Page 32 of This Pack of Ours

What the fuck was Vander doing here at midnight?

Just standing on our doorstep? He hadn’t knocked or rung the doorbell, just stood there, eyes narrowed, as he glanced behind him. My heart sped up as he reached for the doorknob and turned it, but the door didn’t move. God, Kit always forgot to lock it when heleft, not when he came back. I watched as Vander’s expression relaxed a bit, then he turned around and walked down the steps.

I casually walked to the window, trying not to get Kit’s attention, and watched as he climbed into a white van. I flipped him a bird he couldn’t see when I figured out what he’d been doing.

Sure, I’d told him Kit tended to leave the door unlocked. But I would fuckingneverlet our door stay unlocked overnight, and quite frankly, it was insulting that he’d felt the need to come and check. I seethed as he drove off.

Fucking asshole.

SEVEN

JUNIPER

I closed my laptop with a frustrated groan, pushing it aside and into the backseat.

I was currently sitting in my car outside our apartment, waiting to drive Kit to his date. I’d been trying to balance the books for the Safe House, and if I didn’t already have a headache, then looking at those numbers would do it.

I was trying desperately to figure this out, because I was starting to think the Safe House might have to close down, and thatcouldn’thappen. We had so many omegas relying on us. Once they could come regularly, they could stop using the illegal drugs that threw off their heats. Their cycles could become regular and predictable again. It gave them a chance to get a job. A chance to feel safe going outside, a chance to reclaim their lives. And I might have to take it all away again.

I drummed my hands on the steering wheel, the anxious thoughts eating at me as I tried to ignore the cramping in my stomach.

Speaking of fucking with heat cycles, I’d really messed up by taking those suppressants. My body was having a full-blown meltdown, and I felt like I was back in pre-heat; going through cycles of heat spikes, feeling both irrational and super horny.

And, of course, my brain was fixated on the Argo pack, with them starring in my dreams. Them and Kit, but I’d long ago accepted that Kit would always be there. I lived with his scent all the time, and we’d been at each other’s heat’s for years. He was hot—I wasn’t blind—and I very much knew what he looked like in all manner of sexual activities, so my brain had a lot of material to work with.

Shit, now I was thinking about that again, and I could feel the cramps getting worse. I tore my thoughts away from the sounds Kit made when he got his dick sucked, and tried to focus.

If I’d let my heat run its course properly, when would I have finished? Going by average, it should have been done the same night.

So, hopefully, I’d wake up tomorrow, and be done for another couple of months.

Kit rushed out to the car, yanking open the door and flopping into the passenger seat. He pulled down the mirror and checked his face.

“Do I look okay?” he asked, and I looked at him.

“Did youdress up?” I asked, blinking at his clothes. Instead of his usual baggy, just-rolled-out-of-bed look, he was wearing all black. Black dress shoes paired with soft, poofy pants. He was in a high-neckedcrop topthat had a heart-shaped hole right between his collarbones. It was made only slightly less scandalous by the large, silky jacket that went almost to his knees.

Topped with a silver necklace and a hint of eyeliner.

“Is it too much?” He frowned. “I know it’s a lot of black, but I don’t actually have a lot of options, and nothing worked except these. And I borrowed the necklace." He shot me a grin. He looked fucking devastating, like some kind of modern succubus.

“No, you look great,” I managed. “I’ve just never seen you…. try?”

He shrugged, tucking his hair behind his ear. It came out again immediately.

“I don’t know. This is a scent match. I’m nervous. High expectations, right?”

“They’ll love you, Kit,” I said, trying to ignore the surging jealousy. Alphas really did obsess over him. To a disturbing degree sometimes. He shrugged, a cloud passing over his usually sunny expression, but it was gone by the time I started the car.

He was going on his date, and I’d be chaperoning from a distance. These were still alphas, and that meant we had to be careful. There was too much at stake to take stupid risks.

We drove to Antonio’s, the restaurant the pack had suggested, and I pulled into one of the last parking spots.

“Thanks, Juni. It means a lot to me.” Kit leaned over and pecked my cheek. I grunted, climbing out of the car and following him.

The pack were waiting outside the restaurant, Vander sulking against the wall. It wasverysatisfying to watch him do a double take as Kit practically glided over. I stood a few feet behind, hands in my hoodie pockets.

To my shock, Kit practically ran to Vander and pulled the big, grumpy alpha into a hug.

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