Chapter 18
Mable
Maybe I had hit my head on the way to the coffee shop, and a severe concussion was causing me to imagine things. Because—and I didn’t mean this lightly—what the actual fudge?
A concussion seemed a far more likely explanation for the situation I found myself in than the idea that a pack of gorgeous alphas was now huddled around me in their kitchen. All I could do was watch as the members of Pack Pucked wandered around the room, preparing the food.
Could I even keep calling them that?
“What is your pack name?” I asked as Devin started piling ingredients into a skillet, the room filling with the scent of peppers and frying oil.
“Pack Garnett,” Percy replied while brewing a cup of tea, which seemed like an odd choice with Mexican food, but who was I to judge? “We took Devin’s name as our pack name because he is the pack lead. We each maintain our individual last names for work.”
“Oh. That’s…unusual. Why did you do that?” I asked, the urge to know more about them helping to ease the tension that still pulled the muscles in my shoulders taut. We had never discussed their work over messages, but now everything was different.
Jasper snorted, shaking his head at me with a grin. “Have you ever watched a hockey game, Maple girl?”
I shook my head. It was a little embarrassing to admit in a roomful of athletes, but my knowledge of the sport was limited to knowing it took place on ice.
“The commentators refer to the players by their last names while they’re giving a rundown of what’s happening. Can you imagine how confusing it would be if there were four players going by Garnett? Garnett passes to Garnett who knocks it to Garnett. Score!”
A smile lifted the corner of my cheek, and I nodded.
I hadn’t thought about it that way. “Actually, that makes a lot of sense. So, who do you play for? Is there some sort of local team?” “Yes and no.” Saint laughed.
“We’re in the NHL, the big boy league. Our season ended recently, though, so now we mainly have practice until August, when things amp up in the preseason. ”
My brows rose to meet my hairline, and that nausea that had been dogging me since I was forced to spill my guts to all of them doubled down. Big boy league? What did that mean?
“Oh…”
“You have no idea what that means, do you?” Saint asked, cocking a brow as he focused on me.
I shook my head. I might have been going crazy, but I could have sworn the look on Saint’s face was elated when he realized I had no idea what he did for work. Though, given what Devin had said…
It was pretty obvious from their penthouse apartment that they had more money than they knew what to do with.
The value of the place was probably depreciating from my presence alone, and could stand to take the hit because it was already worth a buttload.
I wasn’t familiar with this sort of world full of opulence and wealth.
I was the child of a single beta mother; my life was nowhere near as grand.
These alphas didn’t seem the slightest bit phased, though.
“You guys are all shockingly calm,” I said, running a hand through my hair, which caused the sweet scent flowing from me to mingle in the air with theirs. “Especially since you just found out that you’re going to have a baby.”
Jasper shrugged, beaming at me in a way that I was starting to realize was so completely him. “What’s the point of freaking out? That’s not going to make you any less pregnant. Plus, you look cute. I like it.”
“While we don’t have all the time in the world, thanks to our impending baby situation, I still think it’s best if we take a bit of time to get to know each other in person,” Devin interjected as he plated up the steaming quesadillas and walked over, handing one to me.
The food smelled delicious, and as uneasy as my stomach had been, it actually rumbled as I sucked in lungfuls of the cheesy-scented air.
The scene around me was so cozy, considering we’d all just met and I’d dropped an enormous bombshell.
I knew I needed to keep my guard up and be smart, but I couldn’t deny that I already felt decently comfortable with them all.
The familiarity from two years of talking made being around them shockingly easy.
With Pack Garnett.
I like the sound of that.
“It’s weird. It’s like, I know you guys because, of course, I do after talking to you for so long.
But at the same time, it’s all very new.
” I glanced down at the plate. It still felt so odd to be taking something from the pack when they didn’t owe me anything, and I was about to push it away, claiming that I didn’t have an appetite, when my stomach grumbled loudly.
My eyes flicked up to Devin’s, a surge of nervous guilt swirling through me as my cheeks heated.
“Eat,” Devin instructed.
There was no point arguing with him or my stomach. So, I picked up the quesadilla and took a bite, humming appreciatively. It wasn’t hard to mess up a tortilla with cheese and some chopped veggies, but somehow, I got the impression that Devin made them a lot.
“This is lovely, thank you.” I offered a smile, chewing up the bite, which actually went down quite easily, considering.
“We’ll need to look into your nutritional needs, because you can’t eat like a regular university student when you’re growing another human being. Did the doctors recommend anything?”
I scrunched my nose as I thought about it, recalling all the cravings and aversions I’d been cursed with over the course of my pregnancy.
“Nothing in particular. I can’t have sushi, but I don’t mind that, because I hardly eat it anyway.
No raw or undercooked meat in general, I guess.
Also, no soft cheeses. Weird. Honestly, I haven’t changed how I usually eat all that much.
Sometimes I buy a bag of salad from the grocery store and eat half of it before I get disgusted with it and let it spoil in the fridge… ”
Jasper chuckled, cocking his head. “Yeah, bag salad can do in a pinch, but it’s not the best. I make a hot vegetable salad with a bunch of greens that all of us will eat.”
Saint nodded. “It’s actually really good. I’m convinced he’s slipping drugs into the dressing to make it taste that good. I mean, veggies alone don’t taste that good.”
Jasper leveled Saint with an exasperated look, but then chuckled to himself as he rolled his eyes. “It’s called mint, numbnuts.”
Saint’s mouth dropped open theatrically. “You never told me that. I thought mint was reserved only for chocolate!”
A bubble of laughter escaped my chest as I watched them glower playfully at each other. They had clearly lived together for a long time, knowing exactly what to say to mess with each other.
“Well, it’s a very good sign that you seem to be amused by their antics,” Percy said as he placed a glass of juice in front of me. “Do you want some tea as well?”
I shook my head. “No, this is amazing. Thank you.” I picked up the glass and took a sip, enjoying how the cool liquid slid down my throat and settled some of the chaos going on inside my stomach.
Only an hour earlier, I had been sitting in a café, blissfully unaware of how my life was about to implode.
Externally, I was no longer freaking out, but internally, I was.
I wasn’t used to showing emotion in front of others, so I tended to hold in all the panic until I was somewhere private, where I could vent it out in the comfort of my own home.
There was a very good chance that once I got back to my dorm room, I would completely freak out about the day’s events, but in the pack’s kitchen, I was oddly calm.
Baffled, but calm. I mean, yes, this wasn’t necessarily a bad change, but it was still a change, and I handled that as well as I did anything else classified as abrupt—crappily.
“So… Where do we go from here?” Saint asked, his eyes scanning the room before landing back on me.
“Well, we have practice tomorrow, but how about after that we spend a bit more time together?” Percy’s eyes were hopeful. The expression looked good on him and made my stomach flutter.
“Pack dinner!” Jasper exclaimed excitedly, his exuberant energy still soaring high. “We can order takeout and watch movies or just talk. Because I know I’m riveting company. Breakfast for dinner?”
I chuckled. Jasper and Saint were both incorrigible and overexcitable.
Saint was slightly more suave, whereas Jasper was a bundle of adorable chaos and horniness.
They probably stressed out their pack mates on a regular basis, which I only felt slightly bad about, considering they were the ones helping me feel the most comfortable during a rather uncomfortable experience.
Jasper also clearly remembered that I was a huge fan of breakfast for dinner—brinner for short. It was the superior meal. There had been many nights when I had made myself pancakes and sent photos to my pen pals.
To them.
My face flushed as it dawned on me. One of the reasons I adored their scents so much was that they were all breakfast-themed. I could still pick out each one, my head going fuzzy as I focused on them individually and as a group.
Saint smelled like strawberry jam, Percy was rich, dark coffee, Jasper was buttery pancakes, and Devin reminded me of applewood-smoked breakfast sausage. A buffet of scents that made me both hungry and comforted. Oh, and wildly horny.
In the past, I’d tried to imagine what my future pack would smell like, but this was better than anything I’d ever imagined. As much as it seemed too good to be true, this felt like a gift—alphas wrapped in breakfast scents that went straight to my core. It was unbelievable.
“That sounds like a good idea. Would that work for you, Mable?” Devin asked, leaning over the kitchen island, the veins in his forearms grabbing my attention.
He’d been kind of grumpy since I had met him in person, but I knew there was a sweet, mushy center deep down.
Looking at him now, I could feel the intensity of his presence, a silent, commanding urge for me to listen.
Pack lead, indeed.
I swallowed, bobbing my head in a nod that lasted far too long. “Yeah, I think I can do that. I don’t have any exams for a while.”
Jasper and Saint whooped in happiness while Percy shook his head, laughing and rolling his eyes. The three of them were the picture of close-knit pack members who not only lived together but worked together, all part of the same team.
Devin just watched us, his face thoughtful.
I didn’t know what to make of that. He certainly held the most mystery out of the group, but for the time being, it looked like I’d passed his test. Despite all our conversations, I could understand him sizing me up, considering I had come crashing into their life—physically, at least—when they had least expected it, complete with a pregnancy.
For some reason, the chaos of the pack before me didn’t scare me. It should have, knowing that everything I was used to was about to change. But I didn’t feel that same terror I had at first. They’d accepted my words, the truth about what happened during my heat, and that made me feel all right.
In fact, I kind of loved it.
Part of me had wanted to stay at the penthouse—stay with them, but I knew I needed to get home so I could think straight.
Saint had insisted on driving me, and the others had supported him.
Making a pregnant woman walk that far was a grave offense that would bring great dishonor, apparently.
We hardly spoke on the way home, but he had held my hand in his lap the entire drive.
He smelled so strongly of strawberry jam that I wanted to bury my nose in his neck and sniff my fill.
The scent calmed me, excited me, and the idea of going back to my room, where there would be none of their scents, was strangely upsetting.
But that was exactly why I needed to. I couldn’t think clearly with all their alpha pheromones swirling in the air.
As we pulled up outside the dorm, he turned to me. “I’m really fucking glad I found you again,” he said, his gaze locked on me.
“Are you sure you’re not disappointed?” My voice was unsteady as I failed to meet his eyes, ducking my head.
His hand touched my chin, tilting my head up and forcing me to look at him. I got only a quick glance at his serene face before his lips found mine.
I melted into his touch in an instant, humming happily. So many of my worries faded away as he kissed me, his touch soft but eager. Saint’s hand found my lower back, pulling me closer to him.
His taste was exactly as I remembered, and my entire body heated at the memory of what we’d done in that shower.
God, he is just… perfectly delicious.
The kiss was almost painfully sweet, soft and gentle, yet oddly commanding at the same time.
I was powerless to resist the magic in Saint’s caress, every cell in my body gladly giving itself over to his alluring claim.
I could have stayed right there forever, lost in the sensations of his kiss and secretly desperate for more.
All too soon, it was over. Saint pulled back, looking at me through hooded, lustful eyes.
“I’ve been wanting to do that since the moment I found you again,” he said, his eyes twinkling as he licked his bottom lip as if he was savoring my taste.
My body warmed, my scent flaring as Saint’s did, and I clenched my thighs, imagining what I knew lay underneath his clothes.
“Not before?” I asked breathily, enjoying the look he gave me as I teased him.
Saint smirked, a light chuckle escaping him. “Well, it sounds a little less stalkerish than saying I’ve been thinking about kissing you again since I knotted you in the shower.”
My cheeks were on fire. Everything was on fire, and I couldn’t stop the words that slipped from my lips as I stared into his gorgeous eyes.
“Stalker? Yes. But cute? Also, yes.” I giggled, dropping my stare to the ground as I chewed on my lip.
Saint lifted my chin again, giving me a heart-racing view of his eyes sparkling, full of mischief and arousal. “I’ll have to remember that.”