Page 59 of This Pack of Ours

I swallowed, trying to brace myself. I’d never been ashamed of what I was, or what I had to do. But perhaps this moment was the closest I’d come; because I did care what they thought of me. Jhin especially. I didn’t want to see the look of rejection that might be on his face right now.

“Perhaps it would be wise to store them somewhere else for a while.” Jhin’s voice was gentle, and relief hit me like a wave. He wasn’t judging me. I nodded, swallowing, fighting back tears.

“Just so you know,” Vander said, his voice laced with annoyance, “this doesn’t change anything. I don’t give a shit what colour your eyes are. You’re still the most irritating person I’ve met in my life.”

Jhin shot him a disapproving look, and I scoffed, my delicate emotional state replaced by anger.

“Oh, fuck off,” I said, folding my arms and straightening my back. He smirked at me, and I felt a brief flash of gratitude that he definitely didn’t deserve.

KIT

“I’ll be right in, okay?” I said to the pack as we parked. “I just need a minute.”

Juniper squeezed my hand and shepherded the pack inside, leaving me to my thoughts.

I felt like something within me had changed at that dinner. One moment I was Kristofer, the disappointment. Never good enough. Nothing to offer.

And then, grandmother Esme had threatened Juni.

As Kit, the Kit who’d built a life away from Esme, I couldn’t let her be treated like that. I’d stood up to my grandmother. Told her what I had been wanting to say for years.

I hugged my knees in the van, staring at the streetlights casting their yellow glow onto the pavement outside. I thought I’d left Kristofer behind at Hawthorne Academy, but I hadn’t. I’d kept him with me all these years. I’d become him again tonight, but something had broken when I’d defended Juniper. For the first time, I’d beenKiteven while with grandmother. I wasn’t sure where that left me. I’d spent so long believing what she’d told me, and now, perhaps I didn’t have to….

I bunched my hands up in my sleeves, and there was a little knock on the side of the van. The door popped open a second later, and Adrian poked his head inside.

“Hey,” he said, offering me a shy smile.

“Oh, should I come in?” I asked, shuffling across the seat. Were they waiting for me?

“No, sorry, I just wanted to check in on you. I didn’t hear everything, but your grandmother seems awful.”

I looked up at him. It was dark, and he was just illuminated by the streetlights. His soft brown eyes were taking me in, eyebrows creased with concern. My breath caught for a second. He’d come back just to check on me?

I had stopped next to him, and he hesitated before he pulled me into a tight hug, folding my skinny form into his thick arms.It just fit, having him there, wrapped around me.

“Yeah, she’s horrible.” I rested my head on his shoulder, drinking him in. He just held me, our only movement the slight rise and fall of our breathing, almost in sync. God, he smelled so good. Cinnamon and pear crashed into me like a wave and spoke to my soul.Safe. I could have stayed there forever.

He pulled away, and I wanted to protest the absence of his scent and touch, but he was reaching into his pocket and pulling out something fluffy.

“I saw this and, um, thought it was very Kit,” he said, holding it up for me with a shy smile. It was a keychain, a gold ring attached to a ball of soft, pink fluff. I took it gently, my face splitting into a grin and my heart swelling in my chest.

“I love it.” I brought it up to my face, brushing the softness against my lips and nose. It smelled like Adrian, and I threw my arms around him in another hug, this time squeezing him tight. God, what had I done to deserve someone this sweet?

“Thanks,” I said, and went onto my tiptoes to press a kiss to his cheek. His face, predictably, turned bright red, noticeable even in the streetlights, but he looked delighted.

I took his hand, and we went inside.

JUNIPER

I stared at myself in the mirror of my bathroom, my familiar golden eyes looking back. Despite marking me as an outcast, I loved my eyes. They were a tribute to my father’s memory, a reminder that I needed to be able to handle things myself.

Or… they had been.

This evening, my golden eyes had gained a new meaning. They were a message of trust to the alphas outside my door.

I did trust them. Even Vander, who may not like me, but who had still put his life at risk to defend me. They’d accepted me without question and given me a gift I wasn’t sure they knew the value of.

I added some fresh contact solution to the case and tightened the lids. Later—when the pack was asleep and couldn’t stop me—I’d take them over to the Safe House’s new location and leave them there. We kept a stash there anyway for gold packs to use during their heat if they wanted.

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