Page 24 of Pack Giroux

I walk out, closing the door behind me. Grady, Raine and a newcomer are standing facing Kinkaid as I hear one of them say that his scent is making him want to hump his leg, and I have to fight the snort that almost comes out. I'm assuming that he's referring to what we did last night and not Kinkaid's own scent since Grady and Raine burst out laughing. Then Grady steps to the left and I see that there are two, not just one, new guys.

My eyes widen in surprise just as Kinkaid's gaze finds mine. He smiles in a way that lets me know it's going to be okay, but that doesn't curb the panic trying to rise in my chest. It only gets worse as four other sets of eyes turn to find me standing there like a deer in the headlights.

The twins are identical, and I could swear that I saw them somewhere recently in a magazine or something. Silence fills the room, and the panic gets worse. They must be angry that I invaded their space. I didn't mean to cause any trouble, and Idefinitely don't want anger directed my way.

I take a step back and almost bolt back down the hallway when Raine moves toward me. He pulls me into a tight hug that lifts some of the weight in my stomach. When he pulls away, he doesn't let go, leading me the rest of the way into the room.

"Jameson, Emerson," he starts. "This is Marnie. Marnie, meet the twins."

My tongue seems to be glued to the roof of my mouth because of how they're staring at me. Curiosity and surprise on their features. Raine must realize how uncomfortable I am just standing there, so he leads me over to the table and pulls out a chair for me.

"Come eat," he barks to the rest of the room. "We all have some catching up to do."

They all listen to him even though there was no true alpha behind his command. All around me, they claim their seats as we dig into breakfast. Raine to my left and Kinkaid to my right at the end of the table, they both serve me before themselves and pass around the food. The latter gives the others crap for ordering food instead of cooking, but Grady makes a comment about thinking the chef of the house was going to need more sleep after a long night. My cheeks turn pink as I look at my plate of waffles and bacon. Someone kicks him under the table, and I don't bother fighting my smile.

The conversation steers to the twins and how their job went. When they start talking about white-sandy beaches and the clearest ocean water on the planet, I forget to eat as I tune into them. Volleying from one brother to another, I get lost in how much they look like each other. I can see why they got their calling to model. They're pretty in a manly way. Both of them are broad shouldered, same height and build. They've got sharp jawlines that lead down to a chin with a dimple in the middle. Both of them have sky-blue colored eyes and a nose that's justa tad bit wider than most. Even their high-cut hair is styled the same way. Though, I guess that's not hard to do when you're a guy and it's cut the same length. The longer they talk, the more I can tell them apart. Jameson has this serious hardness in the way that he holds his eyebrows down. Especially when he's listening. Emerson looks like he smiles a lot more and lifts his eyebrows even as he's listening. I haven't been able to peg down a distinct scent from either of them yet, which is weird because I thought they were alphas. Might just have too much going on.

Grady clears his throat from across the table, drawing my attention to him. He holds up his napkin to me, smiling. Shame brings the blood rushing back to my face. I was for real checking out his pack mates sitting right here in front of everyone at breakfast. Someone kicks him again under the table, but he doesn't need it. I could tell before I looked down that he was already sorry for teasing me. I don't know why I'm taking everything to heart this morning, but I can't seem to stop.

"Enough about us, though," Jameson states. "You guys have been busy while we were gone."

He peers over at me. "How did you guys meet?"

Grady comes to my rescue and gives them the backstory over the past several weeks, the other two filling in the gaps where he might've missed something.

"That's cool that you play volleyball," Emerson tells me, smiling. "Me and Jameson played sports in school, too."

"Yeah, before your scouts deemed you too pretty to play," Raine teases them, making everyone laugh.

Jameson hasn't looked away from me since he first started talking to me, and I can't bring myself to meet his eyes. "So, are you originally from around here? Or did you hear about North U's reputation for bringing packs together and decide to give it a go?"

I can't decide whether he really wants to know or if he'smocking the fact that I'm being courted by his pack without his consent. Either way, I'm not as comfortable today in the light of day with two strangers talking about the compound as I was last night. I'll let him think what he wants as long as I don't have to tell him anything about my past.

"Jameson, stop," Kinkaid says softly.

The harsher twin throws up his hands in defense. "I'm only trying to get to know her, man. We leave for two months and come back to an omega in our house. We just want to know what’s been going on.”

"Leave it alone, man," Kinkaid tells him gruffly.

They've not seen each other in months, and here they are about to start arguing. Over me. I never wanted to start any kind of argument. Especially since that involves people getting angry and lashing out.

Scooting my chair out from the table, I brush off Raine's hand on my thigh and Kinkaid's hand on my arm. Going into Kinkaid’s room, I grab my dress before going over to their spare bedroom. Shutting the door behind me, I strip out of Kinkaid’s clothes before putting everything on that I had on yesterday. There’s no way that I’m going out there to ask one of them for a ride. I pace back and forth until I feel like throwing up.

Even though it feels longer than the ten minutes or so that it takes, there’s a soft knock at the door. I almost don’t open it, but I remember that I’m a guest in their house, and they can kick me out anytime they’d like.

When the knock comes again, I open the door to Jameson. I can tell it’s him because of the serious set to his expression.

“Hey, look,” he starts. “I’m really sorry that I upset you. I didn’t mean to be such an ass in there. You caught us by surprise. I’m jet lagged bad right now, and my brain tends to not function on a social level when that happens. Not that it excusesmy behavior in the least. Can I make it up to you? Maybe dinner tonight?”

Half of me wants to tell him no, but the other half knows what it’s like to be socially awkward when thrown into intense surprise situations. Plus, I don’t want to disappoint Kinkaid and the others.

“Sure,” I tell him.

“Great!” he says excitedly. “Want to come back out and finish breakfast with us? I promise I won’t ask any more weird questions.”

I have a feeling that he won’t have to the moment I step out their door. He and his brother will likely be filled in with the details that I’ve already explained. But I follow him out anyway, hiding in his shadow until we’re back at the table.

Not looking at any of them, I take my seat, and no one mentions the fact that I changed clothes. However, Jameson does announce our date tonight.

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