Page 49 of Pack Frenzy
He leans back and the leather chair creaks. “You saw her?”
“Yeah.”
“How did she look?”
“Like she was trying to remember how to breathe.”
He closes his eyes, and when he opens them again, something in them’s gone quiet. Dangerous. “Then I need to stay away from her.”
“That’s probably smart.”
He stands, pacing between the desk and the window.
“Rowan, I mean it.”
“I know.” His gaze drifts to the window, unfocused. “But I can’t.”
There it is. The truth. Simple and terrifying.
“Then you need to figure out how not to touch her,” I say, standing. “Because Cassian’s already two steps from losing it with her too, and if he finds out you?—”
“I’ll handle Cassian.”
“Will you?” Stepping closer, I lower my voice. “Because he’s not the problem this time. You are.”
“Careful.”
“I am.” Without blinking, I meet his stare. “That’s why I’m the one saying it.”
For a long moment, neither of us moves. The only sound is the clock on the shelf like it knows we’re both full of shit.
“You think I wanted this?” Rowan finally says, voice low. “That I don’t know what it means to cross that line?”
“I think you stopped thinking the second you kissed her.”
But he doesn’t deny it.
“She’s not ready, Rowan.”
“She’s stronger than you think.”
“That’s not the same thing.”
Silence stretches between us, tight and thin. Something shifting under the surface. Rowan’s losing his edge, and the part of me that’s supposed to keep this pack together doesn’t know how to glue it back when it cracks again.
Finally, he rests both hands on either side of the window, shoulders broad, posture rigid.
“When I look at her,” he says quietly, “I don’t see an Omega. I see someone who’s been torn apart and is still trying to stand. And I can’t pretend I don’t understand that.”
I step closer and set a hand on his shoulder. “Understanding isn’t permission.”
He exhales through his teeth, jaw tight. “You ever try fighting something that feels like instinct and choice at the same time?”
“Every damn day,” I say. “That’s what being Beta is.”
The faintest twitch of a smile crosses his face. “Yeah. Guess it is.”
Then he turns, leaning against the sill, eyes darker than before. “You really think I hurt her?”
