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“You can handle it.”

Surprised, I glance at him again.

I am shocked by how warmly Rhett is smiling at me.

Did Rhett bond with me because he respects that I can deal with the danger both Luca and he regularly find themselves in…?

My lips tug into a responding smile.

Paige kneels up on the chair. “You don’t reckon that I can handle it? Beau worked as a tattoo artist. Evan was renovating the inn with me. They should have been safe. They’d only flown to a convention. I didn’t reckon there was any more risk than that they’d be late for my heat. But I was on the phone to them when…”

She breaks off, hugging her arms around herself.

“Hell.” I rush around the bed to also wrap my arms around her. “I’ve got you, beautiful.”

“I’m so d-d-damn stupid. Why d-d-didn’t I go with them? Why did I stay behind to work like it mattered more than them? I never thought that they… I’m a d-d-damn fool.”

Rhett looks close to struggling out of the bed, despite doctor’s orders not to move, when Paige starts to shudder with tears.

I shake my head at him.

Reluctantly, he subsides on the bed.

Paige buries her head against my shoulder.

“Hey, quit talking like that about yourself,” I keep my voice as light as I can, “or I’ll bite you.”

My teasing works because a laugh is muffled against my shoulder rather than a sob.

Paige raises her head, wiping at her wet eyes. “That’s not the threat you reckon it is.”

Rhett chuckles. “What if I say that I’ll bite you?”

“Even less of a threat. Y’all ain’t good at punishing Omegas.”

I grin. “That’s because I prefer rewarding them.”

“And I prefer praising them,” Rhett adds.

Paige pushes away from me, crawling onto the bed next to Rhett.

Then to my surprise, she cups Rhett’s face. “Don’t you get that I understand better than anyone about loss? The Monarch pack shouldn’t have been in danger, but they still died. Life is shit, and so is fate. I understand that your job is dangerous, but I don’t care. Nothing is safe. And I respect the hell out of what you do. You saved my sister. Can I say thank you?”

Rhett’s brow furrows. “Haven’t you already?”

“Not like this.” Paige draws her fingers down to his chin, before leaning forward to capture his lips.

I settle into the chair, unable to look away from the slow, lingering kiss.

Rhett grips the front of Paige’s hoodie, while she tightens her hold on his chin to keep him still.

Rhett isn’t dominating in the way that he always does with me.

Their tongues are claiming each other.

My breathing picks up. I push myself further into the chair, forcing my hands not to fall into my lap and palm across my cock that is pushing against my pants.

They look gorgeous together.