Page 31 of Pack Favero

“I’ll be five minutes. Keep your phone on you, babe. I’m coming for you,” Alek promises, and I could sag into a puddle of relief right where I stand.

“Sounds good. See you soon. Yeah, bye, baby,” I say into the phone before pulling it away and offering Hunter another apologetic smile that feels as false as Mr. Pinkton from my apartment building’s teeth. “He’s five minutes away. Don’t feel like you have to wait with me. You’re missing out on your break.”

Hunter’s jaw clenches before he takes a deep breath and his entire demeanor changes once more. Back is the try hard, nerdy charmer, and he flashes a bright, white-toothed grin and shrugs his shoulders, tucking his hands into his pockets as he continues to walk with me. “I don’t mind waiting. A woman, especially an omega, shouldn’t be left alone.”

It’s not so much the words he uses that makes me shiver, but it’s the way he says them. If I look too deep into it, it’s almost like he’s speaking from experience when he says it, and if my freshly awoken dislike for the man hadn’t started growing before, it’s fully bloomed now.

So, in absolute silence, having no desire to strike up more conversation with the man that officially gives me the heebie-jeebies, we walk towards the door to the library and towards the blissful outdoors. Hunter doesn’t strike up more conversation, and I do my best to keep a respectable distance between us both as we walk, wanting to stay well enough away without tipping him off that I’m actively trying to get away from him and his cloying scent that’s started giving me a headache.

Just as I exit through the doors, the bright daylight sun beaming down on me in an instant, I decide to make thissituation less uncomfortably awkward and ask, “So, how are you settling into your classes?”

Hunter frowns before his face smoothes out once more, and he shoots me that smarmy smile again. I’m sure it would charm someone else, what with his dimpled chin, mussed hair, and meticulously primped clothing, but it does nothing for me. Less than nothing, in fact. I’m sure if one of the guys were to check, they’d smell the stress in my scent.

“I’ve settled rather quickly. The students are quick studies, and our coworkers have all been very helpful and welcoming,” he answers, trying to sound timid and adorably awkward.

Those sharp eyes give him away, though, and I look away as I reply. “This school has some of the friendliest people to work with.”

“The friendliest,” he agrees, and I can feel his stare burning a hole in my head.

Alek, where are you?

“Have you worked here long?” he wonders, hands tucked back in his pockets. Where that motion would have me internally melting if it were Barnes, I find myself reacting oppositely to Hunter. Tucking his hands away from sight makes me nervous, and I scratch the back of my neck before answering, “Oh, a few months now.”

Hunter hums and nods. “And your pack? Did you belong to them before North Five?”

‘Belong?’ What the fuck does he think I am? A prized pony?

Just as I open my mouth to answer, I hear the most perfect sound in all of planet Earth. “Little lady.”

My head snaps up and I see Alek rushing over, his long legs eating the distance between us. He’s dressed smartly today, likely having come straight from his office, his body encased ina gray shirt he has rolled to his elbows and black slacks that hug his thick thighs in ways that has my mouth watering. With his hair in a man bun today, a few strands of pale blond falling around his face, he looks like a Viking prodigy stepped into the modern world. He’s beautiful, breathtakingly so, and a genuine, honest smile breaks out over my face at the mere sight of him

“Hi, baby,” I breathe, the term of endearment slipping free without me needing to force it.

Alek breaks out into a bright grin, and I can’t be sure if he’s playing the part I need him to play or if he’s genuinely happy about the little nickname, but it doesn’t matter because he’s here. He’s right here, coming to my rescue, and I could kiss every inch of his stupidly gorgeous face for it.

It takes very little time for him to reach my side, and I’m wrapped in his arms and tugged to his body in a matter of seconds, my hands coming up just in time to prevent me crashing face-first into his chest.

“There’s my gorgeous little omega. Are you ready to eat?” he purrs, not the chest rattling kind, but no less pussy-flutter-inducing. Godsdamned.

Shivering against him, I flash a cheeky smile, forgetting we have company before flirtatiously teasing, “I don’t know, are you?”

Alek’s grin turns dangerously sexy as he leans in and loudly quips, “Depends on what’s on the menu.”

A hot flush floods my system at the suggestive way the words roll off his tongue, and I just know I’m beaming all shades of pink and red as I blush from head to toe, swallowing hard as I try to cap my leaking perfume. Thankfully, we’re outside, the fresh air around us stealing most of it, but the cheeky gleam in Alek’s eyes tells me without words that he can smell it.

Fucking hell.

A throat clearing startles me, and I flinch against Alekbefore remembering the man I was trying to get away from. Plastering the fake veneer of friendliness, I blurt, “I’m so sorry. Alek, this is Hunter. He started a week ago as the new biology professor. Hunter, this is my alpha, Alek Gage.”

I feel Alek’s hands tighten around my waist at my words, and a low, slow starting rumble bubbles in his chest as he leans in to press a kiss to the top of my head before pulling back and clearing his throat of the purr I was enjoying. “Hunter. Nice to meet you. Thank you for keeping my little lady company while she waited for me. I can take her off your hands now.”

I catch the biology professor’s jaw clench as he nods, trying and failing to paste a smile on his face as his sharp eyes dart down to where Alek is touching me. “Of course. It’s no trouble at all. I’ll leave you to your lunch date. Miss Favero, I’ll see you again.”

His words almost sound like a threat, but I offer him a polite smile before watching him bow his head and leave without once looking back, his shoulders tense and rigid. As soon as he rounds the corner, I turn into Alek and shove my face into his chest. “Oh, thank the gods they sent me you.”

Alek doesn’t laugh, his hand releasing my waist to rub up and down my back before he cups the back of my neck, rubbing his thumb over the skin behind my ear. “So, who’s the creepy dork?”

Pausing with my face still buried between Alek’s pectorals, uncaring that it’s forward or weird or whatever the hell else it could be while I absorb the comfort he’s offering, I frown with a bemused smile. It almost sounds like there’s a sprinkle of… jealousy in his words?

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