Page 47 of Begrudgingly Yours
“Because you’ve always wanted alphas!” I say a bit defensively. “You’ve always wanted a pack, and you may have found a horrible alpha before, but I knew whoever you were scent matched to had to be some of the good ones because you’re the best person I know. You deserved your happy ending.”
Stacia gives me a particular look, one that I’ve given her before many times. It takes me aback so literally that I physically take a step back. “What?”
“So do you, Cranny. You also deserve your happy ending, too.”
We finally make it to the dining hall and walk in. My stomach grumbles and I’m about to walk towards the trays when I notice that Stacia’s face makes that same guilty expression. “What’s going on with your face? Why do you keep doing that?”
She grimaces and there’s a guilty glint in her eye. “There’s something I need to tell you but I don’t think it’s my place.”
Immediately, a rush of fear goes through my body. “Stacia, I swear to god if you don’t tell me Iwillscream. I can’t take one more secret that involves me.”
“You’re right, you’re right,” she says quickly with her hands up in front of her. “Let me just… figure out how to say this without it sounding like a prank.”
Before I can ask what she means, I hear a very familiar laugh bounce from across the room. It tickles the edge of my brain, reminding me of leftover pizza and dark cherries. I look without thinking, like my omega wants even the tiniest glimpse of the blond alpha with the bigger-than-life personality, but what I see makes me freeze.
Across the dining hall, Dax is laughing heartily, his joy palpable. But that’s not what makes me pause. It’s who else is at the table. First Everett, which is obvious, who is suppressing his laughter and instead adorns a beautiful smile. But then I see thethird person. His hair is long and dark, his leather jacket familiar even from here. Then he turns to the side, laugher falling freely from his lips. I see his profile, the same nose and rigid jawline that I saw only days ago at my house. Jett’s happiness shines bright as he sits with Everett and Dax so casually in the center of the hall.
The image of them together stuns me. I let out a ghastly shriek, and then put a fist into Stacia’s shirt so I can pull her behind a wall.
My best friend lets out a surprised squeal as we round the wall. “What’s happening? What are you doing?” She pulls her shirt free, and looks at me like I’ve grown two heads. “Are we hiding?”
I shush her like the alphas can hear us from behind this wall and trashcan. The smell of today’s macaroni salad makes me feel nauseous.
“I just saw Jett sitting with Dax and Everett. They were all laughing!” I whisper-yell, feeling completely scandalized. But instead of responding with the same dramatics, Stacia’s face morphs back into that same guilty look.
“Did you know anything about this?” I ask, hoping it’s rhetorical.
Stacia’s eyebrows furrow. “Well…”
“What!” I hit the wall with my palm and wince when I hit it harder than I thought I would. “Stacia, seriously? What is going on?”
“Well…” she starts and then she huffs out a frustrated breath. “Okay, do you remember when you took Pack Dynamics 101 freshman year?”
I raise an incredulous eyebrow.
“Okay, so… sometimes it takes a while for the pack bond to click in. Like with Kendall and Atlas for example, they knew they were going to be pack their whole lives but the bond didn’t settle in until they met Ciro and Uriah…”
“Stacia, you’re confusing me. Please get to the point.”
So she blurts it out. “Everett and Dax’s pack bond finally clicked in and they found their last pack mate.”
She opens her mouth to say more, but I know—and myomegaknows—what she’s going to say. I have the urge to put my fingers in my ears and childishly sing so I don’t have to hear it, but instead I just stare at her, waiting for the inevitable words to leave her lips.
“Jett is their pack mate,” she finishes, her expression both nervous and relieved.
It feels like my brain glitches.
I must look like I’m not getting it, because she repeats herself. “Their pack mate, the one they met recently and made the bond finally click in, is Jett.”
I know she isn’t lying, but I still feel like I’m hallucinating. “Can you say that one more time?”
Stacia gives a heavy, frustrated sigh. “Rory. Your scent match is pack mates with your one night stands.”
Yep, I can’t pretend anymore. This is actually happening. “How?How did they even cross paths?”
“Everett met Jett through Alpha Xi’s tutoring program. Apparently they clicked, became friends. The second Dax met him, the bond clicked in.”
I feel like I’m going to be sick. “When was this?”
