Chapter 10 #2
“Different packs,” Knox explains, sitting up straighter. “Different high schools. We didn’t know each other existed until move-in day, freshman year. Walked into the dorm, saw each other, and had a collective crisis.”
My mouth falls open. “You’re twins and you didn’t know?”
“Separated at birth,” Rhys says, his tone dry but with an edge of something darker underneath. “Different adoptive packs.”
“That’s…” I trail off, chest tightening. “That’s horrible.”
“It worked out,” Knox says, but there’s a tightness around his eyes that suggests it very much did not work out, actually, and he’s just really good at pretending.
Declan shifts against the coffee table. “I was their roommate. Got stuck in a triple because housing screwed up. Showed up to find these two having an existential crisis in stereo.”
Despite the heaviness, I huff a small laugh at the image.
“And then Eli walked in,” Declan continues, grinning now. “He was our RA. Took one look at the chaos and decided we were his problem.”
“You were everyone’s problem,” Eli says mildly. “You broke the microwave in the common room within twelve hours.”
“That wasn’t us!” Declan protests.
“You put aluminum foil in it.”
“That was an accident.”
Eli shifts a single brow upward. “Thought you said it wasn’t you.”
I find myself smiling despite everything. They’ve been together so long.
“So you just…stayed together?” I ask. “After freshman year?”
“Got an apartment sophomore year,” Knox says. “The four of us. It made sense. We worked well together.”
“‘Worked well’ is an understatement,” Declan says. “We built our first app in that apartment. Knox and Rhys coded the backend, I handled UI, Eli kept us from killing each other and made sure we remembered to eat.”
“First app failed,” Rhys adds, pushing his glasses up. “Second one got acquired for parts. Third one got us enough funding to drop out.”
“Your parents must have loved that,” I say.
The silence that follows is sharp enough to cut.
“My parents were fine with it,” Declan says carefully. “They’re…not involved.”
Knox and Rhys exchange another one of those loaded glances.
“Our adoptive parents were less fine,” Knox says. “But we were adults. Their opinions became optional.”
Eli shifts beside me, and I feel the weight of his attention. “We’re pack,” he says simply. “That’s what matters.”
The way he says it, so certain and so final, makes something in my chest flutter.
This is what I want, I think. This...us against the world.
“What about you?” Declan asks, eyes narrowing slightly on me. “What’s your pack situation?”
I feel the weight of four sets of eyes on me.
“I don’t have one,” I say, aiming for light and missing. “Hence the solo house. The solo everything.”
“By choice?” Rhys asks quietly.
I pull the blankets tighter. “By…circumstance. I was with someone for a while. An alpha named Julian. We dated for two years. I thought…” I trail off, not sure why I’m telling them this. “I thought it was going somewhere. But he didn’t want pack. He wanted casual. And I wanted…”
“Everything,” Knox finishes softly.
I nod, not trusting my voice.
“His loss,” Declan says, and there’s an edge to it that makes my gaze shift back to him. His jaw is tight. “Fucking idiot.”
“Dek,” Eli warns.
“What? He had her and he chose casual? That’s not just stupid, that’s—”
“Not our business,” Eli cuts in, but his tone has shifted into something sharper, too. Something protective.
I should probably be uncomfortable with how much that does for me.
“I moved here because I wanted a fresh start,” I say, steering away from the Julian-shaped hole in my past. “New place. New people. New possibilities.”
“And then we moved in next door and ruined your peaceful fantasy,” Knox says, but he’s smiling.
“You drilled holes at midnight,” I point out. “That’s not exactly ‘peaceful neighbor’ behavior.”
“In our defense,” Declan says, “we didn’t know the pretty omega next door had a deadline.”
“But you knew I was home,” I counter. “You waved at me and almost dropped a server rack.”
“True.” Declan nods. “But I didn’t know you were working. I just thought you were enjoying the show.”
“We knew you were there,” Rhys murmurs from the floor, fingers still flying over the keys. “Hard to miss.”
Oh.
“And we asked Tom about you the next day,” Knox adds, completely shameless.
“Tom is a goddamn hero.” Declan grins. “He gave us intel.”
“Intel,” I repeat, feeling heat rising up my cheeks.
“Information about the local omega population,” Declan says, still grinning. “Very important for pack integration into the community.”
I throw a pillow at him. He catches it, laughing.
The front door opens and the plumber pokes his head in. “Hey, folks? I need to grab a part from the van. Just a heads up, you’ll hear some banging.”
“Thanks,” Eli calls back.
The door closes.
Declan stretches. “I’m getting drinks. Mia, you want anything?”
“I’m fine—”
“That wasn’t a yes or no question,” he says, already standing. “I’m getting you something to drink. What kind do you want?”
I blink at him. “I…don’t know?”
“Cool. Surprise drink it is.” He disappears into the kitchen.
Knox unfolds from the floor with a grace that shouldn’t be legal and drops onto the sectional between me and Eli.
“So,” he says, settling in like he owns the space. “You write about relationships.”
“Sometimes,” I say warily. “Why?”
“Just curious.” He tilts his head, studying me with those slate eyes. “What’s your take on pack dynamics?”
“That’s…a broad question.”
“Narrow it down,” Rhys says from the floor. “What makes a good pack?”
I look between them, suddenly feeling like I’m being interviewed. “I don’t know. Communication? Trust? Shared goals?”
“Boring,” Declan calls from the kitchen.
“It’s not boring, it’s like...foundational!” I call back.
“What else?” Knox presses.
I think about it, pulling the blankets tighter. “Balance, I guess. Every pack needs someone to ground them. Someone to push them. Someone to…” I gesture vaguely. “Fill in the gaps.”
“Like Eli,” Rhys says. “He’s got that beta stillness. The kind that makes you feel like you can breathe.”
“Like Eli,” I agree softly. “He seems like the kind of person who holds everything together.”
“Someone has to,” Eli says, but there’s warmth in his voice.
“And the alphas?” Knox asks, leaning closer. “What do they do?”
“Cause problems,” I say immediately.
Declan’s laugh echoes from the kitchen. “She’s got your number, Knox.”
“We don’t cause problems,” Knox presses a hand to his chest, feigning shock. “We…balance things.”
“You antagonized the HOA president for sport,” I point out.
“She started it,” Knox says immediately. “And honestly? She loved the attention.”
Rhys snorts from the floor. It’s the first time I’ve heard him make a sound like that. So genuinely amused.
Declan returns with a tray balanced on one palm. But it’s not just one mug. It’s a flight of beverages. A steaming mug of hot chocolate piled high with marshmallows, a tall glass of sparkling water with a lemon wheel, and a bottle of fancy electrolyte water.
“Declan,” I say, staring at the spread. “This is too much.”
“This is the hydration level required to successfully avoid making you sad,” he says, setting it on the coffee table next to the popcorn. “Drink.”
“Bossy,” I mutter, but I reach for a handful of popcorn because I’m actually starving and the adrenaline crash is making me shaky.
He grins. “You like bossy.”
“I do not.”
“You’re wearing my hoodie,” he points out. “On purpose. After I told you to change. That’s submission to authority if I’ve ever seen it.”
I throw a popcorn at him. He catches it in his mouth.
“Okay, that was actually impressive,” I admit.
“Thank you.” He settles back on the floor, looking smug.
The conversation shifts, and they start explaining their current project. Something about server load balancing and optimization that goes over my head in about thirty seconds. But I don’t mind. I like watching them talk.
Knox and Rhys fall into a rhythm, talking over each other, finishing sentences. Knox gestures wildly while Rhys stays still. They’re explaining the same concept from two different angles and somehow it works, their thoughts weaving together like a braid.
I’m watching them like a tennis match, my head swiveling back and forth.
Declan notices. “They do this,” he says quietly. “It’s foreplay for nerds.”
“It’s annoying,” Eli adds mildly.
But I can see the fondness in his eyes. The way he watches them with the same expression someone might use for particularly entertaining cats.
This is pack, I think. I want this.
Looking at them, I catch myself trying to mentally drag-and-drop them behind my white picket fence, just to see if the hinges would hold.
The realization should scare me.
It doesn’t.
It should.
“Mia?” Eli’s voice is gentle. “You okay?”
I blink, realizing I’ve gone quiet. “Yeah. Just…tired.”
It’s not a lie. The adrenaline is completely gone now, replaced by a heavy, deep exhaustion. The blankets are warm. The couch is soft. Their voices are a low, soothing rumble.
My eyes start to drift closed.
“Sleep,” Eli says quietly. “We’ll wake you when the plumber’s done.”
I should stay awake. I should maintain some semblance of boundaries.
But the last thing I remember before sleep takes me is the sound of Knox and Rhys still debating, Declan’s quiet laugh, and Eli’s warm, steady hand adjusting the blanket over my shoulder.