Page 76 of Pack Frenzy
Eli’s shoulder bumps mine. “You’re gonna snap that wood if you keep squeezing it like that.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re controlled. Barely. Different thing.”
He’s right, but I don’t want to admit it, cause he gets to drink coffee while I try not to taste blood from clenching my jaw.
“She’s not in heat.”
“Nope.” He takes another sip of his coffee. “She was making a choice.”
The porch creaks under my weight. “We knew this would happen eventually.”
Eli gives me a look. The kind that sees straight through my bullshit. “You hoped it’d be you.”
Yeah. I did. I’ve wanted her since I first saw her and looked at me like I was dangerous. Since I kissed her and she grabbed my shirt like she thought I’d vanish. Since she opened her mouth to put even Cassian in his place, demanding he call her by her name. All of it made every Alpha instinct I have roaredmine.
“Doesn’t matter,” I say.
“Still true though.”
Eli doesn’t tell me to get over it. Doesn’t tell me I should be happy for them. He just stands there with his stupid mug and lets me be pissed off and wanting and trying not to show it.
“I’m not jealous,” I say. It sounds thin even to me.
He gives me a comical look, but shakes his head. “Mm. What are you then?”
Scared, mostly. The kind of fear that’s old and mean, the kind that says if you let go for even a second, you’ll lose everything. She could still walk away. Could decide this isn’t what she wants after all. Could leave, and there’s not a damn thing I could do to stop her.
“She could still leave,” I say.
“Yeah.” Eli doesn’t flinch. “And if she does, we help her pack. That was the deal.”
I nod, hating that he’s right.
Below us, the stupid shark float leans against the rail like it tried to escape and gave up. I stare at it instead of the door, because I can feel her inside like a shift in pressure.
Jess comes out, and I don’t turn right away. Feels like giving something up if I’m too eager.
“Morning,” Jess says. Her voice is soft.
I look over my shoulder and nearly swallow my tongue.
She’s wearing Cassian’s hoodie. The sleeves are too long, hanging past her hands, and she’s got her thumbs hooked through holes in the cuffs.
And every instinct I own snarlsmine. I want my scent on her skin, want the vanilla in the air to twist with the storm that lives under my ribs. Want her to smell likeus, not just him. Want my mark there too—proof that she’s not just Cassian’s, that she chose more than one of us. It’s possessive. Primitive. I don’t fucking care.
Her body should be layered thick enough with all our scents that anyone who gets close knows she’s claimed. Pack.
My hands curl into fists.
No makeup. Hair is damp and curling at the edges. There’s a crease on her cheek from sleeping and a faint pink mark on her throat just above the collar. Not a bite. Just proof that Cassian took his time.
I want to add my own. Want to find out what sounds she makes when I put my mouth there instead and on other places.
“Coffee’s fresh if you’re interested,” Eli says, because apparently I’ve forgotten how to speak.
She smiles at him, then at me. Shy but not. Like she knows we both know what happened last night, and she’s not sure what that means yet. “Thanks.”
