Page 13 of Pack Giroux

I laugh, not surprised his thoughts went there first afterlast time. "No, it's not them this time."

"You'vegot a stalker?" he asks smiling, knowing good and damn well that I'd never let that happen after watching the twins go through it.

Squeezing past him, I go over to grab my keys as I confess, "I think I'm the one doing the stalking."

I hear his steps falter and stop completely. "What the fuck, Grady?"

Letting out another bark of laughter, I rub the spot on my forehead again. "It's not like that."

"Then what the hellisit like?" he demands.

"Come on," I say, motioning us out the door. "I'll tell you on the way."

His expression is still concerned disbelief as we hop in my car and I start the drive toward North U. I'm still trying to figure out how to answer his questions without sounding crazy.

"Okay, you've got me in the car. Start talking," he demands.

I don't take offense to his tone like most people probably would. We've been together as a pack for the past three years, and you get to know each other in every way possible in that kind of timeframe. Raine is a very straight forward, get to the point kind of alpha. He doesn't open up to just anyone and speaks even less. Unless, he feels comfortable around you.

"Okay, listen," I start.

"Shit," he practically growls out as he ties his long, dark hair at his nape so that it doesn't get tangled in the breeze.

It's funny, but it's not at the same time. Normally, the trouble comes from the twins.

"So, I went to the store the other day, and there was this girl in the detergent aisle," I tell him, "She goes to North U. Sexy as hell. Smells divine. Absolutely clueless about some things. I don't know why...honestly, yes, I do know why. It was her scent,man. I couldn't figure out what it was at first, but the more I think about it, it's like a still warm, fresh Rice Krispy treat. You know, like the sweet marshmallow smell. Anyway, I invited her to lunch with me and Kinkaid. There was something odd in how she responded to some things. I dropped her off at her dorm and gave her both our numbers. She hasn't contacted either one of us."

"I'm not judging you right now," Raine tells me. "If it wasn't for our scents being so in sync with each other, we never would've formed our pack. Just please tell me you haven't progressed to following her around."

"Damn, I'm not that hard up," I state. "I just tried to do a little research on her and came up empty handed. Like really empty handed. She might as well be a ghost for as much as I found on her. No social media or anything."

"That's not too uncommon these days," he says, looking off in the distance. "A lot of people don't have socials anymore. It's cool to completely unplug apparently. Still, even with her scent affecting you as strongly as it has, I get it."

"Wasn't just me," I tell him. "I don't think I'm the real reason Kinkaid gave you half the story."

"You think that she got to him, too?" he asks.

I laugh. "Just wait. We won't be the only ones."

He cuts his eyes over to me. "You just said that she hasn't contacted either one of you."

"I thought you believed in fate, man," I say.

I can see him in my peripheral studying me like I've grown another head. We ride in silence the rest of the way to the restaurant. Me lost in thought of her, and no doubt, the same for him, and he hasn't even met her yet. I'm fully confident that she is our person. Our omega. The final piece to our puzzle. It's been driving me crazy for days wondering what she's doing or if she might call. Then I go back and forth on whether she'd evenconsider us as a pack when we come with a whole list of issues. The twins are just the tip of the iceberg. Hell, she's just starting college, too. She may not be ready for anything serious, anyway.

Taking a deep breath, I let it out and try to let all of the negative thoughts flow out with it. It's been many years since I had to do any breathing exercises. My anxiety and inner turmoil has been under control for a long time. The last time I can remember is right after my brother’s funeral. Of course, that was before I met Raine, too. His alpha settled something deep inside of me that I never thought would be under control. He picked me up off the floor in one of my darkest days and has been my best friend ever since.

We pull up to the curb outside of the restaurant, and we debate for a second on putting the top up, because they're calling for rain in a little while. I just shrug it off and tell him we can just risk it, because we're going to be sitting right inside and can come out if we need to.

As soon as my head swivels back to the front of the building, I spot her, and there's no stopping the smile that pops onto my face. One that she quickly returns, making me wonder once again why she never called when she's clearly happy to see me. Her eyes flick to Raine, who clearly hasn't noticed her yet. I like the quick, heated look that she shoots him, likely without realizing it.

We make our way inside, but instead of sitting at our normal table at the back, I ask the person seating us to put us near the window. He knows us from the many times that we've come in here to visit Kinkaid. We've obviously come in here often enough for him to know that something is up.

Raising an eyebrow, he seats us and says, "I'll go get Kinkaid."

"Thanks," Raine tells him, pushing our menus off to the side. Even if we hadn't been here enough to know it like theback of our hand, Kinkaid knows us well enough that he would just bring us something without having to ask. Like Raine for example, hates all things seafood. Or like Jameson hates hamburger meat and will avoid it at all costs. It's all in the small details.

"Dude, who do you keep smiling at?" Raine asks, waving a hand in front of my face.

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