Page 63 of Power Shift

The pain lacing the words is quite possibly the worst thing I’ve ever heard. Jasper stops walking and uses his hold on my back to spin me to face him. His green eyes beg for a pause, for me to offer him a chance to speak before making any assumptions.

He rolls his lips together while staring up at the cloudless blue sky. When his eyes fall back down to me, I don’t hide from the openness in them.

“We’re not perfect, love. I know you’ve already pieced that together, but being honest with you is the least I can offer. Our pack dynamic is weak, and our bond is fracturing. It won’t be easy to convince Landon to open up to this, and I can’t begin to imagine how scary that is for you. All I can promise you right now is that the rest of us are going to be here fighting for you just as much as you’ll have to fight for us. And I know it isn’t fair to ask you to fight when we’ve only just met and there’s still so much we have to learn about one another. I’m just hoping that at least for tonight, you can give us a chance to show that we’re worth the effort. Including Landon.”

My omega whines as this alpha lays his heart out for me to either accept or toss across the perfectly trimmed yard. I can’t say that what he’s asking isn’t a lot. It’s intimidating as hell. Putting myself out there has never been easy, and given what happened with Greg and the wound left behind that still hasn’t fully healed, it’s even harder.

But even before hearing everything Jasper’s said, I knew I would come into tonight with an open mind. Nothing good has ever come easy for anyone, so why should a scent-matched packbe any different? Just because something is meant to be doesn’t mean it shouldn’t have its fair share of complications.

His expression is tight, strained with stress and guilt, but as I lift a hand to palm his cheek, he shivers, everything slipping away but startling devotion.

“I want this, Jasper. As crazy as it is, I’m not going to abandon what could be because it will be challenging,” I declare.

“And I’m not pressuring you into saying that?”

“No. I knew before I came here today what I was going to do and what I was willing to offer.”

He releases a long breath and nods, pressing us closer with the firm hand on my back. “You’re incredible.”

“You don’t know enough about me yet to make that conclusion,” I tease, lips tugging up.

There’s no tease in his words. “I don’t need to. I’ve known you were one of a kind from the first time I laid eyes on you.”

“Oh,” I whisper.

He chuckles, sweeping his hand up my spine before bringing it back down again. “Let’s go inside. Ronan and Landon aren’t home yet, but Dash is waiting. I hope you like pizza.”

“I love pizza.”

“If Ronan had it his way, we’d have prepared a five-course feast for you, but I figured starting easy might be the better option.”

Jasper pushes the door open and makes room for me to walk inside first. My steps are uneven, sandals scuffing the floor as I try to perfect my walk. The strength of the scents hitting me in one thick cloud steals my breath.

Caramel coffee, rich chocolate swirled with peanut butter, spiced leather with an undercurrent of warm laundry, and vanilla, the kind straight from the bottle. My eyes close, a sharp pain clawing at my stomach.

The hard chest pressing against my arm draws a moan from me. I don’t have a chance to be embarrassed before Jasper’s holding me, allowing me to lean against him.

“I know it’s a lot, love. If you need to step outside, we understand,” he murmurs.

“No!” I exclaim, appalled at the idea. “I want to be here. I like it. I can smell all of you.”

Dash is across from me, lingering on the balls of his feet. The blue in his eyes is so bright I might as well be looking up at the sky as we stare at each other.

“We were hoping the pizza might help mask some of our scents to make them easier to handle,” he says softly.

“I don’t want them masked. I’m okay. It’s just the first time I’ve smelled them all together like this.”

I know better than to assume they can’t scent how affected I am by that, either. Scent-masking panties or not, I’m all but dripping. Every inhale I take makes it worse as I try and pick the scents apart to get the full depth of each one.

Coffee is Ronan, chocolate and peanut butter is Dash, and the cozy scent of laundry is Jasper. The vanilla, though . . . that’s got to be Landon. I can’t fight the pull to inhale deeper, subtly drifting further into the house.

“Landon smells like vanilla,” I breathe out, hardly able to think over the pulse pumping in my ears.

Jasper stays close, following me as I move like he’s scared I’ll run. “He does.”

The hair on my arms stands, memories flashing. There’s hardly a trace of cinnamon, but finally, I find it and the slight burn hanging on to it.

I’ll never forget the mortification I felt while standing at the entrance of that restaurant with spaghetti sauce staining my fingertips and tables full of people watching an alpha who smelled just like this command me to leave him alone.

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