Page 109 of Pack Frenzy
But they’re not leaving.
I crawl under the blanket, clutching the books to my chest like they might evaporate if I don’t hold tight enough. My hands shake as I open the first volume.
I’m terrified.
Not of them leaving anymore. Of what happens if they stay.
CHAPTER 26
ROWAN
Iwake before the sunlight thinks about showing up. Eight days in this cabin, and it’s flown by. I’d stay longer if we could, but Eli’s out of vacation hours, and I’ve got an architecture project waiting that I’ve pushed off longer than I should.
Yesterday morning, Jess ate the pancakes, smiled through them, and then built a wall out of silence the rest of the day. I can’t blame her for needing space. I just hate how wide it feels. And how Cassian and Eli both looked at me like I should’ve seen it coming.
Maybe I should have. I’m supposed to be the one who reads the load-bearing points, who knows when something’s about to fail. But with her, all my calculations go to hell.
She could decide she doesn’t want to be our Omega. I’ve kicked out females who only wanted me and Cassian—refused to accept Eli as part of the equation.
But Jess took him to bed without hesitation.
The question that’s been clawing at me since yesterday: is she regretting it now? Regretting us?
Next to me, Eli’s breathing is steady. The scent of Jess clings faintly to his skin—vanilla and jasmine mixed with his bergamot.They had sex two days ago, and the confirmation still sits strange in my chest. Not jealousy. Something more territorial. The need to add my scent to hers, to show that she’s ours, not just his.
I could wake him, pull him into me, except he’s making those soft sounds that mean he’s still half-dreaming. And he was up late last night about that guard who tasered Jess, and if he’s being reprimanded or not. Nexus’s last communication he showed me was that they’re handling it. Wouldn’t even release the guard’s name.
Eli won’t let that stop him. He was a hacker before he joined Nexus’s IT department, then took extra hours as a guard when he got bored sitting behind a computer.
Carefully, I get out of bed and close our door behind me.
Cassian and Jess’s doors are closed. The ocean keeps doing what it does—subtracting and returning, one patient inch at a time.
None of us has to pack until lunchtime, so I take my time with the crossword puzzle I’ve been working on since yesterday and make a pot of coffee.
Movement on the deck catches my eye—Jess, wrapped in a blanket, bare feet braced on the bottom rail. Her posture’s defensive, shoulders curved inward. Still pulling away.
My Alpha instinct says go to her, fix it, make her feel safe. My brain says she’ll bolt if I push.
I’m going anyway. I’ve never been good at staying away from problems that need solving.
I pour two mugs without overthinking it—hers the way she likes it, splash of cream, honey stirred until it disappears. If she wants space, she can tell me. I push open the slider.
“Thought you weren’t a morning person?” I hand her the mug, watching her face for tells.
“Just couldn’t sleep.” She takes it without meeting my eyes. Avoidance. Yesterday’s pattern continues.
I shouldn’t notice how easily her hand could fit in mine, how quick the urge is to lean in and taste her lips again, to kiss her until she stops hiding. I keep both to myself. Barely.
She wraps her hands around the heat of the mug and closes her eyes for the first sip.
The tiny, involuntary sound she makes—somewhere between a sigh and a yes—goes straight to my cock. I adjust my stance, willing my body to stand down. Not the time.
“Rowan, you remembered the honey.” She beams up at me. “Thanks.”
After a breath, she says, “I’m okay. I just… It’s been years since I was at the beach. I forgot the way it sounds before the day starts. Like the world’s taking inventory.”
I lean against the post, arms loose, giving her room to bolt if she needs it. “You’re out here so early, I was contractually obligated to check whether you were rethinking the other night.”
