Page 2 of The Pack Next Door (The Wolfverse #4)

Jace

“Have you got the truck parked out front of the house yet?” my brother Gideon said down the phone line. “We’re just picking up the keys from the real estate agent.”

“Need to turn the aircon on as soon as we get inside.” Mads, my other brother’s voice was somewhat muffled, obviously coming from somewhere deeper in the car. “It’s hot as balls.”

Didn’t I know it? Sweat ran down my spine, filling the cab of the truck with alpha funk. The van air conditioner whirred noisily, struggling to keep up with the summer heat.

“OK, I’ll meet you…” As I turned into what was supposed to be our new street, I saw I had a whole other problem to deal with. People had parked their cars on either side of the entrance to the street. Not up on the curb, nothing that would allow anything more than a small car to pass by. “Fuck!”

“What?” Gideon snapped, that bossy bullshit of his evident even down the phone line. “Jace, what?”

“Gotta go.”

I ended the call, noting that Gideon called me straight back, but I let it ring.

I could either listen to his bullshit or deal with the issue myself.

As I turned the engine off, old ducks came out of their homes on either side of the street, frowning as they looked me, then my van, over.

I plastered my best smile on my face, ready to charm the lot of them.

When I saw her.

A cute little hatchback pulled up behind me, making it impossible for me to go forward or backwards now. I was ready to have a little ‘chat’ with them, right as the driver got out of the car.

Omega, that’s what I thought as I saw her.

Curves for days. Hair I wanted to wrap around my fist as I drew her closer.

Eyes that narrowed now, her brows forming a cute little frown I wanted to smooth away with a thumb.

Omegas were always sexy little things, but she…

I wasn’t just feeling a tightness in my loins.

My knot starting to swell in response to her.

Fingers raked across my chest, feeling a strange ache there.

My wolf scrambled to his feet, barking within me, as if I hadn’t already noticed her, right before he pushed me forward, forcing me to introduce myself.

“Briar Reynolds,” she replied, looking down at my hand, her own rising to take it.

Yes, we wanted that very, very much. One touch from this girl and we’d be a complete mess, somehow I knew that.

But she forced her hand back down, her frown deepening.

“Any chance you can move that truck? My mother lives down this street and she’s wondering where the hell I am. ”

“For you?” I placed my hand on my chest, pleased when her eyes followed it.

She may or may not have looked a little closer at my pecs.

Ditching the t-shirt now seemed like fate.

I wanted her to measure my shoulders with her eyes, see every single one of the muscles I’d use to protect her from anyone or anything that might hurt her…

Shit, Briar was my mate.

“Anything,” I ended that sentence lamely.

I wanted to be cool, smooth, but instead I was panting after her like a pup.

“If you…” Gods, my voice was all low and growly, the wolf trying to push his way forward.

Briar frowned, backing up slightly. Cool it!

I barked at the other half of my soul. You’re scaring our omega.

Our omega. I was beginning to think we’d never find her, especially when all the omegas in our old place found other alphas. Which meant I couldn’t fuck this up.

“If you back up a bit, I’ll pull the van out and let you go past. Shit.” I reached for her keys, ready to take them off her and do the job myself. Why should my omega do anything when I was here? “I can move?—”

“It’s fine.” Her voice was clipped, her mouth a thin line, and I’d do just about anything to see the tension leave that full pout. “I can do it.”

As my hands went to my hips, I felt the prick of my claws against my skin.

The wolf was not down with this plan, not one bit.

Chill out, I told him. We’ll get out of her way and then track her to wherever she lives.

That was enough to get him releasing his hold on me.

As I climbed into the cab of the van, I looked into the rear-vision mirror, watching Briar park a small way up the adjoining street.

I smiled when she looked my way, flicking my fingers up in a wave and then reversing the van.

“Is this van going to be going up and down our street?” the old bloke who’d come outside spluttered. “We don’t usually have big vehicles coming and going at all hours.”

“Nope,” I replied, watching the hatchback travel up the street and then come to a stop outside of an aging house.

The garden was a mess, completely overgrown.

“I’m Jace.” I held out a hand, and this time the guy shook it grudgingly.

“We’re moving in at number 7. As soon as my brothers and I have unloaded, we’ll be taking the truck back to the rental company. ”

“Oh,” the old bloke said. “That’s alright then.”

Yes, it was, because after he’d put his bloody car in his driveway and I made it up the street, fate’s plan became clear. I rolled up to number 7, throwing the truck into park, only to find the little hatchback parked outside the house next door.

“You looked well pleased with yourself,” Mads said when he and Gideon arrived. “Is it just because you didn’t have to sit in the damn car with this dickhead the entire drive over?”

He jerked his thumb in Gideon’s direction.

I could’ve told him. Mads, he would’ve been stoked, running next door and huffing and puffing, threatening to blow the omega’s door down if she didn’t want to come out to play immediately.

But Gideon…? I looked him over as he marched up to the front door, unlocking it with the new set of keys he’d picked up.

“Gideon—”

He cut me off immediately.

“The dads called,” he told me. “There’s some kind of meet and greet this evening.

We need to present ourselves to the ruling pack anyway, so we’ll do so at this event.

Don’t worry about unpacking everything right now.

Let's check if the electricity is on and there’s running water.

” He looked me up and down slowly, those weird amber eyes of his glowing.

“We need to clean up before we go to this event.”

Yeah, I wasn’t telling Gideon shit. Let him walk on into the town square and then quietly lose his mind when he saw our omega for the first time.

“You got it,” I said with a bow, grinning all the way up the stairs of our new place and into the bathroom.

We had water and power, and as I stared across the gap between our house and Briar’s, I wondered.

What would make her smile? In my mind I saw it, the moment those pretty lips twitched and then curved, almost against her will, finally succumbing to a smile.

Yeah, I wanted that a whole lot, and I’d think about all the things I’d like to do with that mouth as I jumped in the shower.