Page 19 of Pack Baines

I nod in lieu of telling the truth, keeping my eyes on the oversized screen, and I hug my arms tighter to my chest. As nice as this has been, as achingly beautiful as it’s been to have them all back in my life, I know it can’t last. Tomorrow will come and reality will sink its vicious claws back into me, and tonight will become just another memory for me to look back on with heartache and pain.

And so, I bite my lip and bottle my feelings, deciding to settle in for a night spent watching movies and bickering about our choices,knowing tomorrow will come, bringing with it the reminder that whatever is happening right now is only temporary. They’ll remember I left, they’ll remember they spent the last eight years living with my absence, and they’ll realize that I’m not worth the trouble it’ll take to keep me in their lives.

After all, there’s only so much one pack can take. And I dread the moment they learn that trouble didn’t leave me eight years ago when I landed in the hospital with a punctured lung, bruises and cuts covering every inch of my body, and a future of running before me.

Running from the promise of more pain, from the pack that sired me into existence, and the pack that will stop at nothing to ensure I return home.

Chapter 8

Geo

I’m barely watching the movie, gruesome deaths completely forgotten. I’m barely fucking breathing, actually, because I’m terrified that one wrong move will wake the sleeping beauty leaning into my side, her head resting on my shoulder.

Adjusting myself slightly causes Juno to nuzzle her face into my shoulder, her soft sigh sending a flurry of that mouthwatering scent that sets my blood on fire and my heart pumping heavily in my chest in my direction. A beta, I might be, but that doesn’t mean I’m not at all affected by the gorgeous woman using me as a pillow.

“Is she asleep?” Creek asks quietly, answering his own question when he leans forward and sees with his own eyes that Juno is sound asleep on my shoulder. I watch as his lips tug into a soft smile, one I haven’t seen since before Juno left. “Well, hell. Now I’m jealous.”

I accidentally snort, instantly freezing when Juno grumbles under her breath, turning to press herself more deeply into my side and tucking her face into the crook of my neck. Her breath is warm as it brushes over the bare skin. Her lips barely brush, and, as much as a bastard as it makes me to even think about right now, I can feel the soft press of her breasts pressed snugly against my arm.

“What do we do?” Evron whispers, turning to kneel in front of where Juno is cuddled. “Do we drive her home and leave her carhere? Or do we take her to a spare bedroom and she can stay the night?”

The twins look over and Lowie rolls his eyes at us all before he stands, but not before I catch that soft look changing his features from their hardened exterior. Leylan follows after him, collecting plates and cups before heading to the kitchen, sending several looks of longing at our girl.

“Very helpful,” Evron quips, snickering for a second before he shuts his trap when Juno grows restless, her adorable button nose caressing my skin as she tries to grow comfortable in her sleep again.

“Think she’ll be pissed if we just take her to a spare room?” I wonder, pulse fluttering as rapid as a butterfly’s wings at having Juniper close enough that I can feel her body heat seeping into me, can smell her sugary-sweet scent I’d love to bottle and keep with me forever, and can picture a thousand more nights spent exactly like this, only slightly modified to include Juno on my lap as she sleeps instead of seated on the couch.

“Why don’t we just leave her there to sleep for a little while longer?” Creek suggests, not so subtly shuffling closer to our girl before sinking lower into the couch, reaching for the remote and turning the volume of the movie up a little more. Not sure why, since the sounds of terror are already loud enough that I can feel the bass vibrate through my chest.

None of the guys protest, and I’m inclined to keep my silence, too, when Juno nuzzles deeper into me, practically crawling in my lap like she’s a heat seeking missile in need of a sleepy cuddle. I’ll bet she doesn’t even realize she’s doing it. In fact, I’d go as far as to put my entire trust fund on it, because there’s no way the skittish, apprehensive, and guarded woman that walked through our front door would ever cuddle into a man she hasn’t seen in eight years.

That thought alone sends a sharp, piercing pain through my chest, and I mentally bat it away, deciding not to look a gift horse in the mouth. If the lady wants a cuddle, then I’m more than willing toprovide. Hell, I’d swim in a croc infested swamp if Juno so much as uttered the idea.

Scooping her from her seat with only a brief glance of annoyance from Creek, I cradle Juniper in my arms before depositing her in my lap. Her contented little sigh makes me smile even while a family is grossly run over by a lawnmower-wielding child on the large screen, her warmth and very subtle scent seeping into my body and straight down to the muscle and bone.

As she settles into my body. Head tucked beneath my chin, I note several things in quick succession. One, she’s entirely too thin. There’s no doubt in my mind that the girl could do with a better meal than pizza and iced tea, and I know for certain either one of us would be willing to cook that meal for her. Two, she’s running a little warm. Warmer than any person should be running, though I can probably place that down to her being cozied up between a hot-blooded alpha and a beta built like a truck. And third, her scent isn’t just faint. There’s a funny little note to it that almost smells… chemical? I don’t know how to describe it, but among the painfully dull pineapple and, I think, coconut and vanilla, there’s a lick of something that shouldn’t be there.

Frowning, I pull my head back and peer down at the sleeping beauty nuzzling my chest and murmuring in her sleep, her arms banded around me like she’ll put up a fight if anyone so much as pulls her away. I soften instantly, even as I bend my head and press my nose to the crown of her deep-purple hair, a color that suits her to perfection.

“What are you doing, you creep?” Ev snickers from the ground, and I look over at him, only to find him watching me as closely as Lowie is trying to watch the movie. I know he hasn’t watched a damn second. All of our focus is firmly planted on the little firecracker tucked against my chest.

Clearing my throat, wincing when Juno startles briefly before falling back to sleep, I lower my voice and ask, “You guys notice something about her scent?”

That draws the attention of every alpha in the room, the guys all turning to look over at me. Lowie frowns fiercely, while his twin looks at Juniper with a pinched brow that screams his concern. Ev raises an eyebrow at me, like he’s waiting on me to elaborate, but I don’t.

Instead, I peer over at Creek, only to see him eyeing Juno like she’s his favorite puzzle he’s trying to piece together. That only hurts my fucking heart that little bit more, because there was once a time where we knew Juniper Henley better than we knew ourselves. We could predict her every reaction, action, and thought before she’d make or have them. We knew her likes and dislikes, her dreams and nightmares. But now? Hell, she’s almost a stranger. A familiar stranger that still cuddles in her sleep when she wouldn’t dare ask for one if she were awake.

When no one answers me, I shrug a shoulder carefully and explain, “Look, I’m no alpha. My sniffer isn’t like yours, but my Spidey senses are telling me there’s something off about her scent.”

And so, like a total freak without an ounce of shame, Creek leans in close and gently lifts Juno’s limp arm and presses his nose to the bare skin of her wrist. He inhales deeply, slow to retreat, but when he does, I watch as the exact moment her scent registers comes to him.

“There’s something weird there,” he whispers, linking his fingers with Juno’s instead of letting it go, setting their hands on his lap as he continues to frown. “It’s almost metallic. Kind of like a chemical?”

That’s when Leylan sits up straight. “Metallic? Could it be a suppressant?”

We all pause at that, because the only suppressant available would be for omegas. Something that will prevent heats, dampen scents, and effectively render one a slightly-sweeter-smelling beta. And, although I did ponder the idea, it feels suddenly surreal that it could be a possibility. That Juniper is an omega, and she’s been roaming around unbonded the entire time we’ve been apart.

Swallowing hard, my stomach churning with a nauseating sickness at the idea that she could have been claimed at all sets off inside me, I hug Juno a little tighter and quietly point out, “If she’s on suppressants, that would mean she’s an omega, right?”

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