Kit’s POV

Sniffing, I internally curse that arrogant son of a bitch.

To hell with this place!

I’m not staying.

I don’t care what Cami says.

I haven’t even seen her since we got here!

She didn’t even care enough to text me since we got here, let alone check on how I’m dealing with being back in the place that I hate so much.

Might as well accept the fact that I have lost her forever.

That I am completely and utterly alone now.

A tiny sob escapes and I cover my mouth with both my hands.

No!

I won’t give that jackass the satisfaction!

“Kit, I’m so sorry…I don’t know what’s gotten into him.”

“I do!” I cringe at how wobbly my voice sounds. “He is a complete jerk, always has been, and always will be! He hasn’t changed one bit!”

I look over my shoulder at Colin, who opens his mouth, but then closes it in a thin smile and leans the side of his head against mine.

“I’m sorry.”

“Whatever.”

I sniff again and grab my upper arms.

“I’m leaving.”

“What?”

Colin pulls my shoulders back and steps in front of me.

“You can’t leave! You just got here. You belong here…”

“Ha!” I roll my eyes. “This is so not where I belong.”

Colin grabs my hands and places them between his.

“Come on. Stay. Give it a chance. I will talk with Alpha Tate.”

I look over my shoulder at the training center.

“I can’t stay, that was humiliating. He is always humiliating me…” My voice cracks and I lift my elbow to cover my face, but Colin doesn’t let me hands go.

“You just…I think…maybe if the two of you can just move on from the past…”

I narrow my eyes at him.

Easy for him to say.

He’s always been good-looking and popular.

His father was the pack healer, his mother was the niece of a wealthy Alpha.

Him, Jody, and Tate were the pack’s golden boys that every guy wanted to be, and every girl wanted to be with.

He has no idea how I am feeling right now.

I yank my hands away from his.

“I need to go tell my sister that I am leaving.”

Colin’s face falls.

“No, Kit…”

But I march past him, not looking back.

I’m not living somewhere that I am going to be humiliated by the mate who rejected me every day.

Then have him come to my room at night to fool around.

That’s messed up.

It messes me up.

It isn’t until I reach the Beta hall that I realize that I actually have no clue which room my sister is in.

Placing my hand on the wall, I give a tentative sniff, trying to pick up her scent.

But Alpha Tate’s scent is so overwhelming, that it is pointless to even try to decipher anyone else’s in this hallway.

Sighing, I lean against the wall, burying my face in my hands.

I’ll have to ask Colin which room Cami is in.

After I just stormed away all self-righteous like.

But then I hear a door open across the hall, and a familiar giggle as a tray with dishes slides out, the door slamming shut again.

Really?

They’re even taking their meals in there?

Good grief.

Rolling my eyes, I push off the wall and make my way to the door, pounding my fist on it three times and waiting for someone to answer.

It takes over a minute for the door to finally crack open, just a sliver, and Jody, his hair all ruffled, his face flushed, with clearly no shirt on, and quite possibly nothing at all on, runs his eyes over me with a frown.

“Hey…Kit. We are in the middle of something right now.”

“Is that Kit? Tell her that I will text her later, when we have clothes on.”

She burst into more giggles and even through the tiny sliver, I can see how Jody looks at her with absolute admiration all over his face.

It’s painful, but at the same time, I’m glad my sister is with someone who truly appreciates her.

“So…you're good?” Jody starts to shut the door, but I place my hand flat against it.

“Actually, I was just coming to tell her bye. I’m going back home today.”

He frowns and takes a step back and I hear scrambling, then the door opens wide, revealing Cami wrapped in a sheet, her pretty face in a sullen expression.

“What is this? What do you mean you are going back home?”

I pretend like I don’t see Jody standing behind her, holding a small and very pink, heart shaped throw pillow over his junk…or that there is a giant mirror on the wall behind him that is reflecting his bare ass.

“Um…can you step out here with me for a moment?”

I can’t have a serious conversation with Jody looking like a character from a bad rom-com standing so close by.

Frowning, she picks up the sheets and slips out into the hallway, I reach behind her and close the door on the sad, puppy face that Jody is now wearing.

I don’t think I would want my mate to be that obsessed…

At least not in that simpering kind of way.

“Kit? Why would you leave? We just got here. This place is great.”

I grab my face and look at her in astonishment.

She has no idea.

“Cami, you are living a wildly different experience than I am right now.”

She tugs upward on the sheets and makes the wrinkly nose face that she has when she doesn’t understand something.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, that while you are tucked away in your little love nest with a mate that is wildly obsessed with you…I am living in my own personal hell, being tormented by the Alpha who rejected me. You are with a Beta, which gives you a position of power here, and I am just some reject who doesn’t belong here at all, and it shows.”

Cami’s mouth is partially open, her eyes wide.

“Oh…I…didn’t think about it that way.”

Of course you didn’t.

But I just give her a tight-lipped smile.

No need to be mad at her. If she had actually thought that I was having a hard time, she would have been there for me.

I think.

Her mate bond seems incredibly intense, so who knows.

Pre-mate Cami would have been there.

Sighing, I grab Cami’s arm.

“Look, I am happy for you, truly. You two seem great, and you look great together-”

Cami beams.

“But this isn’t the place for me. It is for you, clearly, but not for me. This is where we go our separate ways.”

“But…but Kit…” Cami’s lower lip trembles and sticks out and her eyes fill with tears. “You promised me that we would always be together…that you would never leave me.”

Did I really say that?

Fuck me…but I mean…that’s just…ugh.

The door swings open, Jody still holding the little heart-shaped pillow, and he looks overly concerned for Cami as he pulls her against his chest, throwing me a chastising glare over her head.

“What did you do?”

“What? Nothing!”

“No, no Jody, it’s alright.”

Cami, sniffing in an adorable way, pats Jody’s chest.

His face instantly softens, and he kisses her forehead.

Ugh, they make me want to gag.

“Just give me one more minute.”

Jody nods and backs away, forgetting that he had dropped the pillow when he grabbed his mate.

“Oh, gross!” I hold out my hand to block his junk from view, but Cami giggles.

“Whoops! Here you go hun.” She picks up the pillow and hands it to him before shutting the door, still giggling.

“He is just so wonderful…”

“If you say so.”

Lowering my hand, I shake my head.

Cami bites her lip.

“Ah, Kit. I’m sorry. I have been completely selfish. Let me go inside and get dressed, then we can spend some time together.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, of course. Just…give me a few minutes to get dressed and tell Jody the plan…”

“No…no it’s okay.”

I feel guilty as I tug on my ponytail.

Just because I am miserable, no need to drag my sweet sister down with me from her blissful love bubble.

“No, I am going to spend time with you. I don’t want you to leave here because you feel alone. If you go back home, then you truly will be alone, and I would just feel awful.”

She has a point.

Leaning my elbow against the wall, I cover my eyes with my hand to think.

“Yeah. Fine. I’ll stay a bit longer. No guarantees for how long. And no need to leave Jody, go do…whatever it is y’all are doing.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah.”

I drop my arm as she throws herself against me in a tight hug, patting her back and shaking my head.

In my next life, I want to be the younger, prettier sister.

She turns to go back in, but I have an idea.

“Hey, Cami, one more thing.”

She turns to look at me, jumping up and down on her toes in her eagerness to get back to her mate.

“Have Jody tell Alpha Tate to back off me. Have him convince him that I don’t have to participate in training.”

She looks confused but nods before hurrying back inside.

Not sure if it’ll do any good but it’s worth a shot.