Page 24 of Pack Plus Three

I wouldn’t have minded including a certain sweet-smelling omega in that.

She bit her lip, but that did nothing to stop her laugh. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Why don’t you go sit down? I can get these out of the oven when they’re ready. You look ready to pop.” I looked around and noticed the overly stuffed green armchair in the corner of the room. “Yours?” I asked with raised eyebrows.

Her face turned a beautiful shade of pink. “Jeremy hated that there was nowhere for me to sit while he cooked,” she admitted.

That pleased me. She should have somewhere comfortable to sit down while her cookies baked.

“Sounds like Jeremy. Go sit, and I’ll start cleanup—actually, wait.” I was wearing thick work boots, and she wasn’t. “Can I pick you up? I don’t want you to cut your feet on any wayward pieces of broken bowl.”

“Oh, it’s okay. Thanks to the sweet parasite, I’m the size of a house. I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”

Was she insinuating that she, a tiny slip of an omega, was too heavy for me to carry?

I scoffed. “I may not look the strongest, but I assure you, I can lift you easily. Come here.” Without waiting for an answer, I scooped her up in my arms. I didn’t want to give her time to come up with more stupid excuses, because that’s exactly what they were: stupid. She yipped in surprise, her hands shooting out to grip my neck as I held her bridal style. Her concerns were unfounded—she hardly weighed anything, even with her extra passenger. If anything, she felt too light. Was Jeremy making sure she ate enough? I was going to have a word with him as soon as possible. He wasn’t the kind to let an omega in need go hungry, but her spine felt a little too pronounced for my liking.

“Oh, I—” She stumbled over her words.

“I’m wearing steel-toed work boots, and you have adorable bare feet, so this is for your own good,” I insisted, gently placing her on the armchair, marveling at the genius of Jeremy’s idea. This way, she was near but resting.

That puck head was a lot smarter than most people gave him credit for.

She remained in her seat as I grabbed the throw blanket and placed it over her lap before returning to the chaos I had created in front of the oven.

“What brings you to our neck of the woods?” Daisy asked as I grabbed a pair of oven mitts.

“Jeremy mentioned needing some plywood for a project of his, and I thought I would be a good packmate and bring it to him. Also, getting to see the omega he’s infatuated with is a bonus.” I smirked at her as I grabbed a broom and started sweeping up every last shard of bowl and cookie dough that had been flung around the kitchen.

She blushed a delightful pink color. “He’s not infatuated with me,” she muttered, unable to meet my eye.

“He totally is. Last time we saw him, he spoke about you at length—and he only had glowing praise.”

That boy was downright twitterpated, and I was starting to see why.

She snorted, her hand flying up to cover her mouth. “Did he tell you how we met? It’s really not a story I can be praised for!”

“He didn’t,” I admitted.

“I’ve been having some really bad morning sickness, only it is in no way restricted to just the morning. It’s all-day sickness.” She grimaced, and I winced—that truly sucked. “Anyway, one day, Jeremy was cooking, and holy heck, it smelled so good. I tried to ignore it, but the smell kept wafting into my place until I thought I was genuinely starting to go mad with need.”

“I’m guessing it was Korean food...or any Asian food. That’s his strong suit, for sure.”

“It was!” She nodded her head eagerly. “Spicy rice cakes. After an hour of slowly going insane, the pregnancy hormones took over my body, and next thing I knew, I was at his door, begging a total stranger for some of his food!”

I bent over, laughing so hard I was wheezing. Pregnancy hormones were no fucking joke. “Holy fuck. I bet the smooth fucker didn’t even bat an eyelid, did he?”

“Nope, he just welcomed me into his house, totally unfazed. He should be a military sniper because nothing shakes him!”

“Chickens do!” I declared with glee. “He hates them. Thinks they’re going to peck his toes off.”

Daisy’s eyes widened and she chuckled. “Chickens?”

I nodded.

The timer dinged, and I looked pointedly at Daisy. “Is that my cue?”

“It is. Get them out, and let them rest for ten minutes. If you eat them right away, you’ll burn yourself.”

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