Page 19 of The Pack Next Door
“It’s not a little business!” Fuck, I was shouting. My whole body quivered from the shock of it, and Mum looked like she was just as taken aback. “We made several million dollars in profit this year.” My shaking finger stabbed into my chest. “I am not just an omega, not anymore. I’m a friend, a boss, a successful businesswoman. Sometimes I’m even a mentor, but you know what’s the most important thing? I’m happy, Mum. I’m happy.”
I just didn’t sound like it right now.
My hands went to my head, and I paced back and forth, eyes half closed, trying to work out a way past this. The wolf was sure she knew. She was digging at the bond between us, trying to find a way out.
“I’m happy you’re a success in the city, really I am, but you can’t fight reality, Briar. You’re an omega and you need alphas.”
For just a second, I thought she understood, but that last bit, it was like a slap to the face. Perhaps that’s why I responded so badly.
“You want to talk about reality?” I snapped, all good sense thrown out the window. My head throbbed in time with my frantic heart. “Then how about this? You’re too old to live in this big house all by yourself now. You could’ve died. If the delivery driver hadn’t found you…”
One little gasp, that’s all it took to silence me. I’d hurt Mum, that much was clear. Her face crumpled in, her hands shaking as she collapsed down onto the stool. I took a step towards her, to beg for her forgiveness, to try to find common ground somewhere, but the wolf had had enough. With a yelp, she sprang free, leaving my clothes in a pool on the kitchen floor. Down the hall she ran, then to the back door, shoving the screen open. The moon, the sky, that’s what she saw, and then she was off. Across the backyard, then over the fence and off up the hill to the forest beyond we went.
The feeling of our body moving with purpose, running at full speed, our paws striking the earth. It was everything I didn’t know I needed. We stopped when we reached the top of the hill, climbing up onto the big, flat rock there. Our head was thrown back and the sound of our howl vibrated in our throat, right before we let it out. Our cry echoed out through the forest, the hills and the town beyond.
Chapter 10
Jace
“What the hell happened with Gideon?” Mads said as we rolled up our street. The taxi driver was trying really hard not to listen in the entire time.
“He worked out who our fated mate is.”
I opened the door and got out, leaving my brother to pay the driver, because as I did so, I heard her. A perfect silvery howl, it had me jogging towards the house, then running into the back garden, the fence the only thing stopping me.
Briar needed us.
The wolf couldn’t explain what her howl meant, just that we were needed, so my shirt was up and over my head, my hands going to my pants to undo the button, when company arrived.
“Is that—?” Mads said, staring at the dark shape of the forest beyond.
“Yes.” Gideon materialised out of the shadows, the freaky prick. “Our mate.”
He said that, then looked at us, like he was announcing something we didn’t know. I shrugged and then shucked off my clothes and shoes, ready to shift, when Mads turned to Gideon.
“What the hell is Briar doing out there if she was with you?” he snapped, getting into Gideon’s face.
I shook my head slowly.Here we go again.
“She was perfectly happy after I brought her home,” Gideon shot back. “I walked her home?—”
My wolf put up with this kind of bullshit most days, but not when our mate was howling for us. He made clear he was coming forth and I could either fight him and lose or just surrender to the inevitable.
“Hey, if you two want to get into a pissing contest right now, that’s fine by me.” Fur prickled across my skin. “But I’m going to find Briar.”
Without looking back, the wolf sprung free, leaping over the back fence and then racing up the hill towards the forest. We wanted to howl, announce that we were coming and that we would do anything to make things better for Briar, but something kept our jaws closed. We padded through the trees, our wolf eyes turning everything into shades of deep bluish grey to white, right before we came to the clearing.
The wolf sat down on his haunches, letting out a low rumble as he saw her. Head thrown back, the neat lines of her compact body had us staring openly, right up until her cry was cut off abruptly. Golden eyes stared at us, and that’s when I knew it.
It wasn’t just that she was mine. That had hit me hard the moment I set eyes on Briar, but right now? Her wolf knew that too. Why else would she let out a little chuff, then whirl away, sprinting off into the forest? My brothers’ wolves appeared beside me, but we didn’t bother acknowledging them. Our haunches bunched, our paws clawing at the earth as we went tearing after her.
Her wolf knew what her human side didn’t, that we were her mates. Briar would resist the bond, forcing us to chase after her, but that was the way things worked. We had to prove ourselvesto her. That certainty, that the fates themselves had deemed that she was the one woman in the world for me, was what had my body moving faster, chasing that white tail. Her wolf looked back over her shoulder, our eyes locking for a moment, right as she jerked sideways.
So it was like that.
Her wolf wanted to test us and that was just fine. We slid sideways, recovering speed fast before streaking after her. A toss of her head as she glanced back at me made clear she knew exactly what she was doing. Pushing me harder, forcing me to chase her, but what would happen when she was caught? As if to answer that question, my brothers emerged from the forest, blocking her path.
Briar’s wolf came to a sliding stop, whining as she looked at each one of them, then me. Her little paws danced across the forest floor, looking for a way forward but not finding it. Two instincts rode her: one to find a way to race away, keep playing this game, and the other? To start a whole new one.
