Page 87 of Unmarked

“Oh no. NotCareful.”Kai raises his brows.“I’m shaking in my extremely well-fitted boots.”

“I’m not going to tell you again,” Lucian growls. “You think this is a joke?”

“Are you for real?Everythingabout this is a joke.” Kai gestures to the room. “You, me, this ridiculous tension-fest of a man cave. We’re two alphas stuck in a deadlock over one omega who’s literally asking us not to make it weird. The whole thing is one big, fucked-up joke.”

“I’m not making itweird,” Lucian bites. “I’m keeping hersafe. You? You’re circling the situation like you think it’s a casual hookup and not a biological minefield.”

“And you’re acting like she’s your personal property. Newsflash, Vale: this isn’t a private dick-measuring contest, no matter how hard yours might be pressed to your inseam right now.”

Lucian steps forward, eyes dark. “Say that again.”

“Okay,” Kai nods. “You’re territorial, you're condescending, and honestly? You might be in love with the door at this point.”

Theo exhales hard, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“We’re not doing this. You two aren’t posturing your way into a solution.”

Lucian doesn’t even look at him. “He’snot going in there.”

Kai spreads his arms. “So you get to have your tragic door-fuck fantasy, but the rest of us are a threat?”

“It’sdifferent.”

Kai leans in, smug and relentless. “She doesn’t want you, Vale. Notonlyyou. She’s reaching for us.Allof us. And that’s what’s really pissing you off, isn’t it?”

“Kai,” Theo says.

“What? It's true! Hewas all about that whole whisper-through-the-door intimacy bullshit last night, but now,suddenly,it’s too dangerous for anyone to go in?”

“Right,” Lucian’s lip curls. “Because if it isn’t clear enough,Reed- I don’t share.”

That stops the room.

“Then what are you doing, Lucian?” Theo asks.

The silence that follows is long and drawn-out.

I finally step in, voice level. “Look, we don’t have time for a dick-swinging contest.”

“Andthis,” Kai says, gesturing vaguely, “is why I vote we rebrand from ‘protective pack of responsible alphas’ to ‘sad boy band with boundary issues.’”

Lucian looks ready to kill.

“She doesn’t needus,” he bites out. “She needsme.You’re all just in the way.”

Theo straightens, voice sharp now. “She needs comfort. Support.Stability. Not some alpha war fantasy with you on a fucking throne.”

“Shechoseus,” I add, eyes cutting to Lucian. “She said it herself. She doesn’t want to be alone. She wants someone with her. Not a savior, not a dictator, just -someone.”

Kai shrugs, turning his gaze to Lucian.

“Guess that rules you out.”

Lucian’s jaw clenches so hard I hear it click.

I swear to God, if they start growling next, I’m putting both of them in time-out.

“And if one of you breaks? If one of you gives in, rut hits, and she spirals - who’s accountable then?” Lucian fires out to the room. “Who wants to be the one who marks her because your self-control’s shit?”

---