Page 46 of Pack Apollo

They don't make a move to follow until I shrug and turn to walk in myself. Mom and Daryl walk around the corner, coming from the kitchen.

"Perfect timing," I comment. "Mom, Daryl, meet Pack Apollo. Though, I'm pretty sure you two already know each other." I say the last motioning between Daryl and Roz.

I expect a knock down drag out fight, or hell, at least a little bit of drama. Something other than the glorified standoff that's happening. The best thing about the whole situation is the confusion on my mother's red, tear-stained face.

Clearing it up a bit for her, I pull down the hem of my shirt, showing off my bonding mark with Cordell, I tell her, "I did exactly what you taught me not to. I bonded with an alpha of a pack. It's pretty great."

Letting go of my shirt, I dodge whatever she's about to say like Neo with that bullet from the Matrix.

Spinning on my heel, I simply turn and walk back to my room. My head hurts. My body hurts. My heart hurts. Everything hurts. Being close to them hurts. Their scents are driving me crazy as much as it hurts. I know one of them will follow me in here and I'm scared to be trapped in a room with them. In a heat, I'm not going to make the best judgement calls. But, I think I'm more scared that they'll leave without coming in here.

Sitting on the edge of my bed, I try to prepare myself for the inevitable, no matter the outcome. With my eyes closed, I scent him before I see him.

I open my eyes just in time to watch the high and mighty Roz drop to his knees. His expression is sad, but more so are his eyes. I know that look. I've seen it many times over the past several weeks when I looked into a mirror.

"There are absolutely no words that I could say that would make anything I've done forgivable," he starts. "I know I've hurt you in one of the worst ways possible. I won't make excuses for my actions other than I simply panicked. Having loved and been betrayed, I didn't think we would survive that,but we did. We aren't surviving without you, love. You complete every single one of us in the best ways. I hope that you'll give me and our pack another chance. I'll spend an eternity making it up to you."

By the time he's done talking, the rest of them are crowded around the doorway. Glancing at a spot on the wall, I refuse to look at any of them as the tears start.

Shaking my head, I whisper, "I can't. I can't do this right now."

He sinks down on his heels, but I don't look at him. I wasn't lying. I justcan'tdo this today. I have nothing left to give. My heart feels like it collapses in on itself as I give way to the lead weight weighing me down. I let my body sink to the floor in front of him, and I pull my knees up to my chest before burying my face into them, crying tears that I didn't think I had anymore of.

Bodies and scents close in around me, I'm not sure who is where. All I know is that for the first time in weeks, I can finally breathe. Until I get a whiff of Cordell's spicy aftershave. The moment I do, I can tell where he is by the feel of fire where our skin touches. It causes a huge cramp to flare up in my belly and lower. My groan slips out accidentally.

"She's going into heat," Cordell says struggling to get the word out.

Brent gently pulls my face up to lock eyes with me. "That true, love?"

I nod, tears still flowing freely.

"What do you want us to do?" he asks.

The things that I want...no, need them to do can't happen here. "Take me home?"

I make it more of a question, but it's all they needed to hear. They all jump into action. Palmer starts throwing whatever he can find in my open bag. Brent tugs Cordell from the room. Jake offers a hand to help me up, and I take it, knowing I can'ttouch Roz without embarrassing myself.

"There will be groveling and gifts a plenty," I warn him. He nods and I add, "You're taking first shift, too."

For a moment, he's confused, but I tell the moment to clicks in his brain that I'm talking about with my heat. Jake is already snickering and leans down to capture my lips.

"That's not really a punishment," Palmer says sounding annoyed.

Jake laughs again, "Oh, he's going to pay his due diligence."

I make a face at Roz. "And I want my car back."

Chapter Fourteen

Palmer

I seriously can't believe we've left her like we have. Not to mention the hurt andbetrayalthat she must feel, but to be going into heat, thinking you've got no one to help you through it. Makes me absolutely sick to my stomach, which in turn, makes me angry. I've already lashed out at my pack members several times in the time that it took to get her bags packed and her loaded up into the rental SUV.

They won't call me on it either. I'm pretty sure I've taken her loss harder than any of them. I fell in love with this girl, only to have her ripped away the moment she started loving me back. I've spent weeks being angry at Roz, and honestly, the rest of them. Maybe if they'd have run out that door with me and went after her that day then we could've stopped her.

"I hope we've got everything," I tell her as we're walking out the front door.

"We can buy her anything she needs," Roz offers, making me roll my eyes at the alpha.

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