Page 50 of Follow Your Instincts

“But I entered the match process and met Alice, Greg, and Fitz, and everything started to make sense,” she said around a mouthful. “We courted for a few months, but I knew right away that they were my pack.”

My stomach twisted. Had I lost my only chance at that kind of connection?

“Have you had any luck with the matching process?” she asked.

“Um. Kind of,” I said. “I found a pack that I’m scent compatible with. But the first time I spent time with the wholepack, things got weird.”

“Weird how? Sex dungeon weird?”

I barked a laugh. “You should meet my sister Kira, that’s the same thing she asked. And no, it got interpersonal conflict weird. One of the pack members, the leader, actually, freaked out when he saw me kissing Ben. He started growling and grabbed Ben’s shoulder. Lucas, he’s super tall, got him to snap out of it. But it was like he got territorial over Ben, like he didn’t want me kissing him. And he doesn’t seem very interested in me.”

“Huh. That is weird. But it doesn’t sound like he’s not interested. It could be he was jealous of Ben touchingyou,” Rosie said.

I shook my head. “Trust me, that’s not it.”

“Do you like these guys?” she asked.

“I think so. I don’t really know them, but they seem pretty great. Most of them anyway,” I grumbled.

“Well, there’s an easy way to fix it,” Rosie said. “You could trytalkingto them about it.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, super easy.”

“I’m serious. If you’re going to be part of a pack, even if it’s not this one, you have to learn to communicate about the awkward stuff. Shutting down doesn’t help at all. Trust me. I learned that the hard way.”

“So, what, just call them and be like ‘Hey, let’s talk about the weird thing that happened in your kitchen when I was making out with Ben?’” I said sarcastically.

“I mean, yeah,” Rosie said with a laugh. “Seems like the easiest way to do it.”

I scoffed.

“Do whatever you want. But I’d at least talk to them before you give up so easily,” Rosie said.

I stewed on Rosie’s advice the rest of the night and barely slept. Would they even want to talk to me again after I ghosted them for almost two weeks?

If only I could stop thinking about them, this would be so much easier.

By the time morning rolled around, I had made up my mind. I’d call Ben and see if they wanted to meet somewhere for coffee the next day. Neutral territory was key. We could try and clear the air, and I could ask Lachlan, politely, what the hell his problem with me was.

And if it didn’t work out I could at least draw a line under the whole thing and hopefully stop perfuming whenever I thought about them. Even stupid, annoying Lachlan.

Steffi tracked me down at breakfast to give me my mail. It was the usual collection of bills and junk mail that was delivered to a P.O. box before being brought to the Center. Except for one envelope that Steffi handed over separately. “This one looks a little special,” she said, winking.

It was hand-addressed to me at the Center, with Pack Murray as the return address.They wrote me aletter?I thought.

I slipped outside into the brisk morning air of the courtyard to read it. I didn’t want to endure Jess’s contempt if she saw I had an honest-to-god letter from a pack.

And not just a letter. Ahandwrittenletter.

Dear Maggie,

I hope you’ll forgive me for reaching out uninvited, but I figured a letter would be best since you can easily throw it away unread if you want.

First, I want to apologize for the way I acted when you visited our home. I don’t have much of an explanation beyond the fact that our pack has never experienced true scent compatibility with an Omega before, and my instincts got the best of me. It was never my intention to make you uncomfortable, especially in light of your recent assault by an Alpha. Again, I am sincerely sorry.

That’s the most important part of this letter. If you’ve read this far, feel free to throw it away now or burn it if you want.

At the risk of seeming delusional to the point of insanity, considering how our last meeting ended, I am extending aninvitation to another one on whatever terms you’d accept. Ben is beside himself, missing you, Soren is even more monosyllabic than usual, and Lucas has stopped cooking. Even though the connection was brief, I believe they have all felt it deeply, and I would be doing my pack a disservice if I didn’t try to reopen the door to a deeper one.

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