Page 54 of Pack’s Prize

Ava

He meant it.

What had he said? I tried desperately to remember.

Courting with the intention to mate.

We’ll claim her… if she’ll have us.

We belong to her.

“What?” I whispered, my vision blurry. “I don’t…”

“I want you to be mine, Ava,” Michael said. “Ours. I want you to stay, here, with us.”

I looked from him to Elias, but Elias, too, was staring at Michael’s earnest expression, hurt and desperation on his rugged features, in his deep blue eyes. “What do you mean, you want her to stay here with us?” he said.

Michael dropped his eyes first: a rare show of deference from a pack alpha, one additional moment I knew would be etched in my heart. “I’m sorry, Eli. I didn’t know.”

Didn’t know what?

“How could you not,” Elias murmured. “How could you not know how I felt about her?”

My blood ran icy-cold, then burning hot through my veins as Elias turned to look at me, the intensity in his gaze making his blue eyes as dark as the ocean. “I love you, Ava,” he said, and my breath caught in my throat. “I was coming to tell you that. If you leave, I…”

“You can’t say that,” snapped Theo. “Don’t do that to her.”

“Ihaveto,” Elias said, “I have to tell her how I feel–”

“Do. Not. Do. That. To. Her,” he snarled.

For the first time, I saw the furious potential of these three alphas, the violence that they usually navigated around so easily:

I saw the snap and bite of teeth in Theo’s clenched jaw.

The brutal, vicious power of an alpha in his tight fists and brown eyes flashing red.

“You will not take away her choice.If I have to stop you,” he growled, stepping toward Elias. Elias was taller, but Theo was… bigger, somehow, in this moment. “I will not hold back. This is your warning.”

I shrank away, and I expected Elias to, as well. But…

“I love you,” he said, not taking his eyes off Theo, and I didn’t understand he meant me until he continued. “I love you, Ava. I’m sorry, Theo, but–”

There was a blur of movement, and a scream I didn’t recognize as coming from my own mouth, and then–

“STOP.”

Michael barked out a command, and the room fell still, the only sound that of heavy breathing.

“Elias.” He was furious, his eyes tight, his whiskey scent smoky-sour. Elias and Theo were tangled in each other, fists tight in each other’s clothing. “Let go of Theo. Theo,” he glared as the alpha opened his mouth. “I’d keep that shut if you know what is good for you. Let go of Elias.”

Theo released Elias first, shoving him backwards as he dropped the other man’s shirt from his clenched fists. Elias rocked back on his heels, but didn’t retaliate, and I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding.

“I’m sorry, Ava,” Michael said, moving toward me carefully, his hands out. He reached for my arm, and I took a deep breath and focused on not flinching as his fingers touched my skin. To the other alphas he growled, “we’ll discuss this later,” then turned to me, rubbing my arm. “Ava,” he murmured, “omega.” The tension was still there in the faint laugh lines on his temples, but his eyes were soft as he looked at me. “You don’t have to tell us now, but just know–”

“I want you, too,” I said, not sure who I was addressing. Michael, or Elias. Theo. All of them.

Michael blinked, once, twice.