Get away, get away! Get out of here!

My heart beat with the ferocity of a feral beast, climbing up my throat to choke me. I scrambled to escape. Pain lanced down my legs with each jolting step. My hands outstretched in front of me, I shoved through the glass doors of the grocery store and out into the bright afternoon sunlight.

I gasped in a sob. No, no, no. This wasn’t supposed to happen, not like this…

Only a fool would’ve missed the shock—and the anger—scrawled all over Hunter’s stoic face. His gaze pierced through my soul, ripping a hole a mile deep, and my insides turned to ice.

This was why I couldn’t face him. This was why I needed to stay far away. I couldn’t stomach the idea of the stag hating me for my stupid mistake, and it was so obvious in that glare that he did. My stomach churned like choppy ocean waves and for a moment, I feared I might heave up my breakfast right here, all over the sidewalk.

“Hey! Watch it!”

I stumbled backwards, wheeling away from the woman I’d nearly run over in my haste. “S-So sorry,” I mumbled, tears blurring my vision. I swiped at my face and spun around. Desperation gripped me in a chokehold.

“Soren! Wait!” Kace’s voice called after me, but I didn’t wait. I couldn’t wait. I tucked my tail, like the coward I was, and darted across the street. I made it six steps before someone laid on the horn. Brakes squealed and rubber screeched across pavement. I screamed when I saw the blurry shape of a white truck barreling towards me. Shit!

“What the fuck? Get out of the road, idiot!” someone snarled. Horns blared angrily. Frantic, I ducked my head and raced to the other side of the road. My shoe caught the curb and I lurched forwards, nearly falling flat on my face. I threw my arms out to catch myself and the pavement scraped both palms raw.

I knelt there, where I fell. I struggled to breathe. My lungs were screaming for air even though I gasped in breath after shaky breath. I wrapped both arms around myself, trying to keep from losing it, but it didn’t make a bit of difference. Everything hurt. All I could think about was the cold bite to Hunter’s gaze and I was a sobbing mess.

I didn’t realize Kace was at my side until I felt hands on me, pulling me to my feet. He wiped away my tears, but they just kept falling. “Aw, honey. You don’t need him. Fuck him, okay?” I barked out a sharp laugh. Didn’t I do that already? Kace pulled me tight against his chest. His arms formed a cage around me, protecting me. “It’ll be okay. You’ll see. Look… You know I adore you, right?”

I sniffed. “I don’t know why.”

He tugged on a strand of hair in warning. “Well, I do, whether you like it or not. I could claim you, take you as my mate. That way the baby won’t be fatherless. I would do that for you. We could make it work, Soren. It wouldn’t be too hard, right?”

The note of sorrow in his voice told me it would be impossible. I couldn’t do that to him, couldn’t entrap him in a loveless marriage because I’d fucked up. Kace believed in happily-ever-afters and fated mates. He believed that his true love was out there somewhere, waiting on him. He deserved happiness. I couldn’t rob him of that. I might’ve loved him as a friend, but there was no chemistry between us. It was destined to fail.

Besides, even if Kace took me as his, the infant would still be a deer. How would I raise a baby fawn in a den of predators? Hopelessness bubbled up anew. I buried my face in his shirt and cried harder. “N-No. I won’t let you throw your life away like that. I’m not worth it.”

“Yes you are,” Kace murmured against my hair. “Don’t say that, Soren. You are worth it—and you’re worth more than what that foolish stag thinks. Listen to me.” His knuckles grazed my cheek tenderly. “You don’t need him. You have a family who loves you and friends who would do anything to help. You have a support system. It takes a village to raise a child, remember?”

I smiled through my tears. He was right. Huxley and Chance had already offered to adopt the baby, if it came down to it. They would take care of me. They were my pack. “Thank you,” I whispered with a sniffle. “Um. Would you take me home? I think I need to drown my sorrows in Ben & Jerry’s and watch trash TV for a couple of hours.”

The moment I walked through the door, Huxley took one look at my tear-streaked, splotchy face and growled. “Whose ass do I need to kick?” His tone was so deadly calm that it settled my worries. I knew, without a shadow of a doubt, all I had to do was say the word and Hux would rip Hunter a new one.

“Doesn’t matter,” I said tiredly. I rummaged in the freezer for the pint of chocolate ice cream I’d bought last week and popped the lid. Grabbing a spoon from the silverware drawer, I retreated to the couch. I sank down onto the plush cushions and closed my eyes, then took a big bite. Sweetness coated my tongue in all of its icy, chocolate-y glory and I groaned.

Yep. Just needed to queue up some stupid reality show and I’d be set.

Huxley wasn’t deterred. He stalked after me into the living room. “I mean it, Soren. What did he say? I’ll wring his goddamn neck, I swear to fucking—” His words were effectively cut off by the sound of a car door slamming out front. He took one look at me and jabbed his finger in my direction. “Stay there. I’ll handle this.”

Through the curtains, I could see Hunter’s truck sitting in the drive. My stomach bottomed out. Did he follow us here? “Hux, I—”

My brother’s brown eyes were dark and deadly. “Stay,” he barked, and the warning in his tone made me sink further down into the cushions. He strode to the front door and yanked it open, a growl rumbling in his chest. I pinched my eyes shut.

“What do you want, stag?” Huxley snapped.

Hunter’s voice bled wariness, no doubt due to the eye-lasers my brother was shooting at him. “I just want to talk to Soren—”

“Soren doesn’t want to talk to you.”

“Please, I only—”

“Don’t you think you’ve done enough damage for one day?” Huxley growled. “Soren doesn’t want your company. End of discussion. Now, if I were you, I’d march my ass right back to my truck and get the fuck out of here, or else we’re gonna have a problem. Do you understand?”

Hunter hissed, but he didn’t say a word.

“Get off my property, stag. You’ve done quite enough.” The door clapped shut, no doubt right in Hunter’s face. I heard the clunk of the deadbolt turning over, followed by Huxley’s ragged sigh. A few minutes later, Hunter’s truck roared to life and just like that, he was gone.

Suddenly, ice cream didn’t sound good anymore. I stuck it back in the freezer and started to retreat to my room, but Huxley caught my sleeve and drew me back.

“Are you okay?” he murmured. “Be honest with me.”

I swallowed around the lump of emotion in my throat. “Not really, but I will be. It just might take some time.”