Page 30 of Pack Baines

How right she is to feel that way, too. Because one thing for certain is that Juno belongs with us, and we, her. There’s been no one for any of us since she left, all of us saving ourselves for her andonly her, and there won’t be anyone but her from this day on. That we all agreed on long before Juniper disappeared.

“So, I guess we should have this big conversation,” Juno declares without preamble, shoulders relaxed, energy calm and at ease. It’s nice, very different from how she showed up. “Where do you want to start?”

“You’re ours,” Lowie begins, looking us all over.

I smile, nodding with approval, and I catch Juno turning her head enough to watch us all agree. Her lips twitch, but she says nothing on the contrary, turning back to her pancakes. It takes me a moment to realize there’s already four plates filled with pancakes, enough to feed four growing guys.

“And we’re yours, Firecracker,” Geo adds, kissing her temple, even while Evron continues to cling to her, shirtless and swaying to a tune only he can hear. I’ve never been more envious, never wanted to trade places with someone more.

“But what do you want, J?” Creek asks, eyes for Juno only. It’s only then that she freezes, spatula hovering just above the pancake, before she starts moving again. She doesn’t answer straight away, long enough to make me nervous, so Creek inserts, “We want you, beautiful. It’s always been you, even when you were gone. I can speak for us all when I say there is so one in the world we want more as a part of our pack, our family, than you. But we need to know what you want, if this is what you want, too. If we’re what you want.”

When Juno remains silent, Evron kisses her neck and releases her, taking a plate of pancakes and sitting at the table with us. He looks as tense as I feel, and I worry at my lip while I wait for an answer that could make or break us. An answer that is all Juniper’s to make.

We all wait in silence, bated breaths and pounding hearts, allowing Juno to finish her pancakes. By the time she’s done, there are six plates filled with chocolate-chip pancakes and an array of sauces, sugar, syrup, and fruit on the table. It’s just like it used to be when we were all kids, eating breakfast after camping outside after anight of watching Juno stargazing. Whispering her wishes to every flickering twinkle in the night sky.

Instead of taking a seat around the island with us, Juno stands and looks over each of us carefully. Her pretty, pale-blue eyes are soft as she eyes us, her full lips twitching with a fond smile, the first look I’ve seen on her that reminds me of the old Juniper. Not that the new Juno is a lesser version. In fact, this version of her is like an advanced version of the old, one that has the blood pumping through my veins at a rapid pace. It has my chest tightening while my heart pounds a rapid rhythm beneath my ribcage. It has my brain calming like it used to, but my body coming alive with new sensations, new feelings, a whole new energy, almost like the innocence of childhood friends has morphed into something bigger, something more. And I love it. I love every bit of it.

Juniper sighs softly, tearing my attention away from my thoughts, and a slow but steady smile appears on her beautiful face, and she ruins me in the best way possible when she says, “I already told Lowie, but I’ll tell you all while you’re together. You guys have always been, and will always be, endgame for me. You’re all it for me. You were my family long before I disappeared from your lives, my safe place, the only thing in the world that I was sure of. If there was ever a pack I wanted to belong to, to belong in, it would be one that included all five of you. That never wavered while I was gone, and it will never disappear so long as I’m walking this earth. Didn’t take me long to realize, either. I was just scared you’d all be too angry to want me back, or maybe wouldn’t even remember me after eight years. But after last night? I can safely say that I’ve never felt more comfortable, at ease, or more at home in all of the eight years that have passed than I did the moment I saw you all again. And I’ve never wanted anyone the way I want all of you.”

Then she shrugs her shoulders like she’s simply stated the weather forecast for the entire week, and I can’t help but laugh loudly before scrambling from my seat. While the others stare in absolute shock at our omega—well, all but Lowie, who is already aware of howshe feels. I’m rounding the island and damn near tackling her in my overzealous excitement to feel her against me.

My arms are around her, she’s up in the air before her legs hug my waist, and I’m burrowing my face into her neck in less time than it takes her to inhale deeply. The heat of her body seeps into mine as I hug her so tightly to me that I don’t know where I start and she ends, and her vibrant laughter is music to my ears.

“You have no idea how happy you just made me, Juju,” I whisper to her, my lips brushing smooth, heated skin as I speak into her neck. Just feeling her against me, feeling her close, and warm, and real, has a purr rattling my chest.

I feel more than I hear Juniper sigh, her arms wrapping around me, one hand sinking into my hair as she holds me close. Then she quietly confesses, “Not as happy as you’ve all made me.”

I can only hug her tighter, right before I pull back and smile an awkwardly shy smile at her when I realize the position I’ve manhandled her into. Not that she seems to mind, her arms hanging on my shoulders when she pulls back, her faith in me holding her upright and against me surpassing any kind of trust I would have hoped for from her so early on.

Cupping the back of her head, I give up on fighting my instincts, and I tug her head gently towards mine with the hand that isn’t holding her to me. She lets me lead, allowing me to draw her so close that her lips brush mine, and then she’s kissing me softly. It’s a complete contradiction to the fevered kissing that happened last night, but no less heart stopping, the wet warmth of her lips on mine clearing my mind of anything but her.

I have no idea how long I have her lips on mine, only that the kiss ends much too soon when Evron clears his throat and blurts, “Quit hogging our omega, asshole. I want cuddles and kisses, too.”

Juno laughs against my mouth, but she pulls away and smiles sweetly at me. I smile back, keeping her against me, and she makes no move to slide from my hold. She does, however, turn to look over at Evron. She raises her eyebrow and mutters, “Stillso needy.”

“Damn straight, Blue. Even more so now that you’re sticking around,” he volleys easily, snatching her right from my arms like a selfish asshole.

She’s sitting on the island counter with him standing between her legs before I can even blink, his hands framing her face as he kisses her stupid. I can’t help but smile, knowing that after years of envisioning mornings like this, it’s finally happening. Juno is here, with us, exactly where she should be. There’s no better feeling in the world. Only one could trump that, but I’m pretty sure it’s a little too soon to bring up the very mention of a bond. Not that I don’t plan on offering one as soon as I think Juno is ready, because there’s no doubt in my mind that I want that one unbreakable thing between us that will connect us until we’re long gone from this world.

“Best,” Ev mutters, pulling back from kissing Juno only briefly, right before pressing his lips against hers again. “Day.” Another kiss. “Ever.”

Juniper laughs against his mouth, her arms falling over his shoulders, one of her hands sinking into Ev’s hair in order to keep him where he is.

“Now who’s hogging our girl?” Geo butts in, shoving Evron out of the way before replacing him between Juniper’s thighs. Then the big, burly bastard picks her up and maneuvers her until she’s sitting on his hip, her lean legs wrapped around his waist.

“Oh, great,” Juno mutters, her one arm banding around Geo’s thick shoulders, not a single reaction when Geo cups her ass to keep her in place. Not that I’d expect any other reaction, since Juno has always been touchy-feely with us all. Ever since that very first hug Lowie gave her when we found her sitting alone in elementary school, she’s always been one for affection, easily accepting it and willingly offering. “So, I’m to be carried around like a purse for the remainder of the day?”

Geo grins at her, right before he grabs a plate of pancakes, snags the syrup, and ditches us all without so much as a backward glance. The rest of us share a look before we’re scrambling to gatherour own plates, following quickly after the pair like a pack of idiots. Lowie even rolls his eyes when he realizes how fast he’s moved from his seat, but the sneaky bastard ends up on the right side of Geo, where he has Juniper sitting in his lap with her plate of pancakes, his own balanced on her knee.

Creek steals the spot on the left, and Evron wastes no time sitting on the floor, leaning his back against Geo’s legs as everyone settles in to eat breakfast as the family we were, always have been.

Taking a seat beside my brother, balancing my breakfast on my lap, I look over at Juno and find her already eating. Her eyes flutter closed and a soft moan slips past her lips with every bite she takes of her fluffy, chocolate-chip-infused pancakes. We all ignore the sounds, I’m sure for the same reasons. It would be our rotten luck to make things weird just as we finally have Juniper back, so I send my twin a look that he sends right back, before smiling and sinking into the couch while Evron decides on something to watch while we eat.

And that’s how we spend the day: eating, watching movies, talking about old times, good times, and everything in between. It takes some time before Juno finally relaxes enough to start joking around with us all, teasing and ribbing like we used to. By the time late afternoon comes, it’s like no time has passed at all between us and Juno, and I’m grinning the most I ever have since she left while I watch her shoulders relax and her mouth runs with every thought she has.

“Oh, shut up. You absolutely cheated, Evron, and you can’t convince me otherwise,” Juno laughs, sprawled out on the couch with Ev’s head on her stomach and her hand in his hair, her legs clutched in Geo’s hold while she relaxes around us like she’s always done so. In fact, I’ve only ever known Juniper to relax around us to the fullest extent, something I’ve missed something chronic.

Evron looks affronted, wrongfully so, because we all know the dick tries to cheat at every bet he makes. “I’m hurt, Blue. Positively wounded. How dare you accuseme—”

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