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

Mads

“You finished in the shower yet?” I hammered a fist into the bathroom door, only for Jace to jerk it open and smirk at me as he tucked his towel around his waist. “It doesn’t take that long to wash your damn makeup off.”

“Wanting to clean yourself up, brother?” He went to flick water in my face, but I shoved his hand away.

“Not sure if we have anything that will fix whatever the fuck is going on with your face.” He grinned as he pushed past me.

“Maybe I can ask if Gideon can leave you home when we meet the omegas. Wouldn’t want you scaring them off. ”

I heard the banter, was ready to clapback, when something stopped me in my tracks. A floral scent, faint, but still there, that had me moving closer. Jace frowned as I leaned into his space, then took a deep breath.

“You been trying some new perfume, Jace?”

My voice came out a whole lot deeper and growlier than I intended. The wolf wanted to know the answer to that question as much as I did.

“Maybe…” My eyes narrowed as he backed away. “Or maybe I ran into our neighbour today.”

“The old lady who’s garden we need to mow?

” The woman that sold us the house had been most insistent on that, letting us know there was a financial reward for doing so, but we wouldn’t take it.

Gideon had been elated, seeing it as an opportunity to make connections in the community.

It would help us in our attempts to become alphas of this town.

The wolf growled deep in my chest, some of that sound trickling from between my lips.

“There’s no way an old woman smells like that. ”

“No old lady.” Jace was always a prick when he had information the rest of our pack didn’t. “She was too young, too pretty, to be called that.”

“Who?” My hand shot out, wrapping itself around his throat, but while Jace could be a flake sometimes, we were raised by the same father.

He twisted out of my grip, then knocked my hand away, claws forming at the ends of his fingers.

Didn’t wipe that shit-eating grin off his face, though. “Who, Jace, or so help me?—”

“Our mate.” He stepped away from me, arms wide, knowing everything inside me wanted to haul him closer to beat every single detail out of him. “Turns out there’s more than one lady living next door, and she’s mine.”

“Ours…”

The wolf bit that off, growling a warning at Jace. My baby brother was a bloody idiot sometimes, trying to make up for the fact that Gideon had a stick jammed up his arse.

“Why aren’t you in the shower?”

The man himself appeared on the landing, staring at Jace, then me.

“You first.”

I stepped aside and gestured to the bathroom door.

“Why?” Gideon looked me up and down. “What will you be doing?”

“Taking a look at our brand new backyard,” I told him, heading towards the stairs. “Get an idea of what exactly we bought.”

“You’ve got twenty minutes,” Gideon said with a sniff. Seeing him walk into the bathroom helped settle something inside me.

“Twenty minutes?” Jace spluttered. “How long does it take you to wash your dick, brother?”

Gideon’s lips twitched and for a second, just a second, I thought he’d smile. They thinned down into a line soon enough, extinguishing all hope.

“Longer than you, obviously.” He nodded at Jace. “Got a whole lot more to deal with.”

I laughed all the way down the stairs, still smiling as I walked across the grass. The trees didn’t catch my eyes, nor the pretty flower beds.

The long grass formed a wall around the house, but what I could see had my fangs grinding together.

The guttering was sagging, the paint peeling from the walls, and then there was the jungle of the garden.

Someone hadn’t been looking after the place, and that ended now.

I walked along the fence, looking for a place I could jump over, when I heard the foulest words said by the sweetest voice.

“Stupid, bloody, fucking…”

I grabbed the top of the fence and then threw myself over, landing in what was probably a garden bed.

The sound of critters going scuttling off made me feel better as I strode over.

My nose worked, smelling her scent now. Such a pretty, floral thing, I sucked in a breath of it, right before I stepped free of the grass.

And there she was.

Perfect, so perfect. That loop of light brown hair that had my fingers itching?

I’d smooth it back behind her ear over and over until we were both too old to do a damn thing.

Those full lips? When she accepted the mate bond, I’d kiss that tight line away, until they became soft and swollen.

And those hazel eyes. I wanted to lie in the sun and count every colour from green, brown, and amber.

But right now, my mate had a problem, and I needed to solve it.

“Seems like you’re having issues with your lawn mower.” I crouched down beside the machine, wanting to get closer, but forcing myself to focus on the issue at hand. “Won’t start?”

“Ah… no,” she said. “So who are you? Some random lawn mower mechanic that wanders the world, helping people keep their grass cut?”

“Not quite.” I tried not to smile and failed, right before holding my hand out. “I’m Mads.” With a shake of my head, I corrected myself. “Maddox. Your new neighbour. We just moved in next door.”

“With Jace.” That rueful look made me think that their meeting hadn’t gone so well.

“Got it. Well, you’re not my neighbour.” She looked up at the grass, the shed that looked like it would fall over in a strong wind, and then the sky.

Anywhere but at me. Interesting. “You’re my mum’s.

This is her place, and I’m just down…” Something stopped her from saying much more, and I watched her eyes roll sideways.

“To mow her grass, so if you excuse me, I promise not to assault your delicate ears with any more swearing.”

“So you’ve got this?” I dusted off my hands, and while the wolf scrabbled inside me, insisting we stay right where we were, I took a step backwards. “The swearing was just you asserting dominance over an inanimate object.”

“It was an attempt to ward off bossy alphas and keep them out of my yard,” she said, getting to her feet.

A puff of breath had her hair ruffling, and it was all I could look at as she primed the lawnmower and pulled the starter cord.

The wolf revolted.

He knew I could do this. After watching me do it over and over when we still lived with our parent pack, he couldn’t understand why we would stand by and let our omega struggle. Maybe because her cheeks were getting pinker and pinker, her lips parting as she panted.

“Are you done?” I asked, crossing my arms.

“No…?”

She didn’t sound so certain. I leant over the machine, unscrewing the spark plug from the motor, then taking a look at it. Sure enough, it was covered in crap.

“Reckon there’s a wire brush in the shed?” I asked.

If there wasn’t, I’d dig through the toolbox that was somewhere in the moving van and remove every speck of crud from the plug.

“Ahh… maybe?” She frowned as she stared at the open doorway, her scent souring slightly. Something about that shed made her not want to go looking.

“I’m happy to dig around in there,” I said, strolling over towards the shed. “For your mother, of course. What was her name?”

“Maggie.” My omega shot me a dark look, as if she knew what was coming. “Maggie Reynolds.”

“Tell me your name.” I looked over my shoulder, wincing at the state of the shed. “And I’ll battle whatever the hell lurks in the shed of doom”

When her hands went to her hips, my eyes followed.

I wanted to knock them away and replace them with mine, now.

Slowly, I told the wolf, trying to place it in terms he understood.

Hunting big game, a wolf had to be careful, lest all that effort go to nothing as the prey ran away.

We had to earn the right to touch our mate.

“My name?” Her eyes narrowed as she looked me up and down. “Why would you need that?”

“I always like to know the name of the woman I’m servicing.”

That had her making a very rude noise. I couldn’t tell if it was a snort or a scoff, but it was her arms that had my focus. They crossed under her breasts, creating a movement that was very distracting.

“Servicing?” One eyebrow rose and I loved the spark of defiance in the omega’s eyes. “You’re cleaning a spark plug, not me.”

My grin widened.

“I’m multi-talented.”

Well, theoretically. I’d never touched a woman, waiting to find my fated mate, but I’d made sure to educate myself extensively on the topic.

“Well.” I loved the way she looked at me. Like I was a treat that she was trying really hard not to taste. “Congratulations on your versatility.”

“Name.” I tossed the spark plug up in the air, catching it easily. “Or…”

I turned, pretending to toss it into the shed.

“Briar!” She took a step forward, hands out to stop me. “It’s Briar.”

“Pretty name. I’ll try not to scream it out too loudly if anything in the shed bites me.”

“I’m pretty sure a big bad alpha like you will cope,” she said drily.

“All I’m hearing is you noticed I’m big.”

Her little chuckle, it was all I needed to brave the depths of the shed.