Chapter 19 – June
CHAPTER NINETEEN
JUNE
The bite on my tit itches and I’m sweating.
I only picked a turtleneck because the back wall of the living room is open to the pool deck and yard, letting in the cool air coming off the lake.
Not because my entire body is covered in purple bruises from Theo.
The hickeys wouldn’t even disappear with make-up, and the bonding bite keeps brushing against the edge of my bra, sending little teasing sparks through my body as I try to look normal at this ridiculous party that Arin seemed to plan overnight.
Chewing on my lower lip, I glance around the living room. So far the only people here are Arin’s parents — Dev and Laila, who are two of the kindest people I’ve ever met. Laila is tall, equal to Arin’s height, but Dev only comes to their shoulders. Both of them gave me the biggest smile when they arrived, and yet, I’m still terrified to meet all four of his sisters with their packs and significant others.
Seth’s family couldn’t make it. He said his parents work in remote areas — and then changed the conversation. I reach out to him with the bond and with a hand, grabbing onto him. As I turn to kiss his cheek, I whisper, “I’m really nervous.”
His fingers intertwine with mine as he takes another swig of the spiked lemonade in his hand. The unmarked cans are scattered amongst the other drink options sitting out — because who better to test his and Bennett’s new products than family?
“I hope you know that Bennett’s parents won’t leave you alone when they get here. His dad loves hugs. It’ll be fine, Junie.” He kisses the side of my head. “Deep breaths.”
I can tell he isn’t lying to me because the bond is so relaxed and open between us, but still, I nudge the bites on his throat and sigh. “What about Theo’s?”
He grumbles, taking another drink. “They’ll behave or I’ll drown his fathers in our pool.”
“Seth!”
He doesn’t sound teasing.
“What are we talking about?” Bennett strides over, wrapping an arm around each of us before wiggling between. He turns his head, kissing me, then Seth. “Because the vibes from the bond are murderous, but you both seem far too happy right now.”
Leaning into him, I breathe in his freshly showered skin, rubbing my nose against his neck. He smells so fucking good , like peeling an orange on a hot summer day and licking the juices off your fingers.
“June’s nervous,” Seth supplies, then pauses, raising an eyebrow at me. “Well, she was , until you walked over and apparently made her horny.”
Bennett turns, his hand rising on my side, thumb skimming over my sweater. “I promise this evening will be okay. Arin’s sisters will adore you, my dad can’t wait to finally meet you, and Theo’s mother is very kind.”
The mention of Theo’s family sobers me. The third bond in my chest is quiet, almost somber, and Theo’s still not in the living room. He and Arin were coordinating the catering. It already takes a lot to feed our pack of five, and it takes a lot more to supply enough food for almost twenty more people that will be in the house tonight.
My skin feels itchy as I pull back. Arin and Theo step into the living room just as Arin’s father looks up from chatting with his wife.
“Theresa just texted! She’s almost here with Keelan.”
Arin steps over, planting a kiss on his mother’s cheek. “I’m sure Vera isn’t far behind, or the twins for that matter.”
“Juniper!” Laila turns, waving me over. “Come here, I need to see you next to my son and Theo.”
The doorbell goes off as I take a step and Bennett pivots toward it. Seth drops his drink on a table, kissing the back of my head. “We’ll grab it.”
I give Bennett a panicked look, but he just responds by flooding the bond between us with warmth. Theo’s bond opens up and his nerves mix with mine, tangling until Seth leans in, squeezing my hand tightly. The support from both of them is a bleed of reassurance, calming both Theo and I. As Bennett and Seth leave the living room, Seth touches Theo’s arm, casting him a little smile.
I step over, finding myself between Arin and Theo, tipping my head up. Poking the bond between Theo and I, I graze his hand with my own. He glances down, and then the rest of the walls he has up fall — nerves, resentment, anger, worry — I take it without wavering, pushing love back at him as he holds my hand.
“Look at you three.” Laila beams at us, her eyes misty. “Arin.” She clicks her tongue, waving her hands at him. “Move closer, why are you standing there so awkwardly?”
“Amma, he was born awkward.”
Arin jolts, turning sharply. My eyes follow his, finding the spitting image of Laila walking into the room. The tall, leggy Indian woman has a wild mane of black curly hair around her head, and she gives me a wide smile, her eyes falling on Theo.
“There you are.” She wraps her arms around him, almost nose to nose with him — taller than Arin as she pulls back and gives her parents hugs too. “I see the steroids are still working.”
Theo flips her off.
“Theresa,” Arin grumbles.
Her grin widens. “Shut up, prat.” Her focus darts to me. “He didn’t even tell us about you until last week.”
I glance at Arin, gasping out, “I’ve lived here for two months.”
Arin stares back at me, swallowing. “I didn’t want to invite any unnecessary comments. It’s our private pack business.”
I’m oddly touched, but a huge part of my heart fractures a little. He didn’t even tell his family about me. I’m already bonded with three of the people in this pack and Arin couldn’t even find time to tell his parents that I was living with him?
Laila fawns over Theresa for a moment before letting her go and embracing the next person who walks into the living room, beer in hand. “Keelan, look at you.” She squeezes their shoulders, cooing over them. “You look so thin, is my daughter not feeding you well?”
“Oh my god.” Theresa mutters the words, rubbing her forehead. “I swear she loves them more than she loves any of us. If Keelan and I broke up, she’d pick them to keep and toss me to the curb.”
My lips twitch. “Do you think she’d keep me or Arin?”
“She’d keep Theo, he’s not as boring as our son,” Dev pipes up and I bark out a laugh at Arin’s father. He smiles back at me. “But I’ll keep you, Juniper, you’re sweet.”
“ Great .” Arin drawls out the word, looking more and more uncomfortable. “Thank you. I’m so glad you’d all leave me destitute.”
“I’ll make room in my refrigerator box for you.” Theresa bumps his hip with her own. “I can’t let my baby brother work the street corner.”
Theo chokes on his beer as I laugh loudly.
Theresa lets out a strangled noise. “ Ay , Amma!” she shouts at her mother, storming over to make her stop poking at Keelan’s shoulder, questioning them about their job and when they’re planning on proposing.
“Oh no,” Dev mutters, putting his drink down. “I need to get your mother before she starts showing Keelan engagement rings again.” He squeezes Arin’s shoulder as he passes by.
“We’re here !”
“They know, you were so fucking loud outside, the whole state probably knows —”
My head spins as twin, spitting images of Arin’s entire bloodline, bicker and walk into the living room. One of them is Meena — the other Mila. Meena has her long, curly hair pulled back into a ponytail, trailed by two men. The impression of one of them hits me like a gut-punch — alpha . His angular eyes roll as he leans into the other man and mutters something under his breath.
“ Don’t ” — Meena stops short, snarling at them — “side with her.”
Mila flashes her twin’s pack a grin.
I only know the barest amount about Arin’s family, snippets learned while prepping for this last minute party. The twins both have established packs of three, while Arin’s youngest sister has three alphas.
Mila’s short curly hair brushes her chin as she looks around. “Where’s Greta and —”
“Here, love.” A willowy blonde woman enters the room and immediately goes to her side, kissing her cheek. “Bennett was showing Rose and I his new car.”
My throat feels a little tight, all the new scents and sounds assaulting me as I suck in a deep breath. Even with the wall open to the outside, the living room feels small . A hand on my jaw turns my head and I inhale mint, breathing in deep as Arin pulls me into his arms.
“It’s okay.” His voice is soft, only for me as his other arm wraps around me, putting my back to the party. “Theo just stepped away to get another drink, but let me go get him —”
“No.” I cling to him, frantic for a moment. I bury my nose against his chest, my hands shaking as I fist his shirt. “Don’t leave me.”
“Okay.” He sounds a little panicked, but he pulls me closer and moves my head to his throat, pressing my nose against his scent gland. My eyes flutter, embarrassed and overwhelmed as tears spring to my eyes. My throat burns. I should be able to handle a few people in the house, but it hits me out of nowhere. There’s too many voices, too many scents. Where is Seth? Bennett? Theo?
Arin’s hand cups the back of my head, his bark rocking me to my core. “Juniper, breathe .”
I suck in a breath, inhaling his perfume. It swipes my spiraled thoughts away, until he straightens and growls, “I’m kicking them all out.”
“No!” I grab onto him, mortified that he would send everyone away when it’s already started. “I can be okay. I’m okay.”
His eyes flash to mine, and this close, I see the gold flecks amongst the brown. Arin’s gaze narrows. “You’ve never been around other packs like this. I shouldn’t have — I mean —” He sucks in a breath, stopping himself. “I read it’s very overstimulating for an omega to be around other alphas when a pack is new. I did this all wrong, and now it’s upsetting you. I should have waited for you to be settled with Theo, Bennett, and Seth.”
My heart clenches. “And you?”
Arin pulls away. “We don’t have a bond, Juniper.”
Pain lances through my chest. Taking a step back, I force myself not to cry as I separate from the once-safety of his arms. “You’re right. We don’t.”
His face breaks, just so , and as I open my mouth to ask him what he means by that — why he’s throwing this in my face now of all the times — Laila grabs my arm excitedly, making me jump.
“Come meet Meena and Mila!”
I don’t look back at Arin as I let his mother drag me away.
The Mohans take up half the party guests.
Laila introduces me to multiple people, and each time, I plaster a smile on my face like I’m not viewing the entire evening from outside my own body. There’s Meena, and her two bonded, an alpha and beta — then Mila and her two female alphas.
“Vera is pregnant,” Laila chatters excitedly as she whirls us around the room. “Come meet her and her alphas.”
She steers me toward one of the couches and I glance at the three alphas standing behind the couch like guard dogs. One is huge — broad and dark-skinned. Another has red hair — my brain struggles to catch up as my eyes flicker to the omega, still seated.
The moment we connect eyes, we both say, “ Oh my god. ”
“It’s you!” Vera flings herself up from the couch, ignoring her small, rounded belly to throw herself at me, smelling of blueberries. Same dark skin, silky black hair — she’s the omega I spoke to months ago in the airport who knew my own fucking designation before it hit me the next night at my signing.
The three alphas behind the couch all leap forward, and I flinch, partially away from her but mostly away from them — three massive bodies all trying to stop Vera from hurting herself.
She turns, murder radiating off her. “If you don’t get back right now.” Vera whirls, grabbing my arm. “You want to go outside? Let’s go outside.” Her other hand buffs her alphas back, grabbing me and pivoting us toward the open air.
I suck in lungfuls of it as she rubs my shoulder, leading us over to the deck chairs.
“It’s okay, just breathe.” She sounds so solid, comforting and familiar to my body as she murmurs, “I can tell you’re one second from losing it. I fucking freaked when I emerged. I don’t know if Arin ever told you —”
“He did.”
She pushes me into a chair, plopping down next to me.
“Well he’s an idiot for letting all of us invade your space right now, you’re still trying to adjust to everything and we should not be here. You and I are just going to sit out here for a tip until you stop hyperventilating. What can I ramble about —” She glances at me, squinting. “Oh! Okay, so my big alpha? That’s Aata, he’s Kiwi and plays rugby in England. The first time I saw him I squeaked because — I mean, did you even know men came that big ? What are you supposed to do with a man that huge? Well, I figured that out, clearly.” She motions to her stomach, and the utter ridiculousness of her words clears my brain as I focus on the sound of the lake behind us and the cool air on my oversensitive skin.
“Keep going,” I rasp at her, blinking rapidly to stop myself from crying.
“Right.” Her British accent is crisp. “Well Aata will make sure none of your alphas come bother us, because you know what doesn’t help when you’re having a little omega freak-out? When one of them goes all territorial for no reason.”
Pressing my hands against my eyes, I whisper, “Fuck being an omega.”
“It’s awful, isn’t it?” Vera chirps, then she rubs my arm. “Anyway, I met Aata three weeks after I emerged. He was an exchange student and I was already at uni and it all went tits up.”
I lower my hands, staring at her.
She smiles back. “You stopped shaking. I didn’t even get to Ollie’s bisexual awakening.”
Sniffling, I swallow back bile. “How am I supposed to do any of this?”
Her expression softens. “You survive, and you’re already doing a bloody good job at it.” Vera’s hand pulls away as she glances back at the house. “Not that my brother seems keen to help you adjust properly. Prick.”
“I don’t think he likes me.”
She rears back, barking out a laugh. “ What? ” At my blank look, she shakes her head. “June, my brother fought off our entire Indian family, aunties and all, who wanted to come to this party tonight. I think he waited as long as he could to tell any of us — and honestly, he made it longer than I expected. Still doesn’t save him from actually letting anyone into your home, but it does give him a few brownie points.”
The tears spring right back to my eyes as I glance at the house, my voice shaking as I rub my arms. “I feel like I’m losing my mind sometimes.”
She makes a sympathetic noise, touching her stomach. “I think a lot of us do. I’ve never felt more understood than when I’ve been venting to my omega friends. It’s a lot to handle, and no one else will understand every moment of it except for us .”
Her eyes flicker to Aata, standing in the doorway, tattoos winding up his thick arms as he keeps an eye on us. “Aata introduced me to a friend on his rugby team — he’d emerged as an omega just after he turned twenty-one. We can talk shit about our designations and Aata at the same time.” Her hand lifts and she points to the red-haired alpha, then the blond man next to him. “Ollie and Quinton kind of fell into our pack, but I can’t imagine having a beta too, that seems like a lot.”
“Seth is…” My voice trails off as I find him. His tanned hands raise, pulling his hair up into a scrunchie as he laughs at something Keelan says. “I love him.” Touching the bond mark on my throat, my composure shatters, tears overflowing. “I love them all. God, why can’t I stop crying ?”
Vera rubs my back. “Are you bonded with all of them?”
“No” — I look up at her through tears — “not with Arin.”
Her mouth pulls down into a frown before she embraces me, hugging me tightly. “I don’t pretend to understand every dynamic or how it works with our biologies, but I do know it’s hard when you don’t have a bond with the prime.” Vera squeezes me. “I thought Aata was the prime, but then I met Quinton.”
I look over at him as she pulls back.
“He was my last bond.” Her lips twitch at the memory. “Everything felt right after he bit me. He’s like a salve.” Vera looks back at me, pushing her hair behind her ears. “Can I ask why you and Arin…?”
I hesitate, pulling a leg up into the chair and resting my chin on my knee.
“I didn’t know what I was doing before my heat.” I swallow back the lump in my throat. “It was enough to make sure I was somewhere safe in London… it was enough to be scared of how quickly it all moved. I had to trust that I would come out the other side okay.” My eyes scan the back of the house, finding the window for my bedroom. “Bennett was my first bond, along with Seth…”
Vera nudges me with her elbow. “When you know, you know.”
“Yeah.” I glance at her, smiling softly. “Theo happened this week.”
“It sounds like that you just haven’t had your moment yet with my stupid brother, but if I know anything about him, he’s probably terrified to cross a line that he’s arbitrarily drawn in the sand.” She leans back in her chair. “And he’s probably convinced himself that he’s doing everything wrong — which is right, because he’s stupid.”
I open my mouth to defend him, but then my bond with Bennett flares with love. Looking back at the house, I find him wrapped in the arms of two women and one man. His father pulls away first, cupping Bennett’s cheeks and kissing his son’s forehead, their skin-tone identical in its richness. One of his mothers is also dark-skinned, her head shaved, the other olive-toned with short brown hair.
Seth darts over to them and Bennett’s father tugs him into a tight hug. An echo of the love comes through and I blink back to myself, realizing I’m touching my chest.
Vera is quiet beside me as I process it. “Want to head in?” She offers me a hand after standing up. “I’d lend you one of my alphas as a bodyguard, but you seem to have your own waiting for you.”
Arin lingers near the open doors, standing next to Vera’s alphas, Oliver and Quinton. Her alphas talk to him, drinks in hand, eyes casting out to us occasionally.
Pushing up, I brush my hands off on my jeans, my eyes finding Arin’s like a magnet. My chest tugs, harsh and uncomfortable and for a moment I think it’s my own emotions toward him, until Theo charges toward the foyer.
I feel torn for a moment — wanting to go to Seth and Bennett — but having a feeling that Theo’s parents are finally here — but Arin is right there —
Vera takes my arm, tilting her head toward me, her voice soft. “What do you need?”
“I need to meet Bennett’s family, and I need to be with Theo.”
“Got it.” She nods, sharply. “Aata can trap Arin in a conversation. Go meet Marcus, Yasmin, and Kary —” She tugs us around the pool and to the house. “Bennett’s parents are lovely. Theo’s… on the other hand…” She makes a face.
“Yeah. That’s what I’m worried about.”
The bond already feels muddled again, like Theo’s suppressing it.
Aata suddenly appears, like Vera summoned him from thin air. The huge alpha tugs Arin into a boisterous hug, allowing Vera and I to slip past them and into the house. I mouth a thank you at her before I dart across the living room.
Bennett snags me, one arm coming around my waist as he swings me into his arms, his smile splitting his face. “There you are.” He bends his head, kissing me out of the blue.
I flush, but his expression is soft when he pulls back, pushing my hair away from my face as he pivots us toward the three adults in front of us. “Meet my parents.” Tugging me a half-step closer, Bennett preens next to me. I glance at them, seeing the uncanny resemblance between Bennett and his father, Marcus.
Marcus is nose to nose with his son in height, and his face lights up.
“I’m so glad to finally meet you, Juniper.” He pauses before he shifts forward. “I’d love to give you a hug, but not if it’s too much.”
My heart warms at the omega man. Letting Bennett go, I eagerly step forward, embracing him, a wave of sweetness wafting over me. Blood orange — Marcus squeezes me, then motions to the dark-skinned woman to his left. “Yasmin.” He looks to his right. “And Kary, my wives.”
Yasmin’s expression is gentle. “It’s so nice to meet you, Juniper.”
Kary echoes her sentiment, then opens her arms. “It’s been months since Bennett told us you were with him in London.”
I hug her too, getting hit with a punch of a spicy perfume. It’s so vibrant it throws me for a loop — but when Yasmin squeezes my arm, a scent of lime chases it away. The three of them together smell like a spritzer.
Pulling back, I feel Bennett move behind me, his hand coming to cup my hip. “I didn’t know he told you all.” I tilt my head back, glancing at him.
He looks sheepish. “Well —”
“He had no chill.” Seth mutters the words next to us, wrapping his arms around us both. “But it was adorable and it all worked out.”
Smiling at Bennett, I lean against his shoulder, feeling soothed by both of them around me. “It is cute.”
Bennett scoffs, but his lips twitch. “Quit, you two.”
Marcus beams at us. “I want to hear all about your work, June. An author —”
Kary shifts, her eyes widening. “I read your first book on the flight here, it was wonderful!”
Blushing, I sink into Bennett’s embrace, warmth and kindness radiating from his family. Just as I promise to give Kary an advanced copy of my next release, a jolt of anger punches through me.
Two men stalk into the room, thick shouldered and scowling.
One of them, a blond, snaps, “Keep up, Grace.”
The blonde woman behind him has her head slightly bowed, hands together in front of her as Theo rushes to catch up, reaching out for his mother. Devastation floods the bond from him just as both of Theo’s fathers scan the room.
Their eyes lock on me.