Pack Collision Bonus Epilogue #2
Glade was here. All curves and pretty eyes and perfect glossy thick hair. I had to show her I had a whole pack—one that worked.
She had to know I was good at being an Omega now!
And he was trying to embarrass me.
In a flash of annoyance, I shoved him off the edge of sanity. He growled, eyes going distant as he curled his fist around the back of my neck. His breathing sped up as he looked around the room at all the visitors, pupils constricting as if they were threats.
“That’s okay, Bunny,” I told him, wrapping my arms around him and pushing him back a step to the seat. I heard Zed smother a laugh with a cough behind us.
I cupped his cheek, and Ace’s gaze drifted down to me.
That was better.
He lowered himself onto the armchair, and I clambered onto his lap, pressing my lips to his as he held me. I could feel the eyes of the whole room on us.
“He, uh…” I glanced back at them all, cheeks burning as I laughed nervously. What were they going to think if I couldn’t manage my own Alpha? “I got him like this.”
I almost smacked myself in the face.
They knew that.
“Oh my God,” Glade muttered, eyes as round as moons as she watched us, and I thought there might be a spark of feral delight in them.
I looked back at Ace. “Good boy,” I said, bringing him back to reality. “See.” I turned again, and sure enough, they were all staring.
Ace stiffened as he woke, a low growl of fury rising in his throat.
“Bunny,” I hissed, spinning back to him. “You’re gonna stay here. Glade is the coolest Omega in the entire state of Nevada. This is the most important meeting of my life ! I won’t let you ruin it!”
“Then let me leave .”
“No!” I snapped. “If you try to spoil it, I’ll make you feral and get Rogue to chain you to the wall while we all eat Poptarts.”
“You wouldn’t?—”
I grabbed him by the edges of his black robe. “Don’t test me!” Why was he being such a little bitch about it? “It’s for you, too. They need to stop gunning for you,” I added. “This pack really pulled a number on?—”
“Because of you!”
“Me?” I demanded, startled.
“He—” Ace waved a hand in Zed’s direction, “—killed my pack?—”
“Thank you, by the way,” I cut Ace off, glancing at Zed with a smile. “They were losers .” I lifted my fingers in a capital ‘L’.
Zed had settled into a seat at the table, and looked enraptured by our conversation. “You are very welcome.”
“He killed my pack, and then you locked yourself with me in a fucking room,” Ace snapped.
“I… I had to.” I felt my cheeks growing even hotter as I got to my feet, glancing back at the room. I looked at Glade. “He was unstable, needed balancing, and he asked for other Omegas. What was I supposed to do?” My voice went up an octave.
“Came for a shootout,” Knight muttered, dropping into his own seat and tapping his gun absently on the table. “Got a domestic.”
“ Other Omegas?” Kyan asked, appropriately aghast as he stared at me. “You know, I’d have done the exact same.”
“Thank you,” I said. “So he bit me, then he got all mad about it, then he locked me away and tossed away the key, and told me he was gonna go bite…” I glanced at Glade guiltily. Well. Her. “Sorry,” I muttered. “He was just pissed because he’s a stubborn baby who didn’t want to bite his soul match.”
“I knew you were way too unstable,” Kyan said with a cackle. “Just didn’t know it was such a team effort.” He held up a hand and I darted over, high-fiving him, ignoring Ace’s furious growl.
Okay.
They were totally on my side.
And I think they were going to stop trying to kill Ace.
“I should go help Rogue,” I said. I didn’t want him making all the Poptarts by himself, or they wouldn’t think I was much of an Omega.
“I’ll help,” Glade said, and Kyan jumped to his feet to join her.
“How did you know to follow me here?” Kyan asked Glade as we made our way up the stairs.
“Zed’s been trying to figure out what you’ve been up to since you asked him about the bracelet.”
“Ah.” Kyan nodded as we reached the kitchen. “That gave it away. Knox seemed pretty chill but I thought I’d come meet him first, then I was going to figure out how to spill the… Ace beans.”
I led them to the kitchen where Rogue had started Poptart Mountain.
Excellent.
One more thing…
“Just, uh… one second…” I hurried down the hallway to the nest. Then I grabbed the walkie-talkie from under my pillow, tugging up the antenna. It had a screen, so Bambi could talk right back.
“ Emergency! Emergency! Glade is here. I repeat. Glade. Is. Here. Current position: Kitchen. Over.”
I slammed the antenna shut, then shot back out so Glade and Kyan weren’t left too long.
When I got back, Glade was pulling glasses out and getting mixes ready.
“We’re having drinks?” I asked.
“If there’s ever been a time for day drinking, it’s today,” she said.
Rogue snorted.
“Do you want help?”
“I should be good…” she said, trailing off before spotting the liquor cabinet. “I work at a bar.”
Oh… shit. I stared at her, a little squeak of shock rolling from my chest. Glade paused, glancing back at me. “I did for a while, too! We are literally twins!”
I collided with her again, excitement making me all but vibrate. She laughed, lifting the bottle of whiskey over my head.
I jumped up on the counter opening a few more boxes of Poptarts for Rogue. We had a family-sized toaster for occasions just like this.
“So you’re Mirage?” Rogue asked, glancing at Kyan.
“You still use that name?” Glade asked.
“Just here. Told Knox not to tell, but thought it would be funny if Ace ever did find out—but that was before they got serious and he wanted to meet up.”
“Serious?”
I nodded. “Ace and Knox are chasing the trafficking ring. They’re all trying to run away, but it’s not gonna work.” I hummed happily.
“And I’m… helping,” Kyan said.
“You are?” Glade asked, catching Kyan’s gaze with a raised eyebrow.
“Not a bad cause. That’s what we’ve been working on.”
“And Ace is on the side catching the… bad guys?” Glade sounded skeptical.
“They do hunts,” Kyan said, like that explained everything.
“Should keep him entertained for a good long while,” Rogue said. “Damned psychopath.”
“What else are we gonna do with him?” I asked.
Glade, who was lining a tray with drinks, considered that for a moment, then shrugged like it made enough sense.
I almost dropped the Poptart I was pulling from the toaster as Kyan yelped.
“Oh my God, there’s another one!” he said as Bambi poked her head from behind him. “With… another Bunny.”
She was stupid quiet sometimes, and Rogue said he would go to an early grave from the jump scares.
“This is Bambi, she’s my bestie.”
Bambi padded in, peering at Glade with wide eyes and giving her a little wave before pressing herself back against the corner at my side. She didn’t like to be the centre of attention. Her gaze darted to me and she signed, “She came to visit?”.
“Uh… Well, I think she came to kill Ace, but we’re good now. Right?” I glanced up at Glade as I set the shot glasses on the counter. “They were mortal enemies,” I added in a whisper.
“Well…” Glade said. “Ace is definitely…”
“Neutered?” Kyan snorted, popping a bag of Rogue’s chips that had been left on the counter.
“Uh, he can still like… have sex and stuff.”
Glade nodded, clasping her fingers. “Glad that’s clarified.”
I glanced at Bambi as she signed something, peering at Glade.
“She wants to know where your nest is…” I swallowed, cheeks going pink. “I told her cool Omegas have…” I lifted Bunny awkwardly.
“Oh.” Glade thought for a moment. “Well, I have a Ragdoll, but she’s at home.”
I couldn’t contain my smile as I looked at Bambi knowingly.
A doll counted.
Apparently, I was right.
ACE
Silence rang in the room as I sat still as a statue in my seat with Zed and Knight. Knox was tapping his fingers quietly on the table, clearly happy to let the awkward family reunion play out.
It dragged on endlessly.
From upstairs we heard an occasional clink of glasses and shrieked laughter from Thistle.
Finally, Zed cracked. A grin tugged at his mouth, and a short snort slipped free before he smothered it with his hand. That only made it worse, and soon he was leaning on the table, shoulders shaking with quiet laughter. “Heat bonded?” he finally choked.
Knight was stonier than Zed, but even he kept shooting me glances, a ruthless humour threatening at the corners of his mouth.
“Those Omegas beat your ass so bad?—”
“They did not win.”
Knox snorted.
Idiot.
Thistle had her tantrums, but I was in charge.
Mostly.
Zed was wiping at his eyes, still grinning as he tried to settle himself. The stupid prick hadn’t inherited an ounce of the intelligence from our father that I had. He’d never comprehend how complex my dynamic with Thistle was.
I forced myself to fix my eyes on the empty scotch glass on the mantle. I didn’t have to grace these idiots with the slightest bit of attention.
ROGUE
They’d stayed an hour and I’d played a crib game with Knight, but Ace felt like he was going to lose his mind of his own accord if it went on much longer.
“You’re not… disappointed in me?” I heard Thistle whisper to Glade as we walked their pack to the door.
“What?” she asked.
“Like… you know how Omegas should be like, you know? And we’re twins, so… so I should know, too.”
“Of course I’m not. He’s your soul match, trust me, I get it. I’m just glad you’re safe.”
Thistle looked glassy-eyed as she heard that.
“We could do a girls’ night?” Glade suggested, which surprised me.
I mean… not that I didn’t enjoy Thistle’s company, but she’d been dialled up to eleven for the last hour, and Glade had a much more reserved energy about her.
And Ace had literally tortured her for years, so I wouldn’t blame her for not wanting anything to do with this pack. “You could bring Bambi?” she added.
Okay. That was a real offer.
Thistle’s mouth dropped open, which was utterly adorable.
“Or if you want to bring Rogue and Knox to the High Rollers, I bartend there, it’s a fun place for a night out.”
Kyan had a box of Poptarts to take home—insisted upon by Thistle—and he gave her a hug before they left. “You gave me a scare for a bit, there, little sis. Left you with Ace—wasn’t expecting you to turn up missing. Glad you’re okay.”
“Sorry,” Thistle muttered. “Thought it was best to give everyone the slip until I knew what was gonna happen with Ace.”
As they were leaving, Thistle kept hurrying back to Glade for a hug. On the third, Knox had to drag her away after Glade let out a little squeak, hand jumping to her neck.
“I’m sorry.” Thistle wrung her hands as Knox set her down. “It was just a nip. My hormones are still out of whack— they’re good though!” She grabbed Knox, shaking his arm, suddenly looking horrified. “At balancing me, I mean. Just had a lot of years to undo…”
I swear Glade was flushed, but she seemed to think it was more amusing than offensive. “That’s okay.”
“I think the bar sounds good,” I said, miming cutting my throat from behind Thistle. “If we meet up.”
I don’t know if Thistle would cope with a girls’ night at Glade’s until her rampaging instincts had settled.
A few more months—maybe a few more heats.
As soon as the door shut, Thistle spun to me and Knox, and screamed. Knox clamped a hand over her mouth instantly, knowing they were definitely all still in earshot.
Thistle was still glowing by the time he’d carried her back into the dining room, hand still over her mouth until he set her down on her feet.
“She invited us to go see them!” she said, and I saw a flash of insecurity in her eyes. “She doesn’t hate me?”
“No, Kitten. That was a real invite.”
She was vibrating with excitement as she looked back at us. “I told you I had big brothers who would protect me!” she squealed. “And the best. Sister. Ever!”
THE END END