Page 55 of Pack Frenzy
He lifts both hands, lazy, unbothered. “Alright, alright. No need to bite.”
Then he glances back over his shoulder, and his voice drops—softer, no bullshit: “But you should know—she looks at you the same way.”
The words stick.
I stare, but he doesn’t flinch. Not teasing now. Not even close.
He turns back to the stove like he didn’t just land a hit. “We skipped lunch. Early dinner for everyone.”
I grab my glass and walk out before the air can get heavier.
The hallway’s dim. Her door’s cracked an inch, just enough for scent to spill through—soft, sweet, threaded with exhaustion.
My fingers tighten around the glass until it could crack. I stop halfway down the hall and lean a shoulder against the wall, press my forehead to the paint, and exhale slowly through clenched teeth.
This is just biology.
Has to be.
But it doesn’t feel like biology when my pulse kicks at the thought of her sleeping in that room. This is supposed to be temporary—a trial, an Omega living with us after years without one. I’m not supposed to get attached. Kept everyone at arm’s length, and that’s worked fine. No Omega’s ever gotten this close to me, even when I’ve fucked and knotted them. Never bite. Never claim.
I stand there for a long minute, count my breaths until my voice works again, and head for the shower.
Freezing cold water that’ll make my balls and cock shrink. Anything to drown out what’s not supposed to be mine. Because in less than ninety days, she could walk out and never look back. Tell Nexus this was a mistake. Ask for another pack.
And something deep inside me tells me if that happens, I won’t survive it. And waiting until the trial is up is only going to make it fucking hurt more.
She’s not supposed to be mine, but every atom in my body’s already claimed her.
Jess
Ican still feel Rowan’s mouth on mine: the pressure, the heat of him, the way his breath stuttered against my lips before he pulled away. My fingers drift to my mouth without permission, tracing where he’d been, and I jerk my hand down with a curse.
Every time I blink, it’s there. Not just the kiss, but the moment right before, when his eyes went dark and I knew what was coming and Iletit happen anyway.
I pace the length of my room, heartbeat still hammering. I’ve fought off bigger threats than a kiss before, but this? This has my hands shaking.
What the hell is wrong with me?
I’ve been here, what, about a week? And I nearly climbed him like a damn tree.
He kissed me. I kissed him back. And if I hadn’t stopped—God, if he tried again, I don’t think I could’ve stopped.
I swallow hard and stare at the door like it might bite me. Nope. Not facing him tonight. Not facinganyof them.
So I hide.
First time in my life I’ve done that, but here we are. I raised myself to face things head-on, not lock myself in a bedroom like some scared kid. But nothing prepared me for this. For wanting something I shouldn’t. For three men who make me feel safe and terrified in the same breath.
I press my palms against my eyes until I see stars. This is supposed to be temporary. Ninety days, then I’m gone. I can’t afford tofeelanything here. Can’t afford to hand over my heart just to watch it break again. First was Sabrina, then Mom, thenDad. Everyone I’ve ever cared about—get too close, and they either die or disappear.
And I can’t take that again.
I grab a bottle of water from the mini-fridge, chug half of it, then crack open one of the protein shakes Eli stocked in there. The smell of dinner’s leaking down the hall—garlic, onions, something buttery—and it’s too much. Too warm. Too packed.
A knock comes just as I’m telling myself to ignore it.
“Dinner’s ready,” Eli says through the door, voice calm, gentle like he already knows I’m not coming but is offering anyway.
