Page 31 of This Pack of Ours

I twisted the door handle and slipped inside, flinching as I found her on one of the kitchen stools, facing me.

“God, you’re gonna give me a heart attack,” I said, trying a small smile. Nothing. Dang.

I slipped onto the stool next to her, trying to figure out what to say. She had a beer in her hand, which I stared at because sheneverdrank. Didn’t like her head being messed with, she said. And there was a suitcase behind her, her old ratty one, with her toiletries bag on top.

I opened my mouth just as she spoke.

“Me and Vander had sex.” Her voice was resigned. I glanced at her. I knew that already, didn’t I?

Her and Vander. Not the pack. Today?

“Oh,” I said, fiddling with my hands.AngryVander? Who’d followed her? After scent matchingme?

Something was squeezing my heart painfully hard.

Scent matches were powerful things. They created unparalleled attraction and chemistry, and put all alpha and omega instincts into overdrive. I’d learnt the science back in the academy classes, and it wasn’t quite that clear cut. In theory, there were packs an omega could scent match all over the world. But once a pack or omega actually scented one of them, it was locked in for life. The Argo pack would never get another scent match, and neither would I. We hadn’t discussed anything, but the assumption was we would be together. And…. that they probably shouldn’t fuck other people.

Juniper sighed.

“Look, I don’t expect you to forgive me, but it’s not his fault.” She fiddled with her beer. “I was planning to tell you, but I didn’t finish my heat. I took a load of suppressants and thought I’d just ride out the rest on that but it just made it really erratic, and I got a really bad spike after I left the coffee shop.”

I grabbed her hand, horrified. That was every omega’s worst nightmare. Out in the Gritch, in public, in heat.

She sniffed.

“Vander… he fought off a pack. All of them. But he was there, and I couldn’t think, and he felt safe. And, I know he didn’t want to. He was so angry about it after, and I didn’t want to either. I swear, I was so out of it, Kit—” She choked off, shaking her head.“God. I’m so sorry. I’m the worst.”

There was a small pause, and then she burst into tears. I pulled her into my arms, tears starting to stream down my face, too. She must have been so scared. Apackhad cornered her. And it was my fault; I’d made her run. What if Vander hadn’t been there?

Why didn’t I go after her?

“I’ll move out," she said thickly, grabbing a tissue from the ever-present box on the counter. “I’ll go tonight and get the rest of my stuff when I can. I just thought you should hear it from me, face to face.”

“What the fuck?” I gasped, horrified. I pulled her tighter, not letting go. “Juniper Anders, you’ve just had the second-worst day in your entire life. So we’re going to go to the nest. I’m ordering pizza and fudge sundaes. We’re going to get high and stuff our faces and have a marathon ofHoney Omega Club: Go!”

She choked on a laugh before she could stop herself.

“You’re not mad?" she asked timidly, pulling back.

“Only that you didn’t tell me about the heat thing! I never would have let you go—thank god Vander was even there. And I get the hormones, those are a bitch, so no.”

Note to self: Grumpy Vander isn’t so bad.

She still looked guilty, her bottom lip trembling. So I kept talking.

“Look, if it makes you feel any better, we’ll call it even. For ruining your date and all those stupid things I said.I’msorry, alright? Now can we go and please get our snuggies?”

She sniffed and nodded pulling me close.

“That sounds nice,” she said.

JUNIPER

We were halfway through season four, and my eyes were dropping—as they so often did—to the pale expanse of Kit’s neck beside me.

We’d never bitten each other again after that drunken night all those years ago, but the idea still haunted me. I wanted to feel the connection that sparked between us, his presence in my head, warm and alive. The bite we’d left had faded without scarring, and some nights the urge to mark him as mine was frighteningly powerful. It was especially inappropriate now after he’d found his scent match. I was distracted by an alert that went off on my phone. A few months back, I’d bitten the bullet and paid for a proper doorbell camera. One of the ones that blended in.

“Be right back,” I said to Kit, trying not to alarm him. I stood and opened the feed, frowning as I looked at the lone male figure standing on our doorstep, his hair white in the grainy video.

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