Page 42 of The Pack Next Door
“So, is it just me or did your mother really not want to meet me?” my mate asked with a wary smile. “If I interrupted something?—?”
“She interrupted something.” My elbow was now free to rest on the table as I turned towards Briar. The way her pupils expanded, her nostrils flared, helped settle something inside me. She was feeling whatever the hell this was too. “We intended to come by and talk to you tonight.”
“About…?” Briar knew. She had to by the way she looked at each of us in turn. “Because if this is about the garden again?—”
“Briar.”
“Or chicken stealing, because the Hendersons have already had a word to Mum about wolves taking their chooks.”
I waited her out, each one of us leaning closer, and that’s when her hands went to her lap. The graceful curve of her back, I traced it with my eyes, right before she straightened up.
“One of my friends thinks you have to be my alphas.” Hearing her say the words was everything I didn’t know I needed. “I mean, that’s ridiculous…”
She had some argument she’d been cooking up in her head, but when my hand shot out and took hers with mine, it all fell away. Big eyes flicked up to meet mine, and I’m not sure if she saw the mute prayer there. To agree with her statement, or disagree, she wasn’t sure, but whatever the outcome, she didn’t want us to hurt her. That had me picking her up out of her chair and placing her on my lap. Only when my arms went around her did I feel like I could take a full breath. One now perfumed with the scent of roses.
“It’s not ridiculous and you know it.” My hand rubbed at her thighs, the need to get between them tamped down by the far more pressing one of making her understand. “Didn’t you feel it? Because I did. That little feminine voice saying the dirtiest things…”
“OK, you didn’t tell me anything about that.” Jace moved into her spot and then clasped the back of her calf. “For me, it was getting out of that truck, expecting to get bollocksed out by some little old lady and finding something far better waiting for me.” He peered up into her eyes. “The one woman I’ve been looking for my entire life.”
We all turned to Gideon then, and he stared without blinking. Quick to act, but slow to express himself, he sucked in a breath before resting his head on his hands.
“The night of the opening ceremony, there was so much chatter. Alphas, omegas, the entire town watching on and passing commentary. It was like this… pressure.” I frowned, having no idea that was the way he felt about it. “That just wouldn’t ease until I heard someone shout your name. I looked out into the darkness, wondering who was making such a fuss, only for every thought to go out of my head the moment I laid eyes on you.”
Shit, it turned out that stick up Gideon’s butt helped him be almost poetic when it counted.
“Mine, that was what I thought.” His finger traced circles on the tabletop. “And then protect. Get you the fuck away from the people, the noise, the spectacle, because none of that shit mattered. Just you.”
“I…” My hand moved, rubbing reassuring circles on her back. She might be about to reject the lot of us, not having space for alphas in her city-girl life, but she’d do it with whatever comfort I could give her. Hands rose and then fell again. “I don’t know what to say. Less than twenty-four hours ago, I thought it was impossible for me to have fated mates.”
She was pulled backwards so she lay across my lap, my arm wrapped around her shoulders. Those eyes, I needed to stare into them.
“So take your time. Work out how you feel about this. We’re here for the process.”
“Every step of the way,” Jace agreed, “but…”
I wanted to kick his butt for letting his eyes trail down her legs, but that sweet, sweet scent of rose and vanilla bloomed, making me uncomfortably aware of just how fucking hard I was. My body didn’t give a shit about any of this. It knew exactly what hers needed. Whisking her upstairs and into my bedroom, every piece of clothing torn off her, right before the three of us descended upon Briar. My mouth filled with saliva, something I had to hastily swallow away.
“You’re in heat. Not that pseudo thing.”
“Pseudoestrus…” she hissed.
“Yeah…” My hand slid up her thigh without thought. “This is about as real as anything I’ve ever felt before.”
“Which means we need to take things more slowly.”
My fangs were bared as Gideon cut through the intense atmosphere with his cool words. It took a second, but the big head re-engaged, knowing he was right, even as I cursed himmentally. I’d mark Briar as soon as I worked my knot up inside her, so there was no way I could get even close to that.
“He’s right.” Jace cursed under his breath at my words, but I set Briar back on my lap and pulled her bowl over so it was in front of her. “So how about you be a good girl and eat?”
Chapter 22
Briar
Mate… Really in heat… The quiet that followed when Gideon had me in his arms… Waiting for me their entire lives… All of these were concepts far too big for me to digest, and perhaps that was why I scrambled free of Mads and to my feet.
“I…” The need to say something and the equally strong inability to give voice to my thoughts had me backing away.
“Omega…” Gideon said in a way-too-gentle tone.
