Page 31 of Truth or Pack

He looked over the top of the car at us and yelled, "Shotgun" before he ran towards the passenger seat.

Holt groaned and we both walked to the car and got in the back, knowing there was no point in fighting.

"I think we should've gotten her an SUV," Holt said with his knees practically in his chest as he was trying to buckle his seatbelt.

Once mine snapped in, I leaned over to help him. His large frame wasn't meant for this car or the backseat. I did my best not to touch his ass as I put the belt into its buckle.

"Comfy?" Taryn asked us as she started the car. That evil glint in her eyes had me biting back laughter.

"Oh, yes. I didn't like breathing anyway," Holt sarcastically answered. Though, his voice did sound a bit breathless and strained.

"It's just a few minutes to town. We can park and walk around from there," she promised as she backed out towards the road.

"He's just complaining so you'll give him mouth to mouth," Ash said, giving Holt a grin that would likely end in retribution.

But the big alpha shocked me with his answer.

"That's not a bad idea," Holt agreed, giving her an eyebrow wiggle in the rearview mirror. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him tease anyone outside of us like this. Just a few days in and he was lightening up.

Is this the mate effect we’ve heard about?

"You two are too much," I said with a shake of my head. “I’m sorry in advance, Taryn.”

"Is it always like this?" she asked, looking at me in the rearview mirror this time. Her pretty blue eyes were full of amusement as she adjusted her glasses then looked back at the road.

I was used to being confined with our combined scents. They were subtle but felt like home. Now that hers was mixed in it finally felt complete and I found myself breathing it in, savoring each breath.

"This is tame," I admitted. “They can be so much worse.”

Which was true, two alphas in close quarters was never easy and Taryn was just starting to see what I had to deal with day in and day out. It could go from sarcastic, to grumpy, to goofy in minutes.

"Shit, Mathias, don't scare her off already. We just got her almost comfortable with us," Ash complained, though he didn’t deny it.

"I appreciate him being honest," Taryn said, swatting at the alpha who just caught her hand and brushed a kiss over her knuckles. I wished I could see the blush accenting her face.

"No, I didn't mean for him not to be. Just don't want to overwhelm you too much. You’re giving us a chance to get to know you," Ash back-pedaled quickly. Just like Holt was loosening up, he was starting to lose some of his cockiness.

Taryn placed a hand on his thigh and removed it just as fast, as if she was burnt, "I get that, but I will never forgive you if you lie to me. I wantfulltransparency. If we are going to make this work, trust has to be a building block."

"Okay, to start… if you want to touch me, you are more than welcome to. I will not take it as a move to jump you," Ash promised, sounding sincere. "The only time I’ll do that, is when you beg for it."

She swallowed hard before she spoke. I liked seeing the more vulnerable side of her. When we first met again she had armor on and slowly she was losing it as she let us in.

"Good to know. I’m getting more comfortable with you guys. I just don't want to cross a line and not know it. It's been a while since I've been in a relationship, so I'm a little rusty."

"We aren't easy to scare off," Holt promised.

There was an awkward silence as we pulled into town.

"Where are we headed?" I asked.

"I was just going to find a place to park so we can walk down main street," she answered. “Really, I just wanted to test drive my car and we need to all be around each other, outside of that house, too.”

"Ash and I want to help out the shops that were hit in the storm. We will walk with you till the hardware store," Holt said, sighing as he glanced out the window at the damage. “This round was bad on the community.”

"That's sweet of you guys. Mathias and I can also help," Taryn offered.

"I think it's the perfect time for the two of you to get to know each other a little more, actually," Ash spoke up. "Holt and I tend to overshadow him without meaning to. If this is going to work, you need to have time with us one on one."

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