11. Gabe
Chapter 11
I am so fuckin’ sore right now. The first time I went down I landed on my phone, with my hand wrapped around it, so at least the phone was ok. But neither my thigh nor my hand are really happy with the situation. Then when I rolled over, I landed on her can of mace, that is definitely gonna leave a bruise–on my ass. Yeah, gonna have a fun time sitting at work the rest of this week.
Fucking hell.
I’m finally able to stand up, and work on brushing all the grass off. It has been a long fuckin’ day already and now I gotta deal with this shitshow before I can finish work.
“Leo, Xan, gimme a hand here, I think I broke my ass.” As expected, Xan lets out a loud bark of laughter, but then he comes ambling over to gimme a hand up off the ground. Leo starts brushing off my shoulders and back as I try to steady myself around my throbbing hand and aching ass. But I can’t help the loud grunt when he smacks against my bruised butt trying to dust me off.
“What the actual fuck man, when were you gonna tell us you found our omega?” Xan whisper shouts at both Leo and myself.
“To be fair, I don’t think either of us was aware of Ms. Manning's designation until today, or even aware of Ms. Manning at all until yesterday.” Leo replies.
“If you say so, but I don’t know how you could have missed that. Hell, it took Jacks less than a minute to sniff her out, and he was farther away than either of us. Speaking of…” Xan trails off, as we all look towards the house. Worry pinching Leo’s brows as we wonder what exactly our least stable packmate is doing in there.
Yeah, that is a concern. Normally Jacks wouldn’t hurt a fly, but his reaction surprised me, he never likes strangers, and omegas tend to make him extra nervous. We better get in there and check on them both.
“I gotta warn y'all, I damned near lost it from her perfume when she just opened the door earlier. I don’t know what it is about her, but fuck, we are probably gonna have a hell of a time gettin’ Jacks out of there without scaring the bejesus outta her.” Leo and Xan nod, looking thoughtful. I don’t think they understand yet just how much her scent affected me.
Then again, judging by the front of Leo’s scrubs, maybe he does.
Xan
I don’t bother waiting after I knock, I don’t want to give Jacks a chance to bolt or do anything too crazy–but I also don’t like just walking into a stranger’s house unannounced, it’s…rude.
The first thing I take in is Jacks–shirtless–with neon green bandages on both arms, and the omega bundled up in his lap looking half asleep. I get closer before I hear him, and fuck me, but this is starting to freak me out. Jacks hasn't purred in years.
Not since Janey died.
I take in the room around me as I walk towards him, hands out to show I’m not gonna do anything. I trust Jacks with my life, but I would rather be safe than sorry with how he is right now.
The house is small, made smaller by the four large bodies currently in it. One larger room that has a living room, kitchen, and breakfast nook. There is a tiny bistro set there, but it looks like it’s covered in papers. I don’t know how anyone could actually use it to eat. One long couch with Jacks in the middle, a roundish coffee table that looks a lot like a giant cable spool. I walk towards that, and nudge it with my knee to make sure it is stable before I sit down, directly across from Jacks. He has a big stupid grin on his face, and while the whole situation is unnerving, it is a relief to see him happy.
Leo and Gabe sit, one on each side, and now the omega starts to struggle. Not that I blame her, but Jack’s expression falls, and he loosens his hold so she can slide free and bolt across the room. There’s a huge terrarium over there, and the iguana has stretched out across the mesh top.
I don’t blame you little buddy, this has been a long day already
I stand up and turn towards her. “Ma’am, I really am sorry about all this. Just walkin’ into your house and all, but I needed to get Jacks, and now we can get outta your hair.” I keep my eyes lowered, and my hands up, trying to look as non-threatening as possible. I’m sure the tent in my coveralls is not helping right now.
Gabe wasn’t wrong. Her scent in here is making it hard to think and I am already both embarrassed and in physical discomfort from my body’s reaction to it. Hell, I was hard just from Gabe’s reaction to it through our bond, and it hasn’t exactly gone down since I smelled her myself. I’m torn, my mind knows the best thing to do right now would be to grab Jacks, and remove him from this situation, forcibly if necessary.
But my body wants to get as close to her as possible, my fingers itch to touch her skin, and smooth down her hair. To feel how soft she is, she’s so tiny, I could probably pick her up without too much trouble. I’m not as big as the rest of my pack, but I do haul around tires and car parts all day, so I am not a lightweight either. I bet I wouldn’t have any trouble carrying her into her nest and peeling off those yoga pants.
I bet Jacks would even join me. Hey pack bonding exercise!
I shake my head–fuck–I haven’t even introduced myself yet, she probably thinks I am some sort of pervert like this.
I should probably do that
“Shit, I know it’s a little late, but I'm Xander, or just Xan. That snuggly guy on your couch is my mate, Jackson, but we just call him Jacks. And it seems like you already know Gabe, our pack lead, and Leo.” I raise my eyes, because eye contact is important, and she has a very perplexed expression.
“Oh, yeah, sorry. This is really strange, I’m Candice. Some people call me Candy, but it always sounds like a stripper name, so I don’t use it very often. Mostly people I went to high school with…and now I am babbling and should probably shut up.”
Her face is getting progressively redder, but she just can’t seem to stop. I guess she is a nervous talker. I can’t help the smile tugging at my lips, she is cute. Slowly I lean closer, holding out my hand to shake, but giving her plenty of time to stop me if she feels uncomfortable. She shakes my hand firmly, not what I’m used to with omegas, or even really betas. Shakes twice and then draws back.
“Thank you Ms. Candice, it was nice to meet you, despite the awkward circumstances. Now we better get going.”
Her skin really is like silk, and I want to linger on that handshake, but we need to leave. We retrieved our missing pack leader, now we have a hand on Jacks–I can hear Leo and Gabe behind me, whispering to Jacks, trying to get him to get up and go.
Gabe stands, hand around Jacks’ upper arm, ready to pull him up and drag him from the room if he refuses. When I hear a loud grumble from Candice, my head snaps around and she is beet red with her hand on her stomach. “Um, sorry, I haven’t eaten breakfast yet”
Jacks pops off the couch like he has a pogo-stick up his ass, almost knocking Gabe over in the process, and bolts around the couch and back to the kitchen–and it looks like we’re going to be here for a while. Once he gets an idea to feed someone, we’re better just waiting it out.
Plus, I left the lunch he made me at work so I am feeling hungry myself. He’s a damned good cook. Leo drops his head into his hands, and gives a defeated sigh. While Gabe turns to Candice, “Well, it looks like we might be here for a while, so let's talk about your car.”