Page 109 of Traded

But Carter’s already pulling it back. He tosses it through the open door to my nest without looking away and holds out another with a silent question on his face.

Leaning forward, I press my nose into his sweatshirt, trying to get the scent of vanilla out of my nose.

Except… this isn’t his sweatshirt.

My head flinches back so violently that it bangs against the wall, a soft whine rippling up my throat and into existence before I can stop it.

Carter’s hand is still extended. My lips part as we watch each other. He draws his hand in slowly, pulling the sweatshirtto his nose and inhaling. His shoulders grow tight, a strange expression on his face.

He turns the sweatshirt over in his hands. “Thought this was mine. It was on the floor in my room.”

But they went to the same college. My leash tightens enough to snap. There is nothing I can say. No excuse, no words to explain my reaction. Not without spilling everything out… and I physically can’t do that. I let the words build up in my throat until they burn as I watch Carter study Liam’s sweatshirt like it holds every answer he’s been searching for.

His head turns, taking in the black shirt I turned my nose up at. I’m barely breathing as he straightens and collects it, inhaling before he drops it back to the floor. “Neither of these are mine.”

The pieces are there. Right there, ready for him to pick up and put together.

But I can’t help him do that.

I stare down at the clothing in my lap until his legs appear directly in front of me. He crouches, his hands finding my knees beneath my green blanket. “This pack structure isn’t working for you.”

I say nothing.

His voice sounds ragged. “This…pack, isn’t working for you.”

My eyes lift to his face. He looks shattered. As if a thousand thoughts are fighting for space in his head, and none of them are winning. “We’re leaving tonight. We’ll find somewhere else to stay. I’ll tell the others.”

For a moment, my heart leaps. “But… What about Montreal?”

“I’m not going.” He leans in to kiss my forehead as my mind reels. “I’ll let Martin know. It’ll be fine, Ro.”

But itis. It has to be. “The team, Carter.”

He shakes his head, but he doesn’t make eye contact. “We’ll make it work.”

It’ll be a crack directly through the heart of the Titans. A broken pack, the gossip, the consequences. The fall out. Everything I tried to avoid by saying yes to this in the first place.

What was the point in any of it if it ends now?

Carter is their captain. Everything he’s built despite the shit start he had in life would be in ruins, because of me. We’d be trying to rebuild amongst the wreckage of other people’s lives.

I’m not sure I can live with that.

This is his team. His family, and mine too. The only family we have. “You can’t do that to them in the middle of the season.”

I can see how torn he is. I reach for his cheek, searching for words I can say without the lock tightening. “I’m… fine.”

“You destroyed yournest,” he says immediately, the words sharp. “You think I don’t know that’s a fucking red flag?”

“See the season through.” God, this is hard. “I… it’s been an adjustment.”

He doesn’t see through my stumbled words. Not anymore, and I don’t know whether the sobs building up in my chest are relief or fear of everything he’s going to throw away.

“For Ryker,” I whisper eventually. “And Benji, and Ethan. For all of them, Carter.”

“And what about Jonas?” He spits out the name. “And Liam?”

My flinch is smaller, but he still sees it. He’s logging everything now, his eyes taking in every single move I make. “I made a bad call. You’re not staying in this pack. I should’ve seen it sooner. But he kept telling me you were adjusting, and I fucking believed him. There was no way a two-omega pack was ever going to work, and I should have seen it.”