Page 22 of Pack Deception: Part Two

Despite the late hour and him having worked all day, he doesn’t look the least bit tired as he stares adoringly at me. I bring a hand up to his cheek, and my thumb traces lines along his sharp cheekbone and under his eye where there should be dark circles but are none.

“You’re so handsome,” I whisper, heat tinging my cheeks as his summer rain and freshly mowed grass scent grows more pronounced at my words. A rumble travels through his chest. Not a growl since only alphas and omegas have true growls, but it gets the point across well enough. Well, enough that my legs spread automatically.

He steps between them, and I hook my ankles around his back, pulling him even closer.

“I missed you.” His voice is deep and gravelly in a way that sends shivers down my spine. Hands run up and down my sides in gentle strokes while he stares into my eyes, hunger shining in his.

My body leans into his, and so slowly I want to scream, he bends down to kiss me. His lips on mine are unhurried and so freaking soft. Butterflies are bouncing around violently in my stomach at the tender way he’s kissing me, holding me; I’m almost vibrating with them. His tongue darts out to my lips, and I open for him. So there we stand–or sit, in my case–in the middle of the kitchen, making out like it’s just him and me in the house. And in this moment, it feels like it is.

But then a throat clears from across the living room, near the stairs. Mason and I don’t jump apart from each other like we’ve just been caught doing something we shouldn’t. We don’t stop kissing right away, either. Somehow, it would feel unfinished.

He kisses me once more in a long, lingering caress before pulling back to turn toward our visitor. Maverick is standing on the stairs, hair wet and only in a pair of basketball shorts. If Mason’s eyes were hungry staring at me, Maverick looks ravenous at the both of us.

To my utter mortification though, Maverick was not the one who cleared his throat to stop us because Houston is standing in the living room, back ramrod straight with his hands folded behind it and his eyes staring straight ahead, not looking at us.

“Apologies, ma’am. I was just coming to make sure you wanted to leave at the same time tomorrow,” he says, when he feels our attention on him.

“Oh–” My voice is so husky I have to stop, swallow, and clear it before I continue. “Yes. Same time is fine. Thank you.”

He nods, not turning our way, before walking toward the door that leads to the basement and their rooms.

There is an awkward silence while Mason and Maverick stare at each other. The tension practically crackles in the air between them. And not a good kind, either. Part of me wants to run to my nest and hide from what seems like a brewing fight. The other part is too scared to move in case it triggers it while I’m still in the room.

A few tense moments later, Mason breaks eye contact first to look back at me. My own eyes are still darting between the two of them worriedly. “Come to my room?” he whispers, tucking a finger under my chin and pulling my face up to look at him. He’s smiling at me, but it’s not the soft, genuine one he gave me when I first walked into the kitchen. This one is tighter, more closed off. My answering nod is wary.

Maverick’s sigh is so loud and resigned that it draws both mine and Mason’s attention. “Actually, I was hoping I could talk to you.” This is clearly directed at Mason, and I see my escape. Blessed relief is just a dart around Mason away. I try to hop off the counter, but he holds me still and raises a brow at me. “Where do you think you’re going? This should be a talk between all of us.”

My skin starts to crawl, anxiety welling up. This is where they blame me for causing a rift between them. Or they start yelling at each other, and I feel like it’s all my fault anyway, even if they aren’t explicitly pointing fingers at me.

Mason must feel the emotions coming off me or smell it in the way my scent sours because he sweeps me off the counter, throwing me over his shoulder. The breath gets knocked out of me for a second. “Hey!” I whisper-shout at him because Brooklyn is still snoozing on the couch. I guess she really can sleep through anything once she’s out.

“Shhh,” he says back mockingly, and pinches my ass.

“Ouch! What was that for?”Seriously, what happened to a good ole fashioned ass slap?

“Just ‘cause my mate’s got a good butt.” Any resistance melts out of me when he calls me his mate. I love hearing it. For some reason, it doesn’t make me feel even the slightest bit of panic, like when Hudson tells me he loves me. However, even that is less scary now that it has had a chance to settle.

Mason walks right by Maverick, who stands there looking a little lost, not sure whether to follow or not.

“Well, are you coming or not, you big lug?” Mason huffs back, not breaking stride. If I thought he was walking toward his own room or even Maverick’s, I was mistaken. He marches right to the end of the hall where my nest is and walks right in, depositing me on the huge, floor-length bed. He pulls his shirt off one-handed, in the way only men can do, and places it over my own head. Immediately, I’m engulfed in his scent. It’s enough to calm my nerves, but he takes it a step further, sniffing all the throw blankets around the bed until I’m bundled in all my mate’s scents.

Maverick is standing in the doorway, watching it all happen. Once Mason is leaned up against the wall with his arm around me, and I’m tucked into his side, Maverick steps in and closes the door behind him.

If there is still tension swirling between the two of them, I don’t feel it anymore. Surrounded by blankets and swimming in my mates’ comforting scents, I’m completely at ease. Almost riding a drug-induced-like high.

“If you’re waiting for me to start this, I’m not going to. I’m not emotionally bailing you out again,” Mason says, and shock breaks through my bubble. He sounds…like an alpha. So firm and dominating. Maverick doesn’t look the least bit surprised by this, so I’m guessing my fun-loving beta has a little bit of a darker side. One I haven’t seen yet but now really want to.

Maverick’s eyes roll back in his head. “Don’t be a brat. I’m trying to find the words.”

“More like the courage,” Mason whispers in my ear. Maverick still hears him but chooses to ignore it.

“I did a lot of things the wrong way. At the time, I thought what I was doing was in your best interest. But it wasn’t my place to make unilateral decisions in our relationship, and I’m sorry.”

I’m…so confused. He seems genuine, but I don’t know what this is about. So, being the absolutely unhinged omega that I am, I tentatively raise my hand.

“Are you raising your hand?” Mason sniggers in my ear, to which he promptly earns an elbow to the gut.

“You don’t need to raise your hand, sweets.” Maverick laughs along with Mason.

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