Page 35 of Pack Fever

I’m left standing there, feeling exposed and angry. Turning away, I notice Seth is watching me from across the covered part of the yard. His face is unreadable, but he’s not smiling with cheer.

Having a parent not show you affection, who rejects you, fucking sucks! A wave of sympathy for him washes over me.

What I wouldn’t give to find a rock to hide under.

As if the world heard my plea, Jasper strides in my direction. A smile splits his mouth, and his eyes are only for me. I tuck my hands behind my back, trying to make it look as casual as possible.

His stride is smooth, confident, and when he sidles up to me, looping an arm around my back, an electric charge zips down my spine. His presence softens every muscle in my body, yet my nipples harden.

He leans in close to my ear, and the warmth of his breath has me clenching my thighs together with the arousal that bursts through me.

“Maybe it’s best you don’t touch me,” I whisper, a ripple sliding down my spine to the blaze between my legs.

He chuckles softly. “We have to play the part of me as your doting Alpha,” he says in my ear.

“So, you’re saying normally, you’d be uncaring?” I tease. Being this close to him has a way of making me forget everything else.

He’s smiling inches from my face. “Oh, you have no idea how quickly I’d have you up in one of the bedrooms, you up against the wall, me kneeling between your thighs.”

A gasp rushes past my lips. “Th-That’s really not helping me.” The pulse of arousal thumps in my veins. If these are just initial signs of me going into heat, I’m slightly terrified to see what happens when I become a full-blown Omega.

Swallowing hard, I push against Jasper, but he grabs me around the waist harder and walks me away from the party. We’re headed across the yard to the rows of flowers in the beautifully manicured garden.

“Seemed you could do with some fresh air,” he says casually but holds me as if his life depends on it.

“I can feel warmth radiating off you,” I say, glancing over at him.

He stares down, and I notice the tent in his pants.

“Being this close to you affects me, even without your strong scent. It’s getting harder, but I’m trying.”

“So, we just stay out here until your dragon calms down.” I grin and blush, my cheeks on fire. I’m in a situation where I’m so curious about what he’s packing, yet I’m not exactly an expert at cocks.

Turning away from him, I struggle to find my breath.

Sprawling gardens surround us. The night is cool, and crickets are singing all around us. We reach towering trees covered in white flowers, their leaves swaying in the breeze. Branches even this far from the house are also covered in fairy lights, breaking through the night’s darkness.

“This property is huge,” I murmur, discovering the yard extends so much farther from the house. I glance over my shoulder at Jasper, who’s strolling after me, looking every bit the superstar—handsome and huge—making me gasp that I’m in his company. Is it possible to find someone so irresistible that you’re questioning if it’s a dream?

I had stumbled over him by chance and now look at me in the company of Fever. Yep, I’m trying really hard to stop swooning at that part. It also makes me wonder if my attraction to him is me fangirling over them, more so than my heat impacting me.

“The property goes all the way back to a pond with koi fish. The place really is extravagant. Seth grew up with everything he could have wanted.”

Yet the tension I spied in the kitchen tells me the one thing Seth wanted he didn’t get. I’m reminded of how desperately I wanted my mom to just love me like she once had. Sometimes, I wonder if parents reach a stage where they end up disliking their own children.

Exhaling loudly, I hit the edge of the stone footpath with the toe of my shoe. Stumbling forward, a rush of panic floods me as I brace for the fall. Embarrassment already engulfs me like an inferno.

Jasper’s there, his hand wrapped firmly around my arm, steadying me with a quick grip. His other hand latches around my waist, bringing me back to my feet.

The moment we touch, electricity sparks like a live wire. I may have found my balance, but I’m completely losing the battle with my libido. I swing toward him, feeling my body magnetically attached to his. A gasp rolls from my lips from bumping into him with more force than I anticipated.

“Oops. That’s kind of embarrassing. Sorry,” I say, my face growing hotter. Half-laughing, I pull back, needing distance between us. I’m chaos on legs around these Alphas.

The moment I retreat, Jasper reaches out to me with as much gusto as I showed seconds earlier. With me still trying to half-twist away from him, my legs tangle, and I’m falling again.

Shit.

Jasper’s coming down with me this time. We both tumble into the flower garden, into a heap of gorgeous dahlias, crushing them beneath us. Jasper has me in his arms, taking most of the fall.

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