There's just nothing there where that memory should be. My heat-addled brain apparently decided that particular moment wasn't worth recording in any accessible format.
"Huh?!"
The sound bursts out of me—half question, half exclamation of pure shock.
Because if what Elias is saying is true, if I actually created a pack bond without meaning to, without even remembering doing it...
Then everything just got exponentially more complicated.
I'm not just some Omega who had her first heat and can go back to normal life now. I'm not just Rory Lane the pit tech with a secret to maintain and a competition to prepare for.
I'm pack-bonded.
To multiple Alphas.
Permanently…
"Oh fuck," I whisper, and the kitten meows in what sounds like agreement.
CHAPTER 27
Resistance And Surrender
~LUCA~
Isit at the kitchen table with my arms crossed, jaw clenched tight enough that I can feel the muscle jumping.
The safe house kitchen is too bright. Too cheerful. All white cabinets and stainless steel appliances that gleam under overhead lighting designed to be welcoming and warm.
It makes me want to punch something.
Aurora stands in the middle of the kitchen wearing what is very clearly one oftheirshirts.
Not hers. Not something bought for her.
One of the pack's shirts that hangs loose on her smaller frame, the hem reaching mid-thigh and the sleeves rolled up multiple times to accommodate arms that are more delicate than the Alpha build it was designed for.
From the particular shade of grey and the way it fits, I'd bet money it's Elias's.
The realization makes something ugly twist in my chest.
Because wasn't she wearing pajamas when I peeked in on her sleeping once her heat finally broke? Proper pajamas—matchingset in deep green that someone —probably also Elias, the thoughtful bastard— had picked up during one of the supply runs?
So she changed.
Deliberately chose to wear Elias's shirt instead of her own clothes.
Claiming him through scent and possession in ways that my Alpha instincts recognize immediately.
I try not to think about it.
Try not to calculate the implications of an Omega choosing to wear one Alpha's clothes over another's. Try not to remember the hierarchy that's already being established within this pack, I never agreed to join.
"Would you like some coffee, Aurora?" Adrian's voice cuts through my spiraling thoughts.
He's standing at the fancy espresso machine that came with the safe house—because of course a billionaire's emergency safehouse has a professional-grade coffee setup. His dark hair is still damp from the shower, and he's wearing casual clothes that probably cost more than most people's monthly rent despite looking like basic loungewear.
Adrian Castellanos.Youngest of the Thorne Racing pack at twenty-four, heir to a pharmaceutical empire that makes my family's wealth look like pocket change.Charming, talented, infuriatingly good at everything he touches.