Page 4

FOUR

I hold Kendall up with one arm while I fish our house keys out of my pocket. “It’s time for some Netflix and take out. Do you want a burrito?” I ask him as the keys nearly fumble out of my hand.

“Black bean chalupa,” Kendall mutters with a laugh. “And a Baja Blast.”

“You got it, sunshine.” After I finally get the door unlocked, we slip inside. Uriah, who’s carrying an unconscious Ciro, marches in behind us.

Each of us have been a lot more settled and happy since moving into our off-campus house.

Kendall and I have been friends all our lives.

We always knew that we would be pack someday.

It wasn’t until we met Uriah and Ciro our freshman year while pledging for our fraternity that we realized we were just waiting for our other half.

Meeting them was kismet, but there’s official rules about packs living in frat housing together.

When we became an official pack last year, we were happy to walk away.

Being in our own space has given us a whole new perspective on what it means to be a pack, even if it makes us feel detached from our frat brothers.

“Let him have the couch, Uri,” I tell him before walking our other inebriated friend to the recliner.

Looks like we’re going to have a little pack sleepover in the living room.

Ciro has a habit of waking up black-out drunk to either drink more or go outside and Kendall will probably get the spins in about ten minutes, which means I am on throw up duty.

Uriah places Ciro gently on the couch, giving him a loving brush on the head.

I sneak a grin behind his back. It’s those little things that only his pack mates are privy to that show who he really is.

The little gestures he gives, even without cracking a smile, mean the world to us even if he doesn’t notice.

Ciro gives a drunken snore. His close cropped hair is about as messy as it can be. He shaved the sides awhile back to get some tattoos, but now they’re hidden under a layer of regrown hair. His spike earrings dangle in his face as he sleeps.

I finally take a seat and pull out my phone, preparing everyone’s order for delivery. Even Ciro, because I know he’ll demand his burrito the second he smells food in the air. It’s always a beacon that pulls him from his drunken stupor.

“Do you want the usual, Uri?” I ask. He only nods before sitting on the empty spot next to Ciro. After I’m done, I set my phone down, and rub a hand over my face.

Now that there isn’t any music or flowing alcohol distracting me, I can’t stop my brain from going back to what happened at the arena.

To the smell that entranced me. I’m having a hard time keeping it to myself, but there’s some details that’s preventing me from telling my pack.

Not only did I not see who it belonged to, but I might never see or smell them again.

Even the thought of it leaves my alpha in a somber-like state.

I have to evaluate how disappointed my brothers might be at that scenario. I have to protect them, just in case.

It doesn’t help that Derek did eventually arrive to the party.

He was in a terrible mood despite having that incredible smell on him.

I had to hold my alpha back from doing something inappropriate and weird, like taking a big whiff of our frat brother in order to confirm or deny what I thought I knew. It gave me an uneasy feeling.

His girlfriend was the one waiting for him. Could that be who I was smelling?

But he also mentioned his girlfriend has a roommate that accompanied her to the game, right before he called her a bitch. The distasteful expletive nearly sent the whole group of us into a rage.

“You alright, At?” I look up at him, realizing I’ve been zoned out for too long. Uriah has the TV on and has already synced up our favorite post-party show: New Girl .

“Yeah,” I say absentmindedly. Kendall is passed out on the recliner, so it looks like he’ll be eating a cold black bean chalupa. I meet Uriah’s gaze again; his phone is now on the coffee table, his attention completely on me as he patiently waits for me to tell him what’s really going on.

If there is someone I can share this with, it’s Uriah. And I should tell someone.

I open my mouth but I can’t get the words out.

I remember the smell that I could feel all the way down to my toes, and the uneasy feeling I had when I realized it was connected to Derek of all people.

I imagine a life where my pack knows this truth but we never find her again.

How we might push away any omega we try to court because of the one who got away.

The lonely hypothetical solidifies my worries.

I’m the prime alpha of our pack. Until we know for sure, I don’t want to burden them with this. Maybe I’ll even forget about it by tomorrow.

You won’t , my alpha growls.

My phone beeps, pulling me from my thoughts. I give Uriah a convincing smile. “I drank a bit too much. I just need food. I’ll be right back.”

He lets me drop it, because he’s a good pack mate and an amazing friend. He has no idea that I have potentially life changing information, so he lets me keep it to myself.

He has no idea that I think I smelled our scent match tonight.