Page 62 of This Pack of Ours

“I owed them. And… they’re fine. For alphas.” I said tersely.

“So, Daisy said it was the pack you spent your last heat with. The ones you told your name to.”

Dammit. Daisy was way too nosy sometimes.

“That’s correct.”

“So?” Luna looked at me expectantly.

“So?” I repeated. She rolled her eyes.

“So, are they locking both of you down?” Luna asked.

“Goodnight,” I said, standing up.

“Aw, Juniper, don’t be mad! They’re really nice!” Luna launched out of her seat and chased me to the door.

“Call me if you need anything.” I said as I shut it in her face.

I was tense as I drove back to the apartment. Luna had made it sound like it was simple. Like it made sense for us both to join them. If I was able to like Kit as a friend, then it would have been. But Icouldn’ttrap myself with him forever. It wasn’t fair to him or me.

It was late, nearing midnight, but as I unlocked the door, I realized someone had forgotten to turn off the fairy lights that decorated our tiny deck.

I hung up my coat and placed the keys in their bowl before I went to shut off the lights. As I approached the deck, I noticed the glow of a laptop screen outside.

I gently knocked on the sliding door and opened it a crack. Jhin’s tired face blinked at me from one of the rickety lawn chairs.

“My apologies. I hope I didn’t disturb you," he said, sitting up slightly.

“Oh, no, I couldn’t sleep. I thought someone had left the lights on,” I replied, then frowned at him. “What are you doing out here? It’s so cold.”

“I didn’t want to keep anyone up," he said. He looked ridiculously sad in the comparatively tiny chair. His knees were sticking up in the air and he was practically hunched double.

“Come inside,” I said. When he didn’t move, I stepped out and tugged him up. He was freezing. I led him to the couch and grabbed Kit’s laptop tray for him.

“Thank you,” he said, rubbing his eyes.

“What are you working on so late?”

“Trying to sort some things out after the flood. Right now, I’m meal planning.”

“Oh, I gotta grocery shop. Maybe we could work together? I usually arrange a delivery every week. Haven’t managed it yet.”

I sank beside him on the couch, pulling out my phone, and we worked out a grocery list between us. He asked how the ordering worked, and I showed him how to make an account.

“The trick is to plan ahead and know the busy times. But once you get that part, it’s really easy.”

He seemed to need help adding things to the cart and then started adding things from my list as well.

“Oh, you don’t need to do that,” I protested.

“It would be the least we could do for you." His serious eyes met mine. “I want to thank you, Juniper, for having us in your home. I know it hasn't been easy for you, but I can tell you it’s meant a lot to me and the pack. Enjoying your and Kit’s company has been a welcome distraction from the stress we’ve all been dealing with.”

“From the flood?”

Jhin sighed. “No. More than that. We’ve all been on stress leave since an incident last month. We deal with a lot at our job, but this was particularly bad. For Vander especially.”

He scrubbed his hands over his face, sighing, and his eyes met mine.

---