Chapter 5
FIVE
VANDER
Two down. Two to go. I’d feel bad for them if they weren’t worth less than the dog shit I’d scrape off my shoe.
I was so fucking angry.
Let’s see, there was the whole farce of the coffee date.
Getting a fucking mate .
Having shitty coffee spilled all over me.
Being ordered to follow Juniper.
These alpha scum who’d hunted her.
And the headliner on my list of reasons: Juniper herself.
Walking carelessly through the Gritch district smelling like a cherry sex bomb.
Being stupid enough to attack these alphas.
There had been a split second when she leaped at them, where all I could picture was her body, collapsed on the ground, the fire slowly draining from her dark eyes. And fuck her for the sheer, cold terror that had gripped me in that moment.
I couldn’t not step in. And fuck her for that too, because I was going to get in shit for it.
I could almost hear Jhin’s calm, tired voice lecturing me. At least try not to kill them, Vander.
Yeah, never been very good at that. Especially when I was up against guns. Blood was pumping through my veins, my aura out, every sense on alert. I felt alive again.
The third one fell, and I spun, because there had been four.
I was panting, tense, blood spattered all over, and there— movement .
I pounced, tackling the threat to the ground, and looked up to see the fourth body sprawled in front of me. Then who had I tackled?
I heard a whimper from below me. It was… Juniper. Damn. That was the only thought I had before her perfume hit me full in the hindbrain.
Fuuuuck.
I leaned down, needing more, my cock rushing to attention. She smelled like sex and blood, like everything that set my veins alight. My nose and lips were brushing against the smooth, unmarked skin of her neck, and I could feel her pulse thrumming. Her arms were winding around me, her hips pressing up, and she turned to the side, exposing more of her neck to me.
Don’t.
It was the only word I could think, but it didn’t make sense, because she was here and she was mine ? —
Not. Yours .
I panted, pulling back and licking my lips, shaking my head. Her eyes were hooded, her cheeks flushed, blood in her hair, on her chin from where she must have bitten that alpha she took down. Her skirt had bunched up, showing off the pale skin of her thighs in those damned stockings. My cock grew painfully hard. She looked wild. Feral, even, a look I’d only ever seen paired with golden eyes—I didn’t know if it was biology or just that gold packs were more likely to be pushed to the edge.
“Juniper,” I growled, and I swear her scent grew stronger. “Why the fuck do you smell like you’re still in heat?”
Her eyes snapped open, the familiar furious glare aimed at me, only slightly dazed, as she turned her head. We’d settled in a place where my cock was lined up against her soaked panties, every movement rubbing against my erection. I had to grit my teeth to stop myself from rutting frantically against her.
“Didn’t. Finish," she finally panted, and I could feel her growing hotter beneath me, her hands curling in my shirt, tugging me closer.
“What?” I gritted out. The fuck?
She’d left us without finishing her heat ?
How was that even possible?
Not to mention the stupidest thing I’d ever heard.
“Are. You. Fucking. Deaf!" she snarled, before shuddering and letting out another beautiful siren-like whine, sweat sheening on her forehead.
And fuck her, and fuck all omegas, because there was only one way out of this. I wasn’t strong enough for anything else, and I didn’t think she was either.
“I hate you,” I growled, as I started tugging down my pants.
“Likewise.” She furiously fumbled to pull out my length, sending jitters of hot pleasure to my very core.
I thought she’d guide it straight in, but instead she stroked up and down, fingers winding around me, and the sensation built in my lower back, tightening my balls, bringing me close. I went to snarl at her again, but she wasn’t looking at my face. Instead, she was biting her lip and gazing at my straining cock head as it slid through her grasping hand.
And for one startling second, I fucking understood. We were both here, out of control, chained to our instincts and perhaps, finally, I’d met someone who hated that as much as I did.
I didn’t give her more time. I ripped off her panties and plunged inside of her waiting heat. I couldn’t go slow or gentle; there was just this, her and my anger and this unforgiving pace. She arched her back and welcomed it, welcomed me, letting me plough her within an inch of her life.
Hated her. Needed her.
And she was so fucking good. Everything about her was unfairly sexy, from the little moans she was trying to suppress to her clawing nails, biting into my back and pulling me closer. I couldn’t knot her, despite how desperately I wanted it. To push fully into her tight little cunt?—
No fucking knotting.
I was close, and I slid my fingers down, tangling in the short hair at the apex of her thighs, trying to find?—
She cried out, her body tensing, pleasure wracking through her, drawing it from me, too, as I spilled inside her. We panted together, her fingers slowly releasing and brushing up and down my back.
For a moment, I relaxed. Finally, I’d forgotten it was possible to feel so… peaceful. So free. All the anger that had been building up in me had dissipated, excised by a blood-soaked goddess.
She was pushing against me; pushing me off her.
Reality snapped back, the nirvana evaporating, and I pulled out, not caring if I made a mess because I was already a disaster. Coated in coffee and blood and Juniper and guilt.
I’d just fucked my scent match’s best friend. Surrounded by the bodies of these fucking alphas, still bleeding out.
She looked around at the bodies on the ground, then down at herself. She took a deep, shuddering breath as she sat up, her shoulder hunched.
“My home isn’t far.” Her eyes narrowed at me, and she sniffed. “You should come in. Get cleaned up. I’ll find you some spare clothes.”
I squeezed my eyes shut, grabbed my phone, and dialed Jhin.
“Vander? Everything alright?” he asked. I almost laughed. No, everything was not fucking alright.
“Need damage control. Austin park. East corner. Four alphas down.”
“Juniper? How is she?”
I looked down at Juniper, who was struggling to her feet. She looked like some last girl from a horror movie, covered in dirt and blood, the whites of her eyes glinting as she glared at me.
“She’s good.” I mean, she can walk. “I’m taking her home.”
I heard him relay this information to Kit, and then Kit saying he’d bring her stuff home.
“On our way," said Jhin, speaking to me again.
“Whatever.” I hung up the phone and took Juniper’s arm.
“I’m not hurt, but maybe you should ask before speaking for me?" she snapped.
“If you’re well enough to mouth off, you don’t need my pack’s help. Unless you want to be here when they come?”
“No.”
“Right. Heard Kit say he’s got your stuff, so you’re good.”
“Did you call them to get rid of the bodies?" she asked, chewing her lip.
“Nah, those fuckers aren’t dead. Yet. The pack will come to stitch ‘em up, and call an ambulance.”
Christ. I guess it was a stroke of luck for them that the guy who took them down was also a paramedic. I had no regrets though. That scum deserved it.
We walked, leaving the park and then going another block or two. Juniper led us down a narrow street lined with storefronts. She stopped as we approached one that had ‘ The Glass Berry’ written in shabby-looking paint along the top . A mishmash of items were displayed in the windows; crystals and stones, various herbs and hanging plants, an assortment of teas, and some small bottles that had fancy soaps and shampoos. We have odourless too! proclaimed a small sign underneath them. I looked around as she peered into the shop window, looking for something. We were getting a couple of stares from passersby. She better have a reason for leading us to this little oddity store.
“Good. Kit’s with Emery in the store. He hates being alone," she said, walking to the innocuous residential door set to the side.
Kit was here? Why the fuck was Kit here? Hadn’t they just had a massive fallout? I followed her out of view of the window quickly. Wasn’t ready to deal with those consequences yet.
She climbed the two steps and pulled on the door. She let out an annoyed sigh when it opened.
“He also always forgets to lock the door," she said, and then we were climbing the stairs to the apartment above the shop. As the mixed smells of cherries and almonds hit me, I came to a jarring realization.
Kit and Juniper were roommates . Not just heat buddies and friends, but literally living together.
This was so much worse than I’d initially thought.
The front door opened into a kitchen and living room space. It was old, but fairly clean. There was a large couch and a love seat, both piled with blankets next to a fuzzy rug beneath a large TV. The living area opened to a corridor where I assumed the bedrooms were. It was fairly small, honestly.
She shoved a garbage bag at me. “For your clothes.”
“I’m not an idiot,” I replied, snatching it.
“Then you can find the bathroom yourself," she said primly, turning around and disappearing into one of the rooms.
I followed her, turning the other way. It was a small apartment, and it looked like there was only one more bedroom, a thin linen closet, and a bathroom.
I took a wild guess which was which, and opened the door to what must be Kit’s room.
I should have immediately closed the door, but I didn’t. I was morbidly curious about what kind of person the universe had decided to give my latest leash to.
It wasn’t completely tidy, but it wasn’t an Ez-level disaster either. It was painted pale blue, and the wall on the back had a pastel mural of stars and people, with a winding river from the ceiling to the floor. His bed was a queen-size futon, covered with a fluffy, sage-coloured blanket. A beanbag was stuffed in one corner, and a computer desk took up the rest of the space. Strung above it was a line of photos.
In the center was a selfie picture of an older woman—probably his mom—with Juniper and Kit smiling behind her. The rest were just of him and Juniper.
She looked different in these photos. One where she relaxed in sunglasses and a bathing suit, spread out on a picnic blanket on a lawn, with his smiling selfie face in the corner. One where she was sprawled on the couch, one leg slung over the side and flipping him the bird. One where they lay side-by-side, her tongue sticking out as his head laid on her shoulder. In that one, he was gazing up at her, his expression soft.
And in every one, her eyes were golden.
Called it. Gold packs and feral are a thing.
No wonder she was so defensive and cagey. Gold packs from the Gritch were treated like shit by most of society. I’d seen evidence of that over and over in the calls we’d been assigned as paramedics.
It went against everything I valued to treat an abused, dark-bonded omega knowing they’d be going right back to their pack. There was no legal recourse. On paper, it was illegal to assault or neglect dark-bonded gold packs, but who was going to press charges? Sure, the Institute promised to ensure they could testify free of commands, but then what? You’re stuck dark bonded to the pack for life. Restraining orders would do shit-all to protect you.
The government didn’t give a shit either. We’d responded to the raid at the Centre a while back, where the GPRE—Gold Pack and Rogue Enforcement—had rescued a bunch of gold pack omegas who were victims of experiments. They’d only done anything because it had been exposed on live TV that they’d known about it for years with no action. Even then, I doubt they would have come to the rescue if regular omegas weren’t mixed up in it, too.
I pulled the door closed, glancing over to see if she’d seen, but nothing. So I crossed to the other side of the corridor and into the bathroom. There was something bugging me about his room, though, as I peeled off my filthy clothes and put them in the bag.
It clicked as I shucked my pants off. It just looked like a regular room. There wasn’t anything in there I’d clock as a typical nest. No cosy lighting or piles of pillows. But then, what did I know about omegas and nesting? Shit all.
I turned on the shower, irritated by the pitiful water pressure. There was a knock at the door.
“I have a towel. And clothes.” Juniper’s voice came from outside. I stepped to the door and opened it. Her face reddened as she took in my naked form.
I gave her a smug smile.
She shoved a bundle of fabric into my hands and slammed the door.
I looked down with a grimace. The clothes were an oversized pink hoodie and a baggy pair of pajama pants that had cat butts printed all over them. Check meowt was printed in cursive on the ass.
Oh no. No way in hell.
I yanked the door open again and stuck my head out.
“What the fuck is this?” I asked, brandishing the pants at her.
She was at the kitchen sink, scrubbing her face with a towel, and looked back at me. Biting her lip as she tried not to smile, she shrugged.
“We don’t have a lot of clothes for giants. You’re lucky Kit ordered those in the wrong size a few months ago.”
I glared at her for a second, and she closed her eyes, her lip twitching, before turning back around; for a second, she looked like the Juniper in Kit’s photos.
Cute.
I snorted and slammed the door closed, throwing the hideous pants on the counter and stepping into the shower.
Fifteen minutes later, I was sitting on the curb around the corner from their place, texting Ez for an ETA and glaring at anyone who did a double take. Juniper had shooed me out quickly after the shower even though my instincts had been screaming at me to stay. She was gold pack, and she didn’t have any alphas to protect her. It made my skin itch just thinking about it, which made my mood darken. I shouldn’t fucking care. I didn’t fucking care.
Most people were giving me a very wide berth. The clothes were pissing me off, not just because of the cat butts, but because they had no right being so comfortable. They also smelled of both Juniper and Kit equally, and the combination was a double-omega mindfuck drug.
Eventually our van pulled up, and Jhin opened the door, stepping out.
I stood, scowling, and he blinked at me. Then he stepped closer, placing his hands on my shoulder and resting his forehead on mine, eyes closed. It didn’t matter that he couldn’t feel me in the bond; anytime he saw I was stressed he did this. I closed my eyes, too, and focused on his breathing. If anyone else tried this, I’d punch them, but Jhin was a force of nature, and this is what he’d always given me when I was mad.
He’d done this as long as I could remember, and for a long time, it’d worked. It’d remind me that he cared, that he was here for me, and even his scent was a familiar balm. But it had long since grown bitter, this moment of closeness taunting me with what I’d never truly have. His care was what he felt he owed me as pack lead, nothing more. He was merely doing his duty, and his touch and scent left me guilty and frustrated. As usual, I pulled away in the bond, and as had been happening lately, I could feel how fragile it was.
I stormed into the van and threw myself into the seat, refusing to look at any of them. I knew if I turned back to Jhin right now, I’d see the hurt in his eyes.
There was a silence before Jhin slid the door closed and signalled for Adrian to keep driving.
“Are those cat… assholes?” Ez asked, peering at me with a delighted grin on his face.
“What happened?” Jhin finally asked, reaching over and strapping in my seatbelt.
“Oh you know,” I said. “Just fancied a shopping trip.”
Jhin pursed his lips, his disapproval still somehow worming under my skin. Should be fucking immune by now.
“Vander," he said.
“What the fuck do you think happened?” I spat. “Did you know she left before her heat finished? Must have drowned herself in scent blockers, but they’d worn off by the time that pack found her in the park.”
I raked my hand through my wet hair, focusing on Adrian’s whitening fingers around the steering wheel.
“She actually took down one of them. I got the rest. But then—I got close. And of course the fucking pheromones were too high by then, so…”
No one was saying anything, and they better not have been judging me; this was not my fault for once. A bitter laugh escaped my lips.
“You’re welcome. Regular neighborhood hero here.”
“You fucked her?” Jhin’s voice was hoarse, and the curse word that escaped his pristine lips made it sound so much worse. I rounded on him, temper flaring, trying to burn away the searing guilt.
“Don’t you fucking judge me—you’re the one who sent me after her. Alone. Think any of you could take down three alphas on your own? And how convenient. It’s fucking Vander who fucked her after we found our scent match. Doesn’t matter anyway, does it? Just add it to the list, right, cuz he’s a lost cause anyway.”
Jhin put his hand on my shoulder.
“Vander," he said, his voice serious. I met his eyes, and for a second I was looking at my best friend again, the guy who always had my back, the one I knew would fix this.
But then he sighed, and I saw the tautness in his lips, the bags under his eyes, the exhausted expression that was permanently on his face these days.
“You’re not a… lost cause," he said. “We’re working on it.”
Right. Like that wasn’t a waste of time.
“You patch them up?” I asked, though I already knew the answer. He gave a tight nod.
“How bad was it?”
“Nasty.” Ez said. “Like, she’d bitten a chunk out of one of their faces.”
Good .
“They’ll live," said Jhin grimly, “Ambulance came and took over.”
Fuckers. They didn’t deserve it.
Adrian glanced back in the rearview, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. “So how did you get the clothes?" he asked, attempting a casual glance at the pink hoodie.
“Told you. Shopping trip,” I said.
“Is it hers?” Ez asked, and grabbed the hood, giving it a greedy inhale. He frowned.
“It smells like… both of them?" he said.
“Oh. Yeah. Get this. They’re roommates. Most of their stuff smelled like both of them,”
“Oh shit, you got to go to their place?”
“It wasn’t a social visit, Ezra,” Jhin said. “Likely just to wash up and… change.”
Ez wrinkled his nose. “God, you sound like my dad when you call me that.”
Jhin paled, and I found myself grinning.
“So, uh, you gonna keep those?” Ez side-eyed me, leaning back casually. “Not really your style, you know? I could take ‘em off your hands.”
“He’s not keeping them," said Jhin. “We’ll wash and return them as soon as we’re able.”
Yeah right. If Ez had anything to do with it, they’d get ‘lost’ along the way.
I pulled out my phone, but I wasn’t looking at the screen. I was thinking about Juniper and Kit, living in that tiny apartment on that sketchy street. It was just the two of them there, and shit, hadn’t Juniper said he always forgot to lock the door?