Page 47 of Pack Favero

He winks at me before walking into the kitchen, clapping Barnes on the shoulder before going about making his usual cup of tea. As he does, he repeats, “What were you saying about wisdom? And why is there a hint of stress clinging to Zira’s scent?”

I shouldn’t be shocked he can smell it from where he is, but I am, and I bite my lip when I fall a little harder for these men. Sinking my hand into Ford’s hair as he snoozes, I nod to Barnes, offering him permission to share the little interaction I had with Hunter Gary Johnson the fucking idiot. It doesn’t take long to explain it all, Barnes going through the cliff notes but ensuring he repeats what I was told word for word.

The temperature drops the more Barnes explains, and my chest pinches with discomfort when Barnes ends it with, “He must have hit a nerve, because he managed to niggle a bit of doubt into our omega. I’ve already promised that she means a great deal to us, but maybe you four can try your hand at it, just to really drill the point home.”

With a wink in my direction and a smug little grin that I want to hate but simply can’t, I’m forced to meet the eyes of theothers and wince. “I didn’t doubt you all, as such. But it brought up a few thoughts that I dismissed and had to keep dismissing. You don’t have to prove anything to me.”

“I beg to differ, darling,” Laz counters, bringing his hot tea to his armchair before sitting down while Alek wipes his face with a towel he plucks from the back pocket of his sweat pants and takes a seat on the edge of the coffee table, facing me with a serious expression that looks out of place on the usually fun, goofy Viking.

Staring directly at me, he says seriously, “Just to clear a few things up, this isn’t a fling, little lady. We’re not looking for a fling, and we definitely wouldn’t consider one with you when you’re worth far more than that. We’re all looking for something real, and we all want that with you. So, whatever bullshit that dipshit spewed, wipe it from that pretty head of yours, because none of it was true or matters.”

I nod slowly, believing every word, and Alek smiles happily like he sees the words sinking into my mind and sticking.

Laz continues where he left off, watching me with a close intensity as he declares, “You’re our omega, sweetheart. And we’re your alphas. You belong with us, not for what you give us, but because of who you are. In the time we’ve known you and spent time with you, we’ve all learned pretty quickly that you’re what we want, what we need. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

I think I do, so I nod while I bite my lip to bottle any kind of emotion that tries to leak from my eyes.

Mac presses a kiss to the side of my head before he whispers, “You’re our woman, and there’s no chance we’re ever letting you go.”

Sleepily and startling my hand into pausing on his head, Ford murmurs, “Your pack, pretty girl. Now keep scratching myhead like that again. That was heaven.”

The guys all laugh at the sleepy twin, the intensity easing just as quickly as it came, and I sigh before I confess, “I hope you all realize that you mean just as much to me.”

Laz winks. “Of course, we do, sweetheart.”

“Now that that’s settled,” Alek blurts, clapping his hands together and eyeing me with a flicker of mania in his eyes. “We should name our pack.”

Everyone groans playfully, but he has my attention, and I shrug. “Sure. What did you have in mind?”

“Well, we’re all yours, right?” he asks, and I bite my lip shyly and nod, even as I blush every form of red on the color spectrum. He winks, pleased with my answer, and says, “Then it only seems fair that we name our pack after the woman we’re all obsessed over. Pack Favero does have a beautiful ring to it.”

My smile breaks free just then, and I’m grinning at the Viking before muttering, “Pack Favero. I could get used to that.”

“Damn straight,” he agrees, and we spend the rest of the night as a real pack, my heart and mind settled with only a few honest and bone-deep meaningful words from the men I realize I’m falling madly and irrevocably in love with.

Chapter 16

Alek

Sitting on the mats as I watch my omega while she bends and twists like a pretzel, I can’t help but be mesmerized at her flexibility. Half the moves she’s pulling would land me in the ER if I even tried it, and it makes me all the more impressed with how well trained she is.

I’m absolutely transfixed as the little sprite of a woman tumbles like a pro, bends backwards effortlessly into a bridge before kicking herself back into standing, only to launch into a complex string of twists and more tumbles that make me dizzy.

Since her class with the kiddos was cancelled this morning, I offered our gym for her to use, sensing that she could use an hour or two to let loose, unwind a little, and shake out some of the energy that had her a little jittery this morning when we were eating breakfast. Since I know more than the others about having to deal with too much energy on a daily basis, I could see she needed an outlet, and there’s nothing better than releasing that energy by working it out of your system through sweat.

I don’t even know how long I’ve been sitting at the edge of the mats, eyes glued to the bendy woman as she launches herself in the air over and over again, kicking her legs into the splits while she’s in the air, and landing into a roll that bleeds into another fancy move that would absolutely break my back.

The exercise seems to do the trick for her, though, because she’s coated in sweat by the time she’s done, her sage-green booty shorts that hug the rounded curve of her ass to perfection and the matching sports bra both stained with sweat marks. She’s a fucking vision, and I’m thanking my lucky starsall over again that this woman is ours.

Standing in the middle of the mats, hands on her dainty waist as she pants for air, Zira tilts her head up to the high-vaulted ceiling, the sweat slicked head of flames coming slightly loose from her hair tie and giving her a sexy, wild look that I try not to let affect me. I can’t hide a hard on in the shorts I’m donning, and I’ll be damned if I make things weird. Not that I think she’ll think it’s weird, but it’s definitely not the time for it right now. Unless she says so, of course. Then I’m falling to my knees and worshipping the woman like the gods made her and put her in our lives for that reason alone.

Cutting off whatever Silver is babbling about on the phone, even though I’m glad to finally hear from her now that she’s home from her vacation and has spent much needed time recovering after her first heat with her pack, I say, “Kiddo, as much as I love talking to you, I gotta go.”

“Oh, what? Why? I haven’t finished telling you about how the guys proposed,” she whines, and I laugh at her, already aware of every detail, because the idiot shared it online before calling me. Luckily, I already knew they planned to propose, because they all came to ask me for my blessing before they dared asking her to be theirs legally.

Keeping my voice low, I offer, “How about you come over in a few weeks for dinner? When Zira is fully settled? You can tell me all about it again,”

Silver sighs, though it’s not a sad sound. “I still can’t believe it took you so long to meet her. Isn’t she great? The fucking sweetest, man.”

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