Page 63 of The Pack Next Door
Once I got off the phone, I got cleaned up and put on a cute linen shift dress and some strappy sandals. Nice, not too formal, but showing I’d made some effort, hopefully it would help me manage the situation without too much angst. As I camedownstairs, I consciously pushed the Whitlocks’ feelings to one side as Mum looked up from the couch.
“You sure you’re going to be OK?” I asked. When Jacinta brought her home, she was looking quite flushed. I’d whipped her up an omelette for dinner as she wasn’t feeling like anything heavier. “You’ve taken your pain meds?”
“Yes, Mother…” She hauled herself upright and then blinked before taking me in. “So off to tangle with the in-laws, huh? That can be tough. I was pretty sure your grandmother was going to drag me out of her house by my ear when she found out I was pregnant with you.”
I didn’t have much to do with Dad’s side of the family for exactly that reason. It’s hard to like a woman who was openly hostile towards your own mother. Dad had my half-brothers with his new wife, and when Gran remarked that she found boys easier to get along with, I left her to it.
“Something you need to know that my mother never told me.” Mum fixed me with a steely gaze. “You don’t have to sit there and take people’s abuse just to keep the peace.” My mouth twitched, remembering the conversation between Mads, Gideon, and me. “Especially with that April woman. She may be an omega, but she seems like a raging bitch.”
OK, that was it. Shocked laughter burst out of me, helping release the tension that had been building all afternoon. Not sexual. Mads had sorted that out nicely, but another moved in to claim territory. I’d spent my life getting past the fact I didn’t have mates, only to find out Lady Fate had done me a dirty. Just when I had come to love being mate free, she had to shove three alphas at me.
Only for them to want a life completely incompatible to mine.
Not all fated mates ended up together, and while it sucked that it looked like that was the case here, we could create atemporary alliance to get what we wanted, then move on with our lives.
“If she starts taking potshots at me,” I replied with a wink, “I’ll tell her I’ll sic my mum on her.”
“You do that.”
If this was years ago, I’d have believed her. Mum was my rock growing up, going to bat for me when I had a difficult teacher or was getting bullied at school. Pretty sure she couldn’t take April now. There was nothing wrong with my mother’s will or determination, but her body wasn’t up for the same fight. I’d have to sort the Whitlock pack’s mother out myself.
And Gideon.
Nice bottle of wine tucked under my arm, I walked down the path to their house. Right as I went to knock on the door, it was pulled open and Jace stepped out.
“You came.” There was a look that only men you’d been intimate with could wear. Like they looked you up and down and replayed the last time you were together. That had me shifting restlessly. The heat might have settled for now, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t feeling the echoes of everything that happened in the forest. “Wasn’t sure if you would. Everything OK?”
I moved slowly, purposefully, coming to stand beside him, my skirts brushing his legs.
“If you’re asking if I’m going to climb on your lap and start grinding in front of your entire family…” I meant it as a joke, but the sudden intake of his breath told me otherwise. “Then the answer is no. Mads helped me out.”
“Me and Mads next time.” He stared into my eyes, making clear this was a promise, not an offer. “See if we can give you some… relief for longer.”
And I might just need it. Booking in a sex appointment before I made the drive out to Honey and Tom’s seemed awfully clinical, but what other choice did I have?
“I might just take you up on that.” I passed him the wine. “For dinner. It’s a nice drop.”
His grin was bright in the darkness as he offered me his arm.
“I’ll drink it, pretending I wasn’t wishing I was tasting you, not some fermented grapes.”
My mouth fell open as I stared at his cheeky grin, but before I could respond, we stepped inside.
Good food cooking, that’s what I noticed first, then the fact the TV was playing a football replay. All of Jace’s dads were sprawled on the couch watching it but had the grace to look up as we entered.
“Am I interrupting something?” I asked Jace in a low voice.
“Hello, love.” Ned, I think it was, got to his feet and came over wearing a knowing grin. “Maddox said you were feeling a bit toey. Glad he could help you out.”
Um, what? I glanced at Jace, who at least had the grace to stop smiling. He shot his dad a dark look, but Ned paid him no mind.
“Right, so you must be pleased your sons won the first trial,” I replied cooly.
“Written in the stars, that was,” Ned said. “Though the boys couldn’t have done it without your help.”
“I could do with some help right now.” April was bustling around the kitchen, complete with a frilly apron tied around her waist. Her hands went to her hips as she inspected me with a far cooler gaze than her son had. Apparently, my dress didn’t pass muster. She looked at me like I was wearing a potato sack. “Briar?—”
“Is coming outside for a drink,” Jace interrupted smoothly, quickly marching me towards the back door. “Dads!”
