Page 106 of Cost of Courting

People shake my hand and hug me until I lose myself in their familiar scents.

Two hours pass, and, even though I search for my alphas and wait for their return, I’m enjoying myself too much to be that upset with their absence.

A car honks. Silence ripples across the crowd, people turning to face the car that is pushing into our party. The sudden tension and fear through the crowd is like lightning to me. I can feel it with my skin in the air all around us.

The wrongness.

Long before I see the driver, I know who it is.

Benson smiles through the windshield. I turn and grip Dot’s hand.

“Bailey,” I whisper.

Her eyes widen in fear and she nods and steps back. Cindy and Peta step sideways into the gap, closing it. I fold my arms under my breasts and watch him stop the car and get out.

“You’re having a party without me,” he coos and then bursts into laughter. “Look at your faces.”

“Yes. We are. So, go away,” I say loudly.

He turns a hostile smile on me. “Selene, it’s been a while. Far, far too long. Hammer has missed you terribly. He had a secret of yours he shared with me, and I thought maybe we could discuss it?”

To my surprise, Benson rounds the vehicle and stops at the back door, pulling it open. To my utter horror, Luna steps out. Nothing could have hurt me more in that moment than seeing her get out of his vehicle, her hand in his.

She’s in a black dress that looks like it cost a fortune. Heels that I don’t know how she’s walking in. Her makeup is flawless, her hair is smooth and shiny, falling in a sheet. She looks cold and alien.

“Luna,” I growl.

She ignores me, turning one of those simpering, perfect smiles on Benson.

He leans down and kisses her cheek, and she blushes prettily. It’s like she doesn’t even realise what he is. Like she can’t fathom that he is that evil monster who terrorised us.

I’m so angry with her, but I also know it’s not her fault.

No, this is mine.

“Run up and grab your bag, my sweet.”

“Luna!” I bark.

She glares at me and ignores me as she teeters up to the house.

Benson keeps smiling, uncaring of the rage that is aimed at him.

I step close to him, staring into his beady brown eyes, knowing it will piss him off. “What are you even doing?”

“Me? Dating.”

I let out a fierce growl.

“I have you to thank, by the way, for getting her so riled up that she literally came and threw herself into my arms.” He leans against the car and looks me up and down, then licks his lips suggestively.

I narrow my eyes.

“I’ll dump her if you give me the male omega,” he whispers.

My eyes go wide. I don’t even consider it. I can’t. The horror of such a choice rips me apart.

“No. I don’t trade in flesh.”

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