Page 68 of Pack Baines

“Baby? You okay?” Geo wonders, catching me staring off into the distance while I lose myself to my thoughts.

“Hmm?” I ask, blinking my gaze over to him, only to find them all watching me, even Evron. When did he even wake up? “Sorry, lost in thought. What did I miss?”

Evron kisses the side of my head, Creek takes my hand in his, and Lowie places a possessive hand on my thigh while Leylan leans in his seat to peer over at me and Geo turns his entire body so he’s facing me and Evron directly. It’s a heady feeling, being the focus of all of their attention. One on one is crazy enough, but all five? Hell, it feels like I’ve just touched a livewire, a lively current zipping through my veins.

“Why do I get the feeling I missed something important?” I wonder out loud, and Evron snickers against the side of my head,kissing me again like he can’t get enough now that we crossed that particularly intimate barrier.

“Where did you go in that pretty head of yours, Juju?” Ley wonders, leaning his head in his hand as he braces his elbow on his knee.

I shrug, jostling Evron, and I laugh when he grunts and nips at my ear before easily admitting, “Just thinking about how you guys have always been home for me. That how time hasn’t changed how I see you all as my family and...”

“And pack?” Lowie finishes for me when my voice trails off.

I shrug once more, and agree. “And pack.”

“Then it looks like we’re on the same page, beautiful,” Creek inserts, lifting my hand and pressing a kiss to the back of it. “Because we were just saying that we want to make it official whenever you’re ready.”

My face falls slack with surprise, though the shock doesn’t come from being a pack with them, but how willing and ready they are to make it happen. I’m pretty sure each of them would bite me in a heartbeat if I gave them the go ahead, even Geo, who’s bite wouldn’t make a bond but sure would leave a pretty mark. I’d wear it with pride and force him to bite me over and over again so it never fades.

“Lowie and Evron already mentioned bonding this morning, and how you were on board with the idea,” Leylan notes, smiling softly as my wide eyes fall onto him.

I nod in confirmation, seemingly pulling an Ariel with a lost voice. Their scents surround me where I sit, Evron and Lowie’s stronger than the others but no more mouthwatering, and my head feels a little light as their scents mingle with the casual way we’re talking about bonds. Something irreversible, permanent, and not something to decide on a whim.

“Are bonds something you want, beautiful?” Creek questions softly, stormy blues watching me closely.

I nod again, feeling very much like a bobble head.

“With us?” he pushes, hope filling his eyes as if he didn’t already know that he and the others are my endgame. My happily ever after.

“With all of you,” I confirm, my heart warming at the smile that breaks over Creek’s handsome face, ocean eyes lighting up with approval and satisfaction.

“Then it’s settled, Blue,” Ev whispers into my ear. “You give the go ahead, and we’ll mark you up so thoroughly that there will be no mistaking what pack you belong to.”

I shiver as goosebumps break out over my skin, enjoying his words far more than I’d ever confess out loud. Instead, I clear my throat and tease, “And what pack is that, huh?”

“Pack Baines, baby. The only pack for you,” Geo answers, winking over at me when my head snaps in his direction, shock and pleasure filling me from head to toe.

Breathing out a shuttered breath, I sink deeper into Evron’s hold with my entire weight, causing him to grunt and laugh against my bare shoulder where he tickles me with more kisses. I run my gaze over each of my guys, finding an array of emotion in each gaze, namely happiness, warmth, and no short supply of love. All of it mirrored in my own eyes as I look at them.

“Pack Baines?” I chuckle, a surreal sense of rightness washing over me as I feel the words on my tongue. I receive a round of nods, a muttered uh-huh from Evron, and a wink from Geo, and I nod slowly before settling fully into the idea that these men are mine and will be mine in every sense of the word. “I really like the sound of that.”

Chapter 26

Juniper

I’m practically walking on cloud nine when Monday comes around. My shift last night was spent with the guys occupying a table in the corner and constantly making small talk with a blushing Gabby who claims I found a good pack before she left for the night. And that came after my first heat spike since the incident with that weird guy last week, Evron and Geo stealing me away for the day before my shift and turning my legs to jelly. It’s a miracle I made it through the night with how boneless the two made me.

“You’re scaring the shit out of me,” Munro grumbles by the end of the school day, eyeing me like I’ve been replaced by body snatchers, and yet the smile on my face doesn’t disappear. “No, seriously. Stop that. Right now.”

“Oh my god, are you allergic to happiness or something?” I ask, only partly serious while the rest of me continues to float on those aforementioned clouds.

“Yeah,” he answers seriously, right before I see his lips twitch.

Laughing, I bump my hip against his and decide to turn the tables. “So, Silver—”

“Let me stop you right there, my mini me. That pastel princess is not to be mentioned around me unless you’d like my mood to turn thunderous,” he gripes, glaring half-assed at me.

“This isn’t thunderous?” I wonder lightly, offering him a smart-ass smile in return.

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