Page 74 of This Pack of Ours

“You expecting any packages?” I asked Kit when he peeked his head out of our room, and he shook his head.

“I don’t think so?" he said, but he had a tendency to forget. I sighed and opened my phone to the doorbell camera. All thoughts of Kit and the Safe House fled my brain. Two GPRE officers were standing outside.

My heart sank into my stomach.

The Gold Pack and Rogue Enforcement division of the Institute were essentially a division of the police. And I would bet the rest of my life savings on why they were here today.

Esme.

I could feel white hot anger building in my blood and tensing every muscle in my body. I took two steps toward the landing door, ready to go and tell them to fuck off.

“Who is it?" Kit asked, and the question gave me a little bit of my sanity back.

“GPRE,” I said through gritted teeth.

“What?” Kit repeated, looking up.

“It’s the fucking GPRE,” I said again, louder.

He paled, hurrying out to stand beside me, peering at my phone screen. His hand found mine, and he squeezed.

The doorbell rang again. I sent a silent prayer of thanks to the universe that I’d dropped off the contacts at the Safe House already.

“I’ll do the talking,” Kit’s eyes met mine. “Just answer their questions and do what they say, okay?”

“Fuck, Kit,” I said, and he pulled me into a hug.

“Don’t give them a reason to take you away from me,” he murmured.

I was shaking. I could feel it, the anger and fear threatening to overwhelm me. I was terrified I would snap at them. They didn’t reallyneeda reason to take unbonded gold pack omegas into custody. Didn’tneeda trial to convict them and lock them away.

I took a deep breath, inhaling Kit’s warm almond scent, his familiar aura washing over me and calling me to be calm. He moved his head, brushing his neck against my hair in an unfamiliar motion. Almond buttercream covered me like a cloud, and I realized he’d scent marked me.

I blinked up at him and he smiled, making warmth spread through me from my head to my toes.

The doorbell rang again, and Kit led me downstairs to open the door.

Standing outside were male officers. One was older, a thick moustache on his red face, and the other was shorter than me, his face pinched and weasel-y.

“Good morning. Are you Juniper Anders?" Moustache asked. What a stupid question. He would already know there were no other gold pack omegas living at this address. I’d have to have a death wish to be hiding an unregistered gold pack omega in like, a secret underground nest hidden under a trapdoor and a rug or something. God, could you imagine if it was a male gold pack on top of everything? There was nothing the institute hated more than a gold pack male slipping under the radar, because he could father any number of little rogue babies without being caught.

I nodded in reply to the question, pursing my lips.

“We’re here investigating some claims that you’ve been breaking the law. We have a couple of questions for you. May we come in?”

“Yes,” said Kit, as the urge to swear at them rose again. “We’re upstairs.”

He turned, tugging me after him as we let the snakes slither into our house.

“Could we ask what she’s being investigated for?” Kit asked as I sat on a bar stool upstairs. He’d left my side, going to grab my purse. He came back and took out my Alpha-Omega Registration Number card, laying it on the counter next to his. My AORN card was blue, and it specified that I was gold pack.

“We have reason to believe that you have been concealing your gold pack status around alphas with the intent of conceiving a child,” said weasel-face, hooking his thumbs in the loops on his utility belt.

“What?” asked Kit, looking confused. “Why would you think that?”

“We have a report detailing that she has been seen in the presence of a pack while concealing her eyes?”

He flipped a page on his clipboard and showed us pictures of the Argo pack.

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