Page 74 of Begrudgingly Yours
She laughs and then sighs sweetly as she rests her head on mychest.
“I don’t know why roleplaying has never been on my radar,” I huff out.
Her smile is pleased and satisfied as she replies, “Me either. Maybe we just needed to find the right person. A worthy acting partner.”
The sentiment hits me right where it’s meant to. I cough to cover it up. “You’re right. And did I measure up?” I ask her.
Her hand cradles my cheek just before she kisses my forehead. “You always have.”
THIRTY-FIVE
Playing: Love is a Bitch by Two Feet
“Do you want another beer?”Atlas asks.
I look down at the empty can in my fist, considering it, but my instincts encourage me to quit while I’m ahead. “Thanks, but I think I’m good. Something is telling me this is the last one for the night.”
He cracks a real smile. “Are your instincts feeling… stronger lately?” he asks.
My eyes narrow at him. “Why are you asking me that?”
“No reason.” He looks around to see if anyone else is listening. We’re at his house, or rather his pack’s house, but no one is paying attention to us in the corner. Dax is chilling with Kendall and Ciro across the room, and Stacia and Uriah are giggling with each other on the sofa far enough away to not hear us. Sam, Thatcher, and Kit showed up moments ago but went straight to the kitchen to drop off the stuff they brought.
“It obviously isn’t,” I point out.
“Well,” he starts. “Ciro noticed after we started solidifying ourselves as a pack that he could smell us better than he could before. And my instincts have gotten stronger. Any gut feeling I have about anything, I honor it right away. I don’t even have to think about it anymore. It always works out.”
I scrunch my brows. “Really?”
He nods. “It’s cool. Uriah and Kendall said they feel like their instincts are stronger too, but they claim mine are the strongest they’ve ever been because I’m the prime.” He gives me a sideways glance.
I roll my eyes. “Stop it.”
“Stop what?” he laughs. “I didn’t say anything.”
“You didn’t have to. I’m not the prime—” I start to say but before I can get it out, there’s a commotion coming in through the front door.
“Rory, please slow down,” I hear Jett say and my hunches are immediately up. The music that’s playing in the room is loud and the TV is even louder, so no one hears them come in but me. I watch as Rory walks into the room, tears streaming down her face. My alpha instantly prepares for battle.
Jett stops her in the doorway and starts to talk to her, trying to calm her down. There’s a dramatic flair in the movements of her arms but I can tell even from here that she’s sincerely in distress. From the way it looks, you’d think Jett did something to upset her but I know that’s not true. I can’t give the exact reasoning as to how I know this, just that it’s innate.
It also reminds me of the time I ran into them after rehearsal. Her eyes show the same anguish as that night, and Jett’s attempt to help her is like having déjà vu.
Despite the amount of scents in the room, I can make out the soured taste of cranberries floating in the air.
I hand my empty beer off to Atlas and start to walk towards them. Stacia notices the situation, and starts to getup to follow me but I put my hand up. “It’s okay, Stacia,” I say. She looks like she wants to argue, but I continue. “Please… let us help her.” She gives me a serious look. Before I say anything else to convince her, she nods her head and agrees despite looking desperate to help her best friend.
Dax is already with them when I walk up. I didn’t even know he was paying attention, but I should have. He’s always in tune with our omega anytime she’s in the room.
Rory’s eyes meet mine as soon as I join the circle. She seems to breathe out in relief, the tension leaving her as she falls into my arms.
“It’s okay, baby,” I say as I cradle her head into my chest. “Let’s go to the other room, okay? We can talk about whatever’s going on.”
She nods against me and lets me lead her away from the living room as our pack mates follow us. When we find a small den that’s meant to store Stacia’s books, I pray that she and her omega are okay with us commandeering the space.
I sit down on the loveseat and pull Rory into my lap. To my surprise, she melts into me and her scent sweetens the tiniest bit. She needs comfort and her omega is seeking it inme. It’s bittersweet, because I always want the opportunity to show my omega that I can be what she needs, but I’m also angry that someone made her feel this way.
“What happened, baby?” I ask, letting her head fall to the crook of my neck. I look up at Jett, and the fury I feel is reflected back at me through his gaze.
