The girl rolls her eyes again, waving a dismissive hand at the Prince and the super hot Alpha. “Whatever, lie all you want, I get the picture.” She turns and begins to walk away, giving them both a wink over her shoulder as she goes. “Come find me if you ever change your mind!”“Damn, you really pul
“I can’t, man,” Cristof says, shaking his head, his face breaking a bit to show the true sorrow that’s running through him. “I have to get back.”“Back?” Jackson asks, going still. His hands tighten on Cristof’s shoulders. “Cris, don’t go back – it’s fucking awful there, it’s so much better here – t
Cristof seems to move in slow motion, grasping the handle to the car door, pulling it open. Jackson’s body moves without him, stumbling after Cristof, bending low to see inside as the door swings wide.Jackson blinks into the darkness, his eyes adjusting.And then he sees her, the little girl.Aslee
“I’m going back –“ Cristof shouts, throwing a hand out towards the North. “I can’t just leave them, Jackson –““You can’t – you can’t –“ Jackson looks frantically down at his sobbing daughter and then back at his friend. “You’re just leaving me like this!?”“It’s what you did,” Cristof says, bitter,
Ella’s ears perk and her head snaps up, her eyes immediately moving towards the door of her cozy little office because…That’s a child crying somewhere down the hall.She tilts her head to the side, assessing, realizing that…That she doesn’t know this one. She knows the sounds of all her nieces and
Ella shifts her hand, stroking her palm down Jackson’s cheek, loving him a great deal. “It’s all going to be okay, Jackson,” she whispers.Jackson’s face crumples at these words, his eyes pressing shut, his mouth trembling like he can’t believe that that’s true – like it’s not possible that anything
“Markie, I need you to go downstairs,” Ella says, speaking swiftly and softly, her voice calm and cheerful. “Make all of the chefs leave the kitchen, no questions. And then start to pull out everything that’s good.”Mark nods and jumps up, disappearing out the door on his task.“What are…we going to
Jackson nearly trips over his own feet when he feels it.“Are you all right?” Ella asks, pausing in her steps to turn and look up at Jackson, frowning slightly.He just goes still, ignoring Ella, staring at the little girl because…Was that…a question? He felt? Down…down the bond?The little girl sh