Page 47 of How to Lose a Pack in 10 Dates

“Nope,” I grunt, not even looking up to see who the high-pitched voice belongs to. “Ask Travis.”

Travis is seventeen, just got his certification last month, and breaks into a sweat every time an omega makes eye contact.

I hope she asks him to adjust her form. I genuinely want to see him cry.

I haven’t hooked up with anyone since this all started. Notone. Which wouldn’t be impressive, except for the fact that I’ve had a lot of omegas in here flirting. A lot more than usual, actually. Just today, one has winked at me while deadlifting, one hasaccidentallydropped her towel in the locker room hallway, and one has followed me into the staff kitchen with her scent patch barely holding on and asked if I—and I quote—“needed protein.”

I didn’t flinch. Didn’t so much astwitch.

Because none of them areher. None of them bite back when I tease, or smell like heat and heartbreak; and no matter how much I try to shrug it off—tell myself I’m just being territorial, that it’s the pack structure screwing with my instincts—I know the truth.

I’m fucked.

*

Later that night, we’re scattered across the living room like testosterone-scented debris, pretending everything’s normal.

Cam’s perched cross-legged on the rug with a board game he’s trying to teach me—something about roads and resource cards and sheep—but I stopped paying attention after he accused me of colonizing without strategy. He’s wearing the hoodie he walked Aimee home in after their date. I know because he keeps tugging the collar closer to his nose when he thinks I’m not looking.

Wes is hunched in the armchair, frowning as he scrolls through his phone with the full-body energy of someone one passive-aggressive text away from starting a pack coup.Classic.

Meanwhile, I’m trying not to go insane inhaling what’s left of Aimee’s scent in the air. It’s faint—semi-blocked and mostlydiluted—but it’s there; clinging to the cushions, the hoodie Cam’s wearing, the memory of her laugh echoing in my skull.

I barely even know her, and yet her absence is louder than half the people I’ve dated.

“Jesus Christ,” I mutter, scrubbing a hand over my face. “You haven’t washed that hoodie yet, have you?”

“Didn’t want to. Her scent’s good for morale.”

Wes snorts. “Foryours, maybe.”

“She’s going to be staying here soon, Wes. She’ll be our guest,” Cam says lightly. “You could be a little nicer.”

“She’s notmyanything,” Wes fires back, finally looking up. “Letting her stay was your call, not mine.”

“Yeah, well, we weren’t asking for your blessing,” I say before I can stop myself. “You’re not Alpha Supreme.”

His eyes narrow, but he doesn’t reply, and Cam breaks the tension by throwing a handful of game tokens at me.

“You know, you’ve been weird ever since she left. Are you gonna admit you’re obsessed yet?”

“I’m not obsessed,” I grumble.

“Bro. You literally smelled your hand after she touched it.”

“That was one time.”

“It wasyesterday.”

I tip my head back and stare at the ceiling. “I’m… experimenting.”

“With what?” Wes raises an eyebrow. “Delusion?”

I ignore him. “With the idea that maybe I don’t want to be the warm-up act this time.”

Cam goes still. Even Wes looks up properly now.

I keep my gaze locked on the ceiling. My chest is tight, but my voice stays even.

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