Page 16 of The Pack Next Door
My head was tilted down, knowing that tongues would be wagging. Home, I thought furiously, wishing I was returning to my apartment, not my childhood bedroom. The sounds of Gideon starting the car, then taking off down the road allowed me to let my breath out. Every mile away from the town square removed some of the tension in me, until I was nothing more than a limp noodle.
An awkward, limp noodle.
I dared a sidelong look at Gideon and saw him staring right back, which had my cheeks flushing.
“You didn’t have to—” I started to say.
“Yes, I did.”
The deep growl meant I was not going to argue. I expected my wolf to burr up at that, but instead, she stayed very quiet.
“Well, thank you. If it helps, looking after me is going to get you in Damien’s good graces.”
“Omega Hart?” he said as he flicked the indicator, turning down another street.
“Yep.” I smiled. “People think the alphas run the show here, but?—”
“The omega is the one in charge.” Gideon seemed to understand that on some level. “Always the omega.”
“Right, so, he’s not letting just anyone become the ruling pack,” I explained. It was the least I could do after he was forced to leave the ceremony. “Only those he deems worthy will be ableto participate in the alpha trials. He’s not risking Moon River becoming somewhere like Edgewood or Glen Hallow…” My voice trailed away as I saw his arm muscles tense. “You’re from Edgewood?”
“Glen Hallow.” He said the place name like someone might describe a piece of shit on their shoe. “And yes, I know exactly why the Hart pack would decide to do things that way.” He shook his head, staring fixedly at the windscreen. “It’s why my brothers and I applied to come here.” His head shook back and forth. “Anything to get away from the corruption that runs rampant there.”
“So I could help you.” I turned in my seat, feeling better now. “I’ll make an appointment to see Damien and let him know that you helped me. Mads helped Mum and says he’s planning on replanting all of Mum’s garden, and Jace…” I saw that cocky smirk and frowned. “Well, I probably shouldn’t say too much about him.”
Gideon’s smile was almost shy, but that couldn’t be true. If he was a beta in the city, menswear labels would be falling all over themselves, trying to convince him to model for them.
“That’s very kind.” He pulled into the driveway of the Sanderson… now the Whitlock place. “But it’s not needed.” The car was turned off and for a second there was just the ticking sound of the hot engine cooling down. Gideon turned around and stared at me, though his gaze was far softer. “We will prove ourselves worthy on our own merit.”
“OK.” Before I couldn’t say a damn thing and now my mouth was moving, not knowing what to say. Being indebted to someone always made me feel uncomfortable. There was some need in me to even the score before I could walk away again. “Well, I better…” Before I could finish my sentence, he was out of the car. I thought he was storming off, but instead my door popped open and he offered me his hand. “Oh, I should be fine.”
My excuse died in my throat as I looked up, watching him stare down at me intently. The wolf took over, placing my hand in his, allowing him to help me out of the car. OK, so apparently we were walking towards my place, hand in hand. Cool, cool, cool. My eyes were everywhere because otherwise I’d look over at Gideon. I saw the moon, the stars, the swing seat Mrs. Sanderson never let us go on…
“No way…” I pulled away, taking a few steps towards it. “The Sandersons left their precious swing seat here?” My feet skimmed across the grass as I ran over to it, then flung myself into the seat. The cushions smelled pretty musty and as I set the swing swaying, a loud creak made clear it needed oiling. “OK, that’s why.”
“Precious swing?”
Gideon appeared by the frame. The moon turned him into a dark shape with glowing amber eyes.
“If you asked eight-year-old me what she wanted most in the world.” I patted the seat. “It was a swing seat. One evening of swinging on this baby and I was hooked.” I winced. “That, of course, led to me pestering Mrs. Sanderson day in and day out, until she banned me from going on it and Mum had a very firm conversation with me about boundaries.” I looked out at the garden, just seeing the shadowy shapes of trees in the distance. “Every day for about a year, I pined for this swing.” I shrugged. “Then I decided I really, really needed this Barbie Dreamhouse thing.”
“So you gave up on the swing.”
The swing seat gave under his weight as he sat down beside me, and that’s when I noticed his scent. Just like Mads, it was deep and woody, cut through with something sharp.
“Not really.” The slow rhythm of the swing going back and forth helped settle something in me, just like it did when I was achild. “But I was pretty sure I had a better chance of getting the Dreamhouse than sitting on this swing again.”
“Did you get the Dreamhouse?” he asked, and that had me flushing.
Why was I trauma dumping all this crap on Gideon? Probably because there was something quiet and still about him. It had stuff I always kept down, just bubbling up to fill the silence.
“Nope.” Back and forth, back and forth, we went, powered by his legs. “Dad left Mum when I started primary school.” I glanced over at him. “He’s got a new wife and a whole other family now, in another state. Mum didn’t have Dreamhouse money. I do now, but...”
My voice just trailed away as I got lost in the rhythm.
“What would your dream house look like now?”
Gideon’s soft voice brought me back to the garden. The creak of the swing, the chirp of the cicadas. My cheeks flushed bright red, but in the darkness, he had no way of knowing that.
