Page 18 of Pack Nightmare

Jared’s face is pure fury—I know he was already suspicious about my relationship with Derrek, and this probably added fuel to the fire.

Milo wears a darkly amused expression, keeping the truth of his emotions concealed better, at least visibly. Thanks to my alpha senses, I can tell he’s not nearly as calm as he pretends to be.

Landon simply looks surprised and hurt, which matches his emotional landscape.

“Jared was worried about you,” Milo finally answers in a slow drawl, as if he doesn’t really care. “So he asked us to meet him here. He was concerned the new lit professor would try to make a move on you. Seems he was right to be concerned.”

Derrek bristles at my side, but I step in front of him and hold up a hand. Indignation is burning in my veins at the implication, and I need to stop this mess before it becomes a disaster. “First of all, he didn’t ‘make a move on me’. We had some things to hash out from the past, and we shared a hug. End of story.

“Second, I am the alpha, and while you might be my fated mates, I have yet to accept you. We may have a connection, but for the most part, I barely know you. I’ve known Derrek for years. He’s like a long-lost member of my family, and you all have no place to interfere. So I suggest you dial it back a bit and stop presuming to own me.”

Milo’s eyes widen and his expression goes slack with the surprise I feel across our bond. Landon looks distinctly guilty, and his emotions color to match.

But Jared’s expression and feelings don’t change. He remains angry, and instead of saying anything, he turns and marches out of the door.

Derrek places a warm palm on my shoulder, and I draw comfort from it. Light tingles course over my skin at the contact once again, and I step out of his reach before I can think too much about what it means.

Instead, I turn and give him a smile, murmuring, “I’ll see you Friday,” and then join the two fated who wait for me by the doorway.

We walk in silence down the empty hallway for a few moments before Milo says, “Well, that was interesting.”

I snort, grateful for the return of his playful tone and somewhat pleased with how I stood up for myself. “Yeah, I’ll say.”

“Layla,” Landon’s voice is soft. “You know we don’t think we own you, right? We care about you, and being fated comes with a connection that sometimes triggers a very… possessive response, but we respect you completely.”

A dry chuckle escapes my lips. “Yeah, maybe you should tell Jared that. What is with him, anyway? He was mad throughout class. I tried to explain to him but I guess it didn’t take.”

“Jared doesn’t see you as a possession either, I promise. He’s just always been very protective. Even toward us.”

“It’s true, Lex. When we were younger, this one,” Milo shoves Landon playfully in the shoulder, “was a real runt. Some of the bigger boys picked on him and Jared made sure they regretted it.” He drapes an arm around my shoulder and leans in with that sexy smirk. “I’d love to see you take Jared down a peg. He’s been the football golden boy for quite some time now. I think it’d be hilarious to see him squirm under your alpha command. And sexy.”

Heat slithers over my skin at the way he says ‘sexy’. “I wouldn’t use that on you guys, though. Not after finding out Roxanne used it on me for over a year. It feels… like a dirty trick to pull, taking away someone’s free will.”

“Nah,” Landon grabs my hand, threading his fingers through mine. “We’re all used to it. It’s just part of pack life. Otherwise, people would be constantly fighting over stupid stuff. We don’t randomly wolf out anymore like they used to, but people still get stupid upset for dumb shit.”

“Wolf out?”

“Yeah. I guess—back before there was a curse, people would shift on the drop of a hat. A lot of times, anger was the trigger. I suppose that might still happen in other packs, but here, we can’t shift even if we want to, unless it’s between midnight and one.”

“Huh. I guess I’ve never known anything else, so I didn’t think about it.”

Landon shrugs. “Yeah, me neither. But I guess when you get really angry and feel that crawling sensation under your skin, that’s your wolf trying to get out.”

“How do you know that?”

“My dad told me.”

Milo snorts. “Sounds like another Crews Classic to me.”

“No, it’s true!”

My eyes dart to Milo. “Crews Classic?”

“Yeah. Landon’s dad is known for making up shit to scare us or just trick us. He’s done it since we were kids.”

“Why?”

“Just being a dad, I suppose. He got a kick out of telling us the garbage can actually eats the garbage, stuff like that. As we got older, he tried to make it scarier, usually stuff to keep us in line. If we didn’t take the garbage out at night, the can would come into the house, hunting us.”

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