Page 25 of Sweet Whiskey
“How do you know…she’s the one?” he asks, scratching at the back of his neck as his cheeks flush red. He turns away from me, checking something on the fence as we wait for the straggling horses walking toward us.
Sometimes I forget that Mav is quite a few years younger than me, with a beta father who spent more time teaching him how to handle a business than be a man who presented as an alpha.
“It feels right. Like something settled in my soul just by being in her presence. I think about her all the time,” I struggle to explain. “With Kinsey, just hints of her scent have me seeking it out like an addict. I won’t know if we’re scent matches until she gets off the suppressants, but I don’t think I’m dumb to imagine we are.”
Mav looks at me over his shoulder. “And her scent, you’ve never experienced that before with anyone else?”
I shake my head. “Obviously some women have smelled good, but not memorable. Not ingrained into my mind from the firstwhiff.”
He swallows, nodding slowly and turning to find the last horse trotting closer to the barn.
I watch him for a moment, letting the moment sit between us tensely before he finally asks, “Why?”
Mav stiffens, standing up and patting the mare on her butt to get her going inside. “Just curious.”
My eyebrow raises. “You ain’t one for chitchat.”
His tongue sticks into his cheek as he glares at me. “The little blonde. She’s got my attention, alright?”
I hold up my hands in surrender, smirking. “Was just curious. It’s your business.”
He nods. “Sorry, just not sure how I’m feeling about it. Dad has been pushing for me to settle down, and now it seems too convenient.”
Shrugging, I close the fence as the last horses strut through.
Maverick sighs. “And you’re okay with Brooks and Dallas circling around her too?”
Unease settles in my stomach, knowing what he’shinting at. “Yeah, for some reason those two I don’t mind.”
“I don’t know if I’d be like that. The thought of you being interested in her almost made me feral.”
My lips pull into a smirk, then I think about Maverick touching Kinsey and my hackles rise. I rub the back of my neck. “Yeah, I don’t like the idea of you touching Kinsey. Maybe it would be the same for you with a few others.”
He grunts. “I can’t imagine who.”
We both follow the horses into the barn, needing to lock them up for the remainder of the morning until the crew can shuffle through the chores and let them out in the afternoon.
Brooks is waiting for me by my truck when I finish helping Maverick in the barn. I glance at him with raised eyebrows.
“Can I help you?”
He shrugs. “Heard you were looking at a pack house.”
I scowl. “It’s not a pack house.”
“Will it have Kinsey’s nest in it?” he asks, tilting his head to the side as if daring me to deny it. My heart twists at the thought of building her perfect nest, and I flip him off, unlocking my door and waiting for him to climb in on the other side.
“Too bad Dallas isn’t back in town yet. I’m sure he’d like to pick out his room,” Brooks says after we settle in and I start up the truck.
My knuckles curl around the steering wheel, but I keep my eyes on the road as I head down the long driveway of the ranch. “Do you enjoy antagonizing me, Brooks?”
He laughs, but it’s lacking humor. “Yes, but I think you’re the one being stubborn. We’re a pack. We always have been. The three of us have always been drawn to each other more than any of the other alphas. It’s platonic, but it’s still a pack. Did you know there’s a homebuyer’s program for packs? Restoration loans for packs? It would be easier to qualify for a bank loan, especially if we have an omega. Everyone knows how expensive nest building can get. It’s like we get the benefits of being married, but forall of us.”
My tongue plays with my back molar as I think over what he said, and I blow out a breath. “I didn’t know that,” I admit reluctantly. Everything I’ve been taught about packs came from my mother, who ran from the alphas who forced her into a bond and then dumped her to the side when they got an omega. Even years later when the alphas came crawling back, she felt the tug of their bond. They nearly bankrupted her by preying on her past feelings.
Brooks nods slowly. “I—uh. I started looking into it the day we saw Kinsey. I have a cousin in the city who can probably help us with the paperwork.”
I swallow, blowing out a deep breath. “We don’t have to bond to be a pack, right? I briefly remember that law being passed.”
