It wasn’t anyone’s fault. No one could have seen our lives turning out this way. But sometimes I wished I could simply disappear, if that wouldn’t draw even more media attention and make life hell for Eva.

“Don’t the guys want to go?”

“They would go if I asked, but I told them not to. I’m trying to help you, remember? Pictures of you in this dress are going to have packs begging to meet you. And none of them will think you’re me when I’m wearing a white sack.”

I rolled my eyes. “It’s not a sack.”

“You get the point.”

Tugging on the shoes, I looked at her. “What if I don’t want packs knocking down my door? What if I just want what you have? To meet the right pack at the right time and for everything to be simple. I don’t think that’s going to happen with Katarina lining up every pack made up of suit-wearing Alphas.”

“It’ll happen, May-may. Promise.”

I wished I could believe her. The ache which lodged itself in my chest yesterday hadn’t really left, and I didn’t think a party like this was going to help. But Eva was trying to do something for me, and I could help her by making her look wholesome by comparison.

A win-win.

Sort of.

“Okay, I think I’m ready,” I said.

“Hold on,” she said, holding out a little perfume roller. “Put this on. Scent canceller. Not for you, but these things are just a mess of everyone, so if you need to clear your head it’s good. I mean, they’ll be spraying scent cancellers, but you can’t be too careful.”

I raised my eyebrows. I’d never had this stuff before. Only the kind of soap and spray that cleaned other scents off you. And she meant I couldn’t be too careful because I was going to this party to help my rumors and my Omega instincts rising in the middle of a party because there were too many nearby Alphas wasn’t going to help those.

“I’ll keep it with me, if that’s okay.”

“Sure.”

The only other thing I had was my phone, and I shoved it in the little black clutch Eva tossed to me on our way out of the room.

Her four Alphas were all in a line at the bottom of the stairs, waiting to see her off, and the whole room was suddenly a mess of their scents. “I’ll wait for you in the hall.”

“Looking good, Esme,” Tyler called after me, and I waved without turning back. They meant it, but right now they wanted to be with my sister, and she wanted to be with them. If I looked back, I would crack open seeing the kind of love which sang between them.