Page 11 of Hunted Pack (Her Vicious Pack #7)

Vera

“Can I help you with dinner?” I lean against the counter as Eli is chopping cucumbers.

There’s a big stack of vegetables and meat on the counter on his other side. The other kitchen staff are here to help him, but even then, that’s a lot of food to prepare and I want to do something that doesn’t require too much from my brain right now.

He turns to me, smiling, though it’s tired. “Do you want to chop or cook?”

“Chop.” It means less thinking and less chances of me accidentally hurting myself by touching something I’m not supposed to, and I don’t want to hang over a pan that might make me feel sick or even warmer than I already feel.

“Grab any of the veggies, chop small. You know where everything is.” He watches me grab what I need and then goes over to the other staff, checking in with them.

I go for the courgettes first, they’re nice and easy. I stack them next to my cutting board and start cutting them into small cubes. First, slicing into disks, then stacking the disks to cut them into strips and then cubing those strips. It’s simple work that I don’t have to think about.

By the time I’ve done four of them, Eli comes over, putting his cutting board next to mine, moving onto tomatoes. “How are you keeping up?” His voice is quiet, though it’s not like it’s easy for the others to overhear us in the noisy kitchen.

“I don’t know. There’s a lot going on and I haven’t had time to really think about all of it.” I throw some more courgette cubes into a bowl, taking a few moments to stare at them.

“And your pregnancy? Going okay today?”

I nod. “I’ve mostly been fine.” I let out a soft laugh.

“I’m glad that the baby doesn’t seem to mind blood, or last night would have been a lot worse.

” I don’t want to imagine what would have happened if I’d also gotten sick on top of the rest of the mess in that room… That would have been horrible to clean.

That makes Eli smile too. “I guess the baby takes after Caleb, because Jorge isn’t that good with blood.”

I flash him a grin. “Or maybe my genes are more dominant.”

“With you, I wouldn’t be surprised by that either, you have a habit of taking over places. And I mean that in the most loving way possible.” Eli laughs and then looks at a point behind me.

When I follow his gaze, I find Mathew in the doorway, wearing summer suit pants and a light dress shirt that shows the shadows of his tattoos underneath. His long black hair is still damp from the shower, so it reaches well past his hips, and he’s barefoot.

Eli steps closer to me, leaning in conspiratorially, making Mathew glare.

He drops his voice so only I can hear him.

“Like you’ve taken over Mathew’s life. Before, he would never have walked around the house barefoot, or have worn a dress shirt that didn’t fully hide his tattoos.

It might not look like much, but these are good changes. ”

Heat flashes in my cheeks and I can’t help the way my pheromones flare, making Eli laugh.

He steps away from me and returns to his chopping. “Are you here for a reason, or are you just going to stare at your Omega from the doorway? I would prefer if you didn’t do the latter, it tends to make the other kitchen staff nervous.”

“Pretty sure it’s my house...” Mathew strides inside, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me against him, possessive, claiming me.

“And I’m pretty sure that you put me in charge of the kitchen.” Eli doesn’t even take his eyes off the tomatoes, he keeps talking while he works. I guess he’s used to working with distractions, from how often I’ve found his Alphas sitting at the kitchen table, chatting to him.

“Fair enough.” Mathew lets out a short laugh, his arms around me relaxing a fraction. “I’m here for my Omega, I need her for something. You can have her back after, if she feels like it.” Mathew nuzzles my neck, making me melt against him.

“She knows she’s always welcome.” Eli turns to me, winking.

“Thanks.” I smile, glad that mates being possessive are just another expected occurrence in Eli’s daily life, and turn in Mathew’s embrace. “What do you need me for?”

Mathew lifts me up and carries me out of the kitchen, crossing his office and then sits us both down in one of the chairs outside, me in his lap. He leans slightly back, pulling a face, like it’s painful.

“What’s wrong? Do I smell bad?” I don’t think that any of the scents from the kitchen —from the food or the pheromones— are things that Mathew doesn’t react well to right now. I try to slide from his lap, but he quickly grabs hold of me, keeping me in place.

“No. You smell amazing.” He kisses my shoulder before he leans his head against it, letting out a long sigh. “Promise not to laugh?”

“Not sure I can, not after a request like that. Especially when you look like you want to disappear into the ground.” I lean against his head, letting out warm pheromones. “But I’ll try.”

“My nipples are sore .” He lets out a low grumble. “They’ve been sensitive lately, but they’re sore now. With the heat today, I’ve been sweaty and they’ve been rubbing on the inside of my shirt. Now they’re sore.”

I can’t help my smile, not because it’s funny or amusing but because of how grumbly he is about it, and also because the mental image of his nipples constantly rubbing against his shirt all day is kind of sexy.

“You grabbed me from the kitchen to complain about your nipples?” I can’t help the laugh in my voice and Mathew pulls me against him more, nipping at my shoulder.

“No...” He lets the o roll for a while. “I grabbed you from the kitchen because I’ve barely seen you all day and wanted to spend some time with you. My nipples are a separate issue.”

“Okay.” I kiss his hair, taking in slivers of his scent, enjoying his closeness.

“I put bandages on them, but now it feels even weirder. Now I’m constantly aware of them, and it’s making me hard.” His grumbling doesn’t stop and I push his head up, making him look at me.

“Do you want to grumble about it or do you want me to resolve it?”

“Both.” He flashes me his best replica pout, trying his hardest to hide his smile.

“Okay.” I open the top buttons of his shirt before he grabs my wrists, holding them in place. “I’m just going to take a look.”

“You’re not allowed to do anything weird, this is strange enough as it is.”

“What do you take me for?”

“You.” He levels me a look and I can’t help my grin. “Someone who’s much too interested in seeing how many ways you can find to turn me on.”

I want to tell him I’m not that bad, but he’s not wrong, that is one of my favourite things to do. “Fair enough. I won’t do anything weird, I promise.”

He lets go of my wrists and I open his shirt the rest of the way, letting it fall open.

Fuck, he looks so sexy. His body exposed, his muscles and tattoos on full display, his body tight in anticipation.

I reach out, itching to trail my fingers over his stomach, down his abs, before I remember that I promised not to do anything ‘weird’.

He’s covered his nipples with skin coloured bandages, which makes sense, he wouldn’t want them to stand out under his shirt. But the bandages aren’t tight at all, so with every flex of his muscles, they’ll move around, giving even more sensations than before.

“Don’t you have an undershirt you can wear? Something tight-fitting? It might be warm, but it will probably feel a lot better than this.”

He looks down at his chest, frowning. “Do you think that’s a better idea? Won’t that rub even more?”

“Not if it’s tight enough not to move around. I know plenty of women with small chests who do it all the time. Some can get away with a simple tank top or anything else tight-ish that gives an extra layer between their nipples and their outer clothing.”

“That makes sense.” He reaches up, tugging at the corner of one of the bandages. “I guess I should take them off?”

“I think that’s a good idea, yes. Do you want to do it yourself or should I do it?” I turn in his lap, straddling him, giving me a better view of things.

He laughs, dropping his arms around my waist. “You do it, you seem to want to.”

I don’t reply, instead leaning in to kiss him, as I quickly pull first one and then the other one off. Mathew groans into my mouth, his arms around me tensing, his dick straining in his pants between us. This close, I smell the flare of his wisteria pheromones, his arousal.

Even after I’ve put the bandages on the table next to the chair, he won’t stop kissing me, every kiss becoming more and more desperate, making my head spin.

As I’m starting to run out of breath, he finally breaks the kiss, putting our foreheads together, our breathing hard.

“You’re amazing, you know that?” His words are soft, quiet, tender.

I don’t really know what to reply, not when the mood’s so charged. Anything I could say feels too light or too heavy.

Luckily, or maybe sadly, that choice is taken away from me as my phone rings.

Mathew feels around under my dress until he finds the pockets in the shorts I’m wearing, using the moment to feel me up more. Then he gives the phone to me.

Spotting the name on the screen, Erika, my heart starts beating fast.

I connect the call, my breathy voice no longer from the kissing, but from the nerves. At this moment, a call from her could mean anything, good or bad news. “Everything okay?”

“Yes, everything’s okay. I didn’t mean to worry you. I tried calling Mathew, but he didn’t pick up.” Erika’s voice is light and I give the man in question a look, because he’s close enough to be able to hear her too.

He pats his pockets, not finding his phone anywhere. So he pulls me against him more, his dick trapped between our bodies, his lips brushing against my jaw even though he really doesn’t need to be this close hear Erika or to be heard by her. “Is there a reason you need me?”

“Hey, there you are. I guessed I had about a fifty-fifty chance that calling Vera or Caleb would get me directly in touch with you. I hit the jackpot on my first try.” She falls quiet for a moment as I hear a conversation on her end, but not clear enough to make out any words.

“Right!” She’s focused on us again. “I’m calling to say we’re about to get on the flight. We should be at the airport on your side of things in a couple of hours. I already sent the details to your phone.”

Mathew nods, his eyes serious, in work mode. “Derrick is going to send some people to pick you up, right?”

“Yes. A group of us are coming today and then a second group is coming tomorrow. We couldn’t get everyone on this flight and the next one isn’t until tomorrow morning, so we split.”

“I understand. We’ll see you in a couple of hours. Have a safe flight.”

I quickly say something too, before Erika can hang up. “Have a safe flight.” Even though it’s not for the happiest reason, I’m looking forward to seeing Erika again.

“Thank you. See you soon.” She disconnects the call and I put my phone on the table.

“I want to pick her up from the airport.” I’ve not seen Erika and her pack in a long time and I kind of want to be there when she arrives. And it will hopefully allow us to chat for a bit before things get all business-like.

Erika has been my mum-friend for years and I have a lot to talk about with her and ask her, stuff that I don’t need any of my mates to be around for. Relationship stuff. Pregnancy stuff. Even ‘running an organisation’ stuff, something I never thought we’d ever have in common.

Mathew frowns slightly. “I don’t know if that’s the best idea, security and all.”

I give him a disbelieving look. “You’re sending Derrick and most of your best security people to pick them up, even though, as far as we know, Erika and her pack are in no danger at all.” I think for a moment. I don’t need to be there at the arrival gate, I just want to spend time with her…

“What if I promise to stay in the car? Nobody will notice me if I’m in the car waiting for them. I don’t even have to get out. I can just stay hidden.”

He gives me a look but then nods slowly. “But you’re not going alone, I’ll go with you. I want to meet the lady who manages to run an organisation even more complex than mine. And who helped keep you safe for years.” He kisses my cheek, looking all excited.

Wait, wouldn’t that make the security needs even stricter?

Me going with them to pick Erika up requires maybe one or two extra people, but if Mathew also goes… That’s going to require a lot more people.

Which means we’ll need more cars and that means more of a hassle coordinating everything, which will all fall on Derrick.

I’m sorry, Derrick, I hadn’t really expected Mathew to also want to go, and now my selfish impulse is going to create a lot of extra work for you.

Whoops.