh slipping from his lips as he drags a hand through his hair. “You can’t solve this on your own,” he mutters, voice quieter now. “We’ve got a great family lawyer—”

I whirl on him, tension snapping like a live wire. “I can’t just fucking sit here!” I hate this helpless feeling growing inside of me. For a while, I let myself fall. I told myself that I didn’t have to be in control. I handed the reins over to them, loving the freedom that came with not having to think about every goddamn thing. And now the very men who I gave that control to are gone and I’m spiraling because I don’t know what happens next. Gray could tell me a thousand fucking times that they’ll be okay and for some reason I can’t bring myself to believe it.

Gray steps up to me, squeezing my shoulders as he drags me against his chest. “Princess, we will figure this out. Banks is pure magic when it comes to matters like this. They’ll be home in the morning but you’ll be no good running yourself into the ground. I should know.”

A shattered breath falls from my lips as I sag against him. “I need everything to be okay.”

He hums a response, slowly wrapping an arm around my back, the warmth of his skin against mine causing me to sigh against his chest. The other slides along my shoulder, his fingers slipping into my hair as he holds me. “You’ve needed to be absolutely everything to Sofie for so long that you’re having trouble separating that and these moments right here. You crave control when everything is chaos but let me tell you that this is one thing you can’t control.”

Tears glaze my eyes as I cling to him.

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