Page 168 of Pack Frenzy
We say goodbye to my parents, and I hug them.
Watching them go, something in my chest loosens. Not healed—not even close—but less jagged.
Sabrina’s disappearance cracked us open in different ways, left us bleeding in places we didn’t know could bleed. But she also fought a monster with everything she had left. She left clues. And she didn’t let herself become just another missing girl.
And now…we’re finally giving her back to the ocean she loved.
I wrap my arms around myself, breathe through the ache, and turn toward Rowan, Cassian, and Eli—my constant, my present, my future all wrapped up in three amazing men.
The wind shifts, carrying the smell of salt and something else…coconut, maybe. Sunscreen. Sabrina's stupid expensive sunscreen that she used to steal from Mom.
I go still. It's nothing. Just the ocean, just my mind playing tricks. But for one breath, one heartbeat, I let myself believe she's here. That she sees this. That she's proud of me.
Miss you, Bree. Miss you every day.
The wind dies. The smell fades. I exhale, long and slow, and turn toward my future.
Rowan clears his throat behind me. Cassian and Eli are on either side of him, but something in his expression makes my heart trip.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, walking toward them.
Rowan shakes his head. “Nothing.”
Cassian meets my gaze. “We found them.”
Eli’s voice is quiet but sure. “Your friends. Danica. Casey. Kayla.”
For a second, I forget how to breathe. The relief hits so hard my knees nearly buckle. I grab the railing to steady myself, breath catching like a snapped string.
“They’re safe?” I whisper. Hope, sharp and terrifying, flares alive in my chest.
CHAPTER 41
JESS
“They’re not only safe,” Cassian says, his voice steady in that way that always means he’s holding something back. “They found their Alphas. Their packs.”
“What?” The word comes out half-breath, half-disbelief. Relief slams through me hard. “They’re mated? Good, I want them obnoxiously happy—sleep-like-babies, laugh-until-it-hurts happy. Happier than me, if that’s even possible.”
Eli grins, unable to hold it in. “Danica’s with Fever. You know—the rock band that did the end credits forThe Sky Between Us?”
“Eli,” Rowan warns under his breath. “Her friend probably wanted to tell her that in person.”
“Sorry,” Eli mutters, but he’s smiling and blushing.
“Wow. Danica?” Warmth floods my chest. “That’s incredible. She always had this beautiful, soulful voice. Her dad used to drive her to every audition until…” My throat tightens. Until the accident. “God, I’m so happy for her.”
“Kayla’s in Hawaii,” Cassian adds, softer. “Living her best life. Something about a library and three Alphas who’d do anything for her.”
I huff a laugh. “That totally sounds like Kayla.”
“Hey,” Eli pouts and crosses his arms, “I thought we weren’t supposed to tell her.”
Rowan shifts. “And Casey is pulling them all together again. She’s been asking around for you.”
“Of course she has.” I laugh.
“She wants to meet,” Rowan says. “We didn’t tell you sooner because… of Blake and the court case, everything.”
