Page 46 of The Pack Next Door (The Wolfverse #4)

Gideon’s arms around me as he carried me from the town centre.

Mads’ joking as he braved the depths of the shed.

Jace’s wolf nipping and teasing mine, then holding me, skin to skin.

I didn’t want to see it, didn’t want to hear their words again.

Revisiting this stuff just fucking hurt, and I was done with that.

Clothes were snatched up and shoved into my bag, my laptop stuffed into its case.

I moved like a machine, stuffing her down, my feelings down, because there was nothing to be gained by sitting around in my room and moping.

Which is exactly what I’d done the night I discovered the Forrests had rejected me.

I could still hear the thud of my footsteps as I ran upstairs.

Mum’s voice came from the lounge room, calling my name as I slammed the bedroom door shut, making clear that I didn’t want anyone to enter.

My hands shook, remembering clasping the pillow to my stomach and then shoving my face into it, my silent scream echoing everywhere inside my head.

But nowhere in my room.

The only way I could think to deal with the pain back then was to pretend it wasn’t happening. Mum and I had hit the road the next day, full of optimism that my pack was out there. Yeah, well, I knew who they were now, and I had no use for them. It was past time I left Moon River.

This time for good.

Coming downstairs with all my bags packed, Mum nodded at the sight of it.

“Thought you might be headed off.” She looked a little bit sad and a whole lot proud as she pulled me into a hug. “Thanks for coming down to visit.”

“Of course, Mum.”

“I’ll come and see you next time,” she promised. “Now…”

I followed her eyes, knowing exactly what she meant. If the Whitlocks weren't expelled from the town, they’d be her neighbours and I’d be forced to see them every day I was down for a holiday. There’d be no relaxation to be hard there. I pursed my lips and then smiled.

“It’s OK,” I said. “Not every omega ends up accepting the bond.” I shrugged. “Looks like I’m one of them.”

“Do they know that?”

She didn’t need to articulate who. My jaw muscle flexed and then, when I heard a door slam and the muffled sound of shouted voices, I nodded. Maybe this was what the Forrests felt when they rejected me. That they had to do something impossibly tough and the only way forward was just to do it.

Well, I would with considerably more courage than they had.

My bags were placed in the back of my car, my laptop on the back seat, before I turned towards the neighbour’s house. April had chivvied them inside, an eye on the street, no doubt worried about what people thought.

Well, I’d give them my thoughts.

Could they become the ruling pack with no omega? Maybe. But they sure as hell weren’t doing so with my support.

Something April was very upset by, it seemed.

Things had spilled onto the back deck. The dads were no doubt nowhere to be seen, but by the way they were staggering, they might’ve been sleeping it off.

“And this… Briar woman!” April was going off, her face an alarming shade of red. “This is who you want by your side?”

“Who else would we—?” Mads snapped, but Gideon cut her off.

“Briar is our mate.”

“How can you be certain?” She flung her hand through the air. “She does nothing to support your bid to become ruling pack.”

“Nothing to support…” Jace’s voice was completely flat. “That idea is dead in the water now, thanks to the dads.”

“We were the idiots that decided to follow their advice,” Mads argued.

“This whole… popularity contest idea is a ridiculous one,” she spluttered. “Who heard of running a town that way? You won!”

“We lost.” Gideon’s voice was so utterly without hope it was kind of scary.

“We lost because we played by the rules of the place we were born, not the place we want to live in. You said you wanted to get away from that life, to live a softer one here. How can that happen if we import the same culture?”

“A softer life under your rule!”

I couldn’t see April’s face, but I could visualise her expression perfectly.

Cruel, vainglorious, she would’ve loved to be the one to swan around town, rubbing her sons’ achievements in everyone’s face, including Damien.

She was a very small, very ugly person, and for just a second, I felt sorry for the Whitlocks.

That’s when Mads saw me.

Hope flared to life in his eyes, and that had me shaking my head. The wolf pushed hard against the bond, sure she knew what to do.

“Which is why that omega would never be the right one for you. A woman her age? How can she give you the many big, strong sons you’d need to hold a town like this for perpetuity?”

My bark of laughter came out unbidden.

They all turned around now, Gideon too pale, Jace looking stricken, and April? Her eyes narrowed, her perfectly applied lipstick peeled back to reveal her fangs.

“Well,” I said, “I can help you out there. I can’t have children.

” Her response didn’t matter. Theirs did.

“Which is why this would never have worked out. Just came over to say goodbye.” I looked their mother up and down.

“And good luck, because you’re going to need it if you want to stay in Moon River. ”

At that, I turned on my heel, marching off, with my head held high.