Later, Liam—or Alpha Liam, as I probably should call him—joins us too, and again I assume it’s less so out of love for me but for his mate.
“This is the last one,” Jun says while he parks my car in front of Raffy’s and my house. It’s filled to the brim with boxes and gadgets. Jun throws me the keys. “I’m on patrol later, so I can only help for an hour more or so.”
“That’s alright,” Dante says calmly. “Just ditch us.”
“Don’t listen to him.” Ella laughs when Jun looks at him, confused. “He’s just teasing you.”
Raffy chooses exactly this moment to approach the car and starts unloading the boxes as if to show he is capable of doing it all alone. I’m starting to wonder if this is some sort of metaphorical dick comparison I don’t get. Who are they all trying to impress with this pissing contest?
I’ve really tried hard to hold back any teasing comments today, but when Raffy hands me a tiny basket and takes a whole bunch of boxes himself, I can’t hold back anymore. “I appreciate you watching out for my delicate body,” I snort. “But I can carry more than that.”
“It’s okay,” he grumbles. “It’s too heavy for you.”
“I don’t remember you being that tentative when you swing your dick in front of me.”
Raffy blushes furiously.
Ella doubles over in laughter as if she was just waiting for me to say something. “One thing they all have in common,” she snorts. “Dante’s always worried he might hurt my feelings, but in bed he goes all lycan on me.”
“Yes.” Annie giggles. “Oh, Annie, my delicate flower, be careful. And at night it’s all ‘let me fuck you until you can’t move anymore.’”
Jun looks like he is close to dying at that information on his alpha and luna, while I enjoy every bit of the gossip. Raffy looks flustered, Liam annoyed, and Dante scandalized—in combination, it’s like a comedy show.
“I should have never allowed this,” Liam mutters.
“Too late.” Annie smiles and wraps her arms around his waist. “Just for the record,” she whispers. “I love you going alpha on me.”
Liam’s eyes instantly darken at her words, and he wraps an arm around her shoulder to pull her closer. “I’ll test that theory later,” he says.
Much to Dante’s amusement, Jun uses this moment to leave for his patrol duties, which Dante makes sure to call him out for like he is his real big bro. I’ve never seen Jun like that… being relaxed, getting teased. It makes me happy for him for having found this true family here.
Before dinner, Aryanna and her mate Jazz join us. I’ve only really met Aryanna during the times she was living with Annie to protect her, and I’m happy to see she’s still the same bubbly and crazy persona. And her mate is a hot-ass witch-bitch, as I’ve heard.
“I knew one day your human ass would make it to the pack grounds legally,” Aryanna teases me before she pulls her mate towards her. “This is Jazz, my super-hot mate.”
“Super-hot indeed!” I comment, but Jazz doesn’t get embarrassed at all and just grins at me. She has ebony skin and amazing hair.
“Nice to meet you, Dave,” she says.
“Girl, I love your hair,” I mutter. “Those braids. Don’t you think that’s hot?” I ask Raffy.
He rubs over his head in embarrassment. “I didn’t even notice,” he admits. “But yeah, it looks good.”
I suppress the urge to roll my eyes. He probably wouldn’t even notice if I went bald… unless I shaved all my nether regions completely. I bet that one he’d notice!
“I wore it as a natural afro first,” Jazz explains to me readily. “But Ari is always changing her hair, so I decided it’s time for a change too.”
“You’re hot with any hairstyle,” Ari comments, her eyes gazing over her mate lovingly. Then she turns to the other ranked members. “I assume it’s time for the big announcement, Alpha?”
Liam nods. “Annie and I will go ahead. Make sure to pick up Esme and Hayden and lead them to the meeting place.”
“Do you want me to pick Stella and her fated up too?”
“No, Dante and Ella will make a detour to fetch them,” Annie explains. She turns to squeeze my hand. “We’ll make it official now.”
“You mean… Raffy, me, and the others being in the pack?” I ask, feeling anxiety pool in my stomach. As if Raffy felt my discomfort, he starts rubbing over my back.
“Don’t worry too much,” Annie reassures me. “This is a standard procedure. And they already know that we have new pack members. Rumors travel fast.” She looks at me. “Normally we would have given all of you more time, but with the lingering threat, we want you to become pack members as fast as possible.”