39. Kenny
Kenny
O scar runs his hands over mine again, as if he’s searching for any clue. He’s done the same thing a dozen times since he burst through the door of my nest, Jake behind him. His eyes are wide behind his glasses. “I’ve never heard of this. Didn’t even know it was a possibility.”
My heartbeat still feels a little fast. Behind me, Jake has his head buried in my neck. His voice sounds muffled. “Could you do it now? If you wanted to?”
Frowning, I try to find it. To reach for that feeling that overtook me in the clearing. “No. It was…. I was so angry . And Max was in between us. But – I was still there. I knew everything that was happening. I was still in control.”
Max’s voice floats to me from where he’s laying on his back, on the other side of Jake. “You thought he was going to hurt me.”
My guy clenches again at the memory. Of Charles, his razor-sharp teeth, and his twisted, red face. So close to Max. “I wasn’t going to let that happen.”
Jakes shifts back, making space for Theo. He crawls in and presses his lips to my hair. “Nobody can know about this.”
I blink, still looking at Oscar. He scans my face. And then he nods. “I agree with him. They… they would want to research this, Kenny. They’d use you. You wouldn’t be able to have a normal life.”
The ability to turn feral to protect those around me. And to turn it back off. Oscar is right. I’d become a lab rat for real. And this time, I don’t think they would let me out. “Is that man still at the Center? Parker?”
I shiver at the memory. Theo’s warmth presses into me, but his voice is hard. “No. He resigned. But… I don’t think my mom will pay for a space there anyway. She’s pretty angry with him.”
My mouth forms a small o . “He’ll go to the public Center?”
“Don’t think about him.” Theo’s lips press into my hair again. My shoulder. “He deserves everything he gets, Ken. He’s not a victim here. Look at everything he did before . He could have tried to stop this. Stop Brett. He knew, but he didn’t do anything.”
“Agreed,” Jake says firmly. “We need to focus on you.”
Shifting, I settle onto my back, staring up at the drapes that line my nest. Shades of jewelled green, and blue, and purple. “I have to hide.”
I’m not sure how I feel about that.
“No,” Oscar says shortly. “We’re not limiting you, Ken. It might never happen again. The likelihood of bumping into a feral alpha is pretty low.”
“What do you want to do?” Max asks. “Have you thought about it?”
I turn the thought over in my head. Consider my options.
“We could try the college route again,” Oscar says quietly. “You didn’t get to go, before.”
But we’d be separated. There’s no college close enough, unless I choose an online course. Slowly, I shake my head. Glance up at him. “Would you go back?”
He half-smiles. “No, Ken. I think… I was looking for something to make me feel fulfilled. But this pack does that for me. I don’t need anything fancy for that. I’ll work. But I want to focus on what’s important.”
“Awh,” Max murmurs. “That’s cute, Oz. And you can still read textbooks for fun.”
Oscar rolls his eyes, but he’s smiling.
I know what he means. “I… I don’t want anything fancy either.”
I stare up at the ceiling of lights. “I just want a home. I want all of you. And I want to be… happy . Is it so bad to not want more than that? Am I wasting an opportunity that I’d regret?”
I want to cook with them and make a mess in the kitchen, and have family game night with popcorn and tacos. I want to sleep in my nest with my pack, and plant flowers in the garden. Go walking in the forest and watch pretty sunsets and breathe in fresh air.
I want to enjoy my life, instead of always looking for something better.
I turn my head. Theo is staring up too. “You can still do college, Theo. We’ll make it work. Even if we have to save up for it.”
“Maybe,” he says softly. “But… I want to be happy too. Maybe I need some time to work out what that looks like.”
And time is something we do have.
Sounds pretty perfect to me.
A low sound rumbles, and I frown. “Who growled?”
Max chokes. “I—,”
I sit up and look over. His lips are pressed together, as if he’s… laughing. And his entire body is shaking. My mouth drops open. “Did you just… fart? In my nest ?”
He lets out a snort, slapping his hand over his mouth and doubling over.
Groans ring out. Jake grimaces beside him. “Make him leave, Ken.”
“No – I’m sorry!” Max protests. “It was barely a parp – it just… slipped out!”
I stare at him. And then – my lips twitch. “ Max .”
I mean, there’s five of us. It was bound to happen at some point. Everyone has gas. Even sexy alphas who wink at me with far too much amusement. “I think it adds to my general attractiveness.”
And then my laughter fills the air, Max and I holding our stomachs while Jake presses a pillow over his face and Oscar grumbles about nesting etiquette.
Gasping, I meet Theo’s eyes. He’s half-smiling. “A peaceful life? You sure?”
And Max farts again . He yelps in the horrified silence. “It was the casserole we had last night, I swear—,”
All hell breaks loose as Jake smacks him with the pillow. “Jesus Christ. Get out of her nest, you animal.”
Laughing, I flop back down. Oscar’s fingers skate up my side, tickling me and making me laugh harder as Theo is drawn into the impromptu pillow war, he and Jake tackling Max and threatening to toss him out on his ass.
A peaceful life. A fun life.
A life with them.
I like it.