Page 6 of Pack Larsen

“Yes. You should definitely do that,” he agrees earnestly, and I know it’s just because he wants a reaction out of his friends. But who am I not to oblige?

So, while Juno snickers into the crook of her arm and Geo sits back with a readiness I admire, I place my glass of sugary goodness down in the cup holder of my lounger and begin my cheering and hollering, “Woo, yeah! You carry that flat screen TV! You make that furniture your bitch! That computer monitor has nothing on you! Get it, kings! Yeeeaaahhhh!”

Aero is clearly enjoying my enthusiasm, heaving his box higher in his arms like it would hide the vibrant grin he’s wearing. Of course, I see it and am not surprised. He’s an omega, after all, and we thrive on praise. Rage and Haze glance over while they’re carrying the television and a small dresser that has seen better days, shaking their heads before moving on. Pace stares at me like he’s worried for my sanity. A valid concern, but one not worth the attention. Pretty sure I lost my shit years ago at the hands of my overbearing, controlling, stuck up, snooty parents. But it is what it is.

“That’s all you could carry?” I volley at Munro, because fuck him and his glares and scowls. The least he could offer is a bland expression after I provided him an actual room and not the shed. Juniper was very convincing in her appeal to give him his own room, all aboutbeing the bigger person, yadda yadda. I wish I’d shoved him in the old doghouse at the back of the property. I’m sure he would have been only mildly furious about the leaky roof.

Munro narrows his eyes at me as he carries a large bookcase that appears to be heavy even as he maneuvers it with ease, and I hide a smirk behind my drink at the prospect of giving him a complex about his strength. I mean, if he’s giving me a personality complex, then fair’s fair, right? That jackass has made me feel insufferable over the past few months, like I’m a nuisance to be around, so why not make him feel like a puny little bean as vengeance? Just call me Bubblegum Batman.

“Justice!” I yell with a weird, deep, manly voice that doesn’t sound manly at all. “Where’s Rachel?!”

Munro simply sneers and meanders off with his furniture, one of the shelves appearing to be splintered, but whatever. I’m not wasting my sympathy on that fuck-nugget.

When the twins and Aero come back out, I go right back to cheering like I’m supporting the football team, and Geo chuckles, “Where’s that level of support at my games?”

Cutting off my vibrant affirmations and shit, I playfully glare at the athlete. “It’s wasted on you. Juno always out-screams me on game day, in more ways than one. Be grateful for what you get.”

And with that, I leave the two love birds chortling in their loungers while I scoop up my empty glass and meander into the kitchen for a refill. If I’m going to force my enthusiasm, I’m going to be drunk while I do it.

Between me leaving, pouring my drink, and returning to the beautiful outdoors, the twins have lost their shirts while one carries one end of a chipped and beat-up desk and the other carries the opposite. The moment I witness all the tanned glory on full display, every divot and dip of abs, each freckle and tattoo that marks the curve of their muscles, my brain goes blank before it’s flooded with images of sexy alphas carrying furniture in low-slung jeans with the waistbands of their boxers peeking above their pants.

I’m all too aware of the eyes that turn to me suddenly, fully aware of the spike my scent takes, and embarrassingly aware of the plume of perfume that wafts from my body like an arousal beacon that has never made me blush until right now.

Geo and Juniper are grinning wildly at me, like they’re enthralled in this turn of events, so I decide to simply go with the flow and act like there’s nothing at all wrong with this scenario. I’ve had enough of being embarrassed about who and what I am, so fuck it all. I’m going to own it, even now. “What? There are abs and muscled guys sweating in the sun. A blind woman could see how hot you are, so sue me for finding chiseled abs and tatted skin sexy enough to spark a perfume blunder.”

Shrugging like it’s no big deal, masking how it’s the first time I’ve actually perfumed for a fucking dude before, I sip my drink and drop back into my seat with an internal freak out that I will unpack when I’m alone and locked behind the door to my nest.

I’m pretty sure I catch Haze’s lips twitch as they carry the desk inside, and I relax into my seat as soon as they disappear. A blooper on my part, because Juniper practically assaults me with her words the moment they’re out of earshot. “What the fuck was that about?”

I widen my eyes behind my sunglasses, sure she can see it, and I shake my head as I whisper furiously, “I don’t have a damned clue. I’ve never done that before.”

Juniper winces, and my eyebrows pinch.

“I’ve never done that before… right?” I ask, watching my best friend closely.

She cringes and offers me an awkward smile that I think is supposed to be reassuring.

“Stop. It looks like you’re about to shit yourself. Why are you looking at me like that?” I rush, my words almost blurring into one.

Juniper rolls her eyes, still looking a little sheepish, and finally says, “Remember my birthday? When we decided to make a competition out of who could drink more without falling into the pool and you accidentally knocked Munro into it when you tripped over your own foot?”

Cautiously, I nod, because the memory is slightly blurry but it’s there. Munro went ass over tit into the pool and came out seething mad, glaring at me while water dripped from his soaked clothes. Clothes that, if my drunk memories serve me correctly, clung to his body in ways that should be considered illegal.

The imagery brings forth another perfume blunder, and my eyes widen to the size of saucers. “Oh, no. Nu-uh. Didn’t happen. Won’t believe it.”

“Would it make you feel better to know it was only Munro and me around at the time?” Juniper snickers, even as she winces with secondhand embarrassment.

Oddly enough, it does make me feel somewhat better, though it does explain why the grumpy beta has been more prickly toward me than he was before the party. Where he would usually ignore my very existence, I’ve been bestowed with nasty looks and dirty eye rolls, and it all makes sense now. The bastard thinks I have the hots for him, and he hates it, because he hatesme.

Well, fuck him, even if I maybe do have the hots for him. I mean, I have eyes. He’s fucking gorgeous, with dark hair and eyes and tattoos that cover him from his neck to the tips of his fingers. It’s his personality that leaves a lot to be desired.

Taking a hefty swallow of my drink, I gasp for air from the cold and mutter, “I’m getting drunk so I can forget that particular revelation. Are you staying longer?”

“Can’t, sorry. I promised the guys we’d go to the beach later for the sunset,” Juno sighs happily, and I ignore the pang of envy that always comes out to play when that look of blissful happiness washes over Juno’s pretty face.

I’m happy for my best friend, I really am. If anyone deserves what Juniper Baines has found, it’s her. But there’s always a small part of me that wishes I had it, too. That I had a pack who were there for me, and only me. Not the money and power that comes with the Gage name. Not for the bribery of dating me just to boost their status in the world of socialites. And certainly not because they made some fucked-up, little agreement with my mother to court me in exchange for a place at the company that could burn for all I care.

“Woah, what happened? Your scent just dimmed,” Juno whispers with a concerned frown.

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