Page 29 of Pack Plus One

What the fuck am I doing?!?!?!?!?!

His grin is slow, dangerous. “One drink.”

And just like that, I’m in way over my head.

The ride to their place is quiet, charged with a tension I don’t quite know how to navigate. I sit between Caleb and Jude in the backseat, acutely aware of how their thighs press against mine, of the way their hands rest casually on their knees, so, so close to mine.

Jude, for once, seems to have run out of words. He stares out the window, occasionally glancing at me with an expression that’s hard to read.

From the front seat, Liam clears his throat. “Leah, I want to apologize if what happened back there made you uncomfortable.”

“It didn’t,” I say automatically, then immediately regret it when Caleb’s hand shifts slightly closer to mine. “I mean, it was... unexpected.”

“That’s one word for it,” Mason mutters from the driver’s seat.

“I thought it was badass,” Jude says, perking up. “Did you see how many people choked on their drinks? I counted at least three. Plus that one server with the dessert tray.”

“Not helping, Jude,” Liam sighs.

“What? I’m just saying, if you’re going to cause a scene, go big or go home.” He nudges me with his elbow. “And you two went nuclear.”

Heat floods my cheeks. Caleb’s scent—that dark chocolate and something richer, earthier—still clings to my skin where his teeth grazed my neck. I press my thighs together, grateful for the shadows hiding my reaction.

“Can we please talk about literally anything else?” My voice comes out strained.

Jude’s fingers drum against his thigh. “Fine. Let’s talk about how you’re shaking.”

I am. Fine tremors race through me, leftover adrenaline and something else—something that tightens low in my belly when Caleb’s knee brushes mine in the cramped backseat.

Liam turns from the passenger seat, his golden hair haloed by passing streetlights. “She’s in drop. Post-adrenaline crash.” His clinical tone doesn’t match the way his gaze lingers on my parted lips. “We should get fluids in her. Electrolytes.”

“I know exactly what she needs,” Jude purrs.

Caleb’s growl vibrates through the car. “Enough.”

The alpha command shuts everyone up.

Mason’s knuckles whiten on the steering wheel. Jude exhales sharply through his nose. And me? I writhe at the dominance in that single word.

Silence stretches.

Then, Caleb’s calloused thumb strokes my inner wrist where it rests in my lap. A silent apology. A question.

I don’t pull away.

Jude watches our joined hands like it’s the most fascinating thing he’s ever seen. “So. Your place or ours, Omega?”

Mason turns onto a tree-lined street. “Ours is closer.”

Liam glances back, his blue eyes dark. “If that’s... acceptable to you.”

Caleb’s thumb stills. Waiting.

Every sane thought screams danger. But the champagne and the scent-marking and the way all four of them are looking at me?—

“One drink,” I whisper.

Caleb’s smile is slow. Predatory. “One drink.”

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