“Listen.” She sat on the coffee table, identical face looking at me seriously. “Going to this thing and looking fucking fabulous is only going to help you. I know you hate the press attention, but if they think you’re happy and thriving they’ll back off. People always want to read more about drama than happiness.”

I threw an arm over my face, intentionally dramatic. “Why do you have to be right when all I want to do is sulk? I know this will help the ‘rumors,’ or whatever the hell Katarina was talking about yesterday.”

Eva smacked my knee. “I knew you were listening.”

“You did not.”

“I did. And yeah, that bitch was way out of line. The next time I see Mom alone I’m telling her to dump her ass.”

I smirked. Eva had stood up and had her hands on her hips like a superhero. To the rest of the world, she was Eva May Williams, the darling sweetheart. Behind the scenes, she was as snarky as I was. If the paparazzi knew how much Eva swore, her whole career would be different.

“Shut up.”

“I said nothing.”

The door closed. “Hello? I brought home pizza. Oh, hey, Esme.”

I waved to Liam, one of Eva’s Alphas. Both their scents immediately got stronger. Eva’s roses and coffee, and Liam’s bourbon. The good kind. He’d barely put down the stack of pizza boxes before she was in his arms. The way she melted before he leaned down to kiss her—smiling the whole time—made my stomach flip with longing.

Pulling out my phone was the only way to distract myself without leaving the room. A year ago at the Designation Choice Awards, Eva ran into Mindless Delirium backstage and instantly started perfuming.

Scent-sympathetic they called it. A very clinical name for when scents were so compatible you just knew. It didn’t always work, but this time it had.

They went home together and basically never separated. A few months later, their bonding ceremony was televised—the event of the decade—and I was there. Looking like I would do anything to be in her place.

It was the footage Kat had mentioned. Whenever the press deigned to give me attention, it was usually those pictures or videos, with either a true, twisted, or entirely fabricated story about how I’d chased off yet another pack.

Eva and Liam were practically making out now, her twisting up and around him like he was a tree and she was a vine. I heard his purr from here. “Get a room, please.”

My sister just flipped me off and kissed him a little more before breaking away with a laugh. “We have to get ready, anyway.”

“Get ready for what?” Jack, another one of Eva’s Alphas, stood in the doorway to their kitchen, shirtless.

“Studio party, remember? I’m dragging Esme with me.”