As much as I’d love to say I stay strong, I can already feel myself crumbling as tears fill my eyes.
“Oh,” I squeak as I step away from them, eyes drifting between them and confirming what I already know is happening.
All I can think about is getting the hell out of here as I take another step toward Ruby, feeling like my heart is being ripped out of my chest.
“Little K!”
My head whips around to find Alexander and Davis hurrying down the steps, both grinning as their eyes zero in on me.
As happy as I am to see them, I know this is just going to get worse. If Mason is Crew’s scent match, then the two of them probably are too.
Davis’s smile falls from his face as his eyes narrow on me, worry filling his features. “What’s wrong, Kiara?”
I can’t answer him—the words stuck in my throat as I wait for the inevitable to happen—for them to scent Crew and realize what he is to them.
When I don’t answer him, Davis runs a hand through his chin-length dirty blond hair before hurrying over to me. He pulls me to him, hugging me close and scent-marking me as he bends down to rub his bearded cheek against mine. Then, he tilts my head back with a finger on my chin, his dark blue eyes searching mine.
He’s so much bigger than I am, even if he’s smaller than Mason and Alexander. As a beta, his build is closer to Crew’s than his alpha mates.
Yes, mates. They’ve never hidden what they are to one another. Best friends and lovers since we were teens.
“What did Mason do this time?”
I shake my head, leaning over so I can see around him as Alexander approaches us more cautiously, his eyes flicking from me to Mason. “Mason? What did you do to upset my kitten?”
I wince at the use of the nickname he’s used for me since we were teens. The one that I both love and despise, because at one point I thought it meant he was interested in being more thanfriends with me. Since then, he’s proven otherwise, but I still crave to hear it on his lips.
Sucking in a deep breath, I allow myself a moment to take him in.
The frosted tips he sports in his brown hair are new, the lighter brown looking good on his perfectly styled hair. His beard is thicker than it was the last time I saw him, but it looks damn good on him. He’s also sporting a new bar in his eyebrow, a ring in lip, and at least two new piercings in his ears.
How does that make him even hotter?
It’s not fair that all three of them look as good as they do—especially since I know any chance I have with them is being washed down the drain.
Mason’s alpha still seems to be in control as he lets out a warning growl, causing both Alexander and Davis to still.
I bite my bottom lip, watching them as I wait for them to scent Crew, confirming what I already knew—they’re his scent matches too.
The change is instantaneous.
Alexander’s brown eyes widen as he steps toward Crew, his shoulders bunching as his growl joins Mason’s. I can only imagine their scents thickening since I’m not their scent match.
I’m no one’s scent match.
My eyes fall shut when Davis’s arms fall away from me, not wanting to see him leave me too.
I can’t believe this is happening right now.
“Mine,” Alexander hisses, and the first tears spill over my cheeks.
“No. Fuck,” Davis murmurs before his hands find my cheeks, attempting to wipe away the tears I can no longer hold back. “Don’t cry, little K.”
Blinking my eyes open, my eyes meet his. There’s a pained look on his face as he stares down at me before they flicker toward Crew and his alphas.
“It’s fine,” I tell him, taking a step back. “I’m happy for the four of you. You all deserve to have a scent-matched pack.”
Stepping out of his hold is harder than I’d like to admit. Of the four of them, he’s the only one who managed to shake off his instincts enough to check on me. While that means something to me, I know it’s nothing against the need to be with your scent match.