Page 8 of Pack Scratch Fever

I try not to gawk as I open the passenger door.

The single-story house is beautiful, with a long driveway that leads up to a garage with a dark tinted glass door.

The walkway to the front is made of stone steps and surrounded by perfectly manicured hedges.

The walls are cream brick with a dark roof, and arched exterior windows give a view to the inside with light streaming through them.

I’m ridiculously nervous. I look frumpy and out of place walking up their driveway with a cat trap in my hand and a duffel bag in the other while wearing a ratty old sweatshirt.

“It’s going to be fine,” Blair says quietly as she rings the doorbell. “We’re doing a good thing, helping them.”

I nod in agreement.

I’m not here for the Alphas—I’m here for the cats.

Avery is the one who answers, and the minute I see his expression, I’m relieved.

He looks just as frazzled as I feel.

“Hey,” he croaks out, running a hand through his messy blonde hair. His amber eyes are stressed as he looks at me. “Thank you so much for coming,” he sighs. “We didn’t know what else to do.”

His Alpha scent washes over me, a relaxing elixir of chamomile tea, and I smile softly at him. “That’s why we’re here,” I say.

“Typical Friday night for us,” Blair jokes, and Avery turns his attention to her, his eyes still pained.

“Really, I can’t thank you enough,” he says. He holds the door open for us, then looks back at me, his lip slightly quirking. “Do you want anything to drink? We have?—”

“Oh, shit, is that them?” Maddox yells from across the house, his voice echoing. “Are they here?”

Avery rolls his eyes. “Sorry,” he grumbles. “Maddox gets overly excited about things.”

There’s a flurry of black, and Maddox is suddenly in front of us, his face even more stressed than Avery’s. “There are so many of them,” he insists, “and I don’t know what to do.”

Gone is the flirtatious, arrogant Alpha from before.

His expression is pure panic .

I would laugh if it weren’t for the way his scent affects me, too.

Ginger and pepper swirl around me, and I fight the urge to throw myself into Maddox’s spicy arms.

No! Think about the cats!

“Show us the way,” I say evenly, ignoring my body’s reaction. “We will go from there.”

It’s comical how stressed out the two of them are. Sure, it’s a big deal to have a ton of kittens in your backyard, but I’m not sure their level of panic is warranted.

Maybe it’s because I’ve done this a thousand times before, and I’ve trapped everything from feral cats to raccoons that try to eat the sardine bait.

Maddox leads us quickly through their front room and past their kitchen.

“It’s kind of messy,” Avery supplies. “Sorry about that.”

It’s anything but. Their front room is clean and spacious, with a welcoming, cozy-looking cream couch that faces a mounted television.

Bookshelves and framed photos line the walls tastefully.

Their kitchen is clean and pristine, with white cabinets, silver appliances, and charcoal hardwood flooring.

It’s a lovely house.

It doesn’t take long to see the source of their problems, though. Furry bodies scamper around their backyard, both kittens and adult cats alike. Some sit on the stone porch under the gazebo, while others roll around in the carefully manicured plants.

“You have a vegetable garden?” I ask, noticing the trellis against their wooden fence.

“And herbs,” Maddox says. “You can take some home, if you want. If you don’t mind them covered in cat fur.”

I laugh. “I’m always covered in cat fur,” I say fondly. “It wouldn’t be anything new.”

I turn to see Maddox watching me. His eyes are strikingly blue, and this close, I could swear he’s seeing right through me.

As if he knows every dirty thought I’ve had about him, and how close I am to my Heat.

It’s unnerving, to say the least, and I clear my throat and look away from him.

But I can still sense his eyes on me as Avery opens the sliding glass door and leads us outside, all the cats on the porch running away from us.

“Okay,” Blair says, placing her duffel bag down. “Are you guys ready to learn how to do this?”

An hour later, Blair is using their bathroom, and I am curled up on their comfortable couch, sipping a mug of hot chocolate.

She’s been in there for a long time, and I tell myself it’s not because she wants me to have alone time with Maddox and Avery, who sit on the opposite side of the couch from me.

We need to leave soon.

I have to start getting ready for the day at the shelter.

But that’s not the most urgent reason.

The truth is they’re affecting me, and badly.

I find myself digging my nails into their couch cushions, my stomach doing flips and my womb cramping painfully.

I want Avery and Maddox solely because they’re Alphas.

I don’t even know them.

I’m not thinking rationally, and the longer I stay in their home, the less self-control I will possess.

Maddox stretches his arms along the back of the couch, letting out a groan of relief. “I feel so much better,” he says. “We can’t thank you enough, Pipe.”

I shrug, ignoring the use of my nickname. “It’s what we do.”

I’m still unnerved by the way he looks at me. Even when my attention is elsewhere, I can still sense him watching me, his gingery scent warming the room.

The scent that makes my lungs burn and my head spin.

What do you want from me? I want to yell at him. What do you find so fascinating?

“It’s kind,” Avery says gently. “You came all the way out here to help. I’m forever in your debt.”

His words are so earnest that they warm my heart.

“That’s the thing, though,” I tell both of him, having the courage to meet Maddox’s eyes again. “Neither of you owes us anything. We do it because we want to.” I shake my head. “In my eyes, there’s no other option but to do the right thing.”

Avery looks at me curiously. “Some people don’t do that.”

I shrug. “Yeah, well, it’s not a choice for me.”

I’ve had this conversation before with my father, and I remember how he looked at me incredulously.

Like I had grown a second head.

Like helping animals was somehow less important than being rich and successful.

I wait for Avery or Maddox to scoff, but instead, they nod. “Makes sense,” Maddox says. “You have to do what your heart tells you to do. I get it.”

I look at him curiously. “You do?”

“Absolutely, babe.”

I huff. I’m not hating the nicknames as much, and a delicious warmth spreads up my spine the longer I talk with them. “Explain it to me, then,” I challenge.

“You think in absolutes, like I do,” Maddox says easily.

“It’s either right or wrong. There’s no gray area; there’s no nuance about what should and shouldn’t be done.

You have to help the cats because it’s the right thing to do.

And good luck to anyone who tries to stop you.

” He grins. “I have a feeling you’re just as stubborn as I am. ”

My cheeks flush, while Averys smiles softly.

“Stubbornness is an endearing trait,” Avery says softly. “Especially if you’re using it to help others.”

I’m not used to receiving so many compliments from Alphas.

I soak it up, relishing in the praise, ashamed at how much I enjoy it.

It’s as if my mind is split into two different people.

There’s normal Piper, who takes too many suppressants to put off her Heats and pretends to be happy with her cat rescue and friends.

The Piper who seriously refuses to face any problems in her life and has sworn off Alphas because she doesn’t need them.

Then there’s my inner Omega, who is doing backflips and losing her mind while being around Maddox and Avery.

The added fatigue doesn’t help. My lack of sleep makes me more vulnerable, and I smile fondly at both Maddox and Avery, drowning in their scents.

Alphas, my inner voice purrs. Alphas that like us.

I open my mouth, ready to say something flirty, when Blair comes back into the room and flops down on the cushion next to me. “Stubborn as hell,” she says. “But the best friend in the whole world. Smartest person I’ve ever met.”

I grimace, knowing what she’s trying to do. “Okay, enough,” I murmur, while Maddox grins at me knowingly, flashing brilliant white teeth.

“She seems pretty awesome,” he agrees, and I swear my face is going to burn off.

I turn to Blair. “Are you ready to go?” I ask her pointedly, and she nods, then looks to the Alphas.

“And you understand what to do once you trap them?” she asks. “This will be a process, so one of us will be coming back a few times to pick up the cats, get them to our vet, then return them if we can’t get them adopted out.”

“Wait,” Maddox says, frowning. “What do you mean returning them?”

“It’s only if we can’t socialize them,” I explain, and his frown immediately disappears when he focuses on me. “We do pretty well, though. If they’re friendly enough, they get adopted. Worst case, they come back to your neighborhood as community cats.”

“Community cats?” Avery echoes.

I nod, excited to explain everything to them.

“So, the cats are hanging around because they have a food source, likely one of your neighbors. And now they won’t be able to keep having kittens, and they’ll be vaccinated.

” I smile. “So, they’re happy and healthy, and the only thing you may have to worry about is your garden.

But when I’m not half asleep, I can explain more to you about it. ”

Avery makes a face and looks at Maddox. “Poe won’t like that,” he murmurs, and Maddox snickers.

I freeze at the name, and so does Blair.

“Who?” I ask quietly, sharing a worried glance with Blair at the same time their front door unlocks. When the person steps in, I’m overwhelmed by the familiar herby scent that I experienced only hours ago.

Poe steps into the house and his gaze immediately zeroes in on me, his mouth opened in shock.

“What are you doing here?”

“Surprise,” I say meekly. “You have a cat colony.”

He looks around the room, his face incredulous.

“We have a what ?”