putting the bottle to my lips and taking a long swallow.
This was met by chuckles and oohs from the girls, leaving me blinking when I put it down on the ground beside me.
“I can drive you home, if you like,” Jai said, watching all of this with a sly smile. “If you’re worried.”
So, so worried, I thought. About everything, anything. For once, my constant anxiety, prompted by a hypervigilant grandmother and being burdened with weird powers, worked in my favour. My friends, the pack, they could all sense my anxiety, my heart rate, my fear—which apparently, had an alluring stink to it—but my turmoil was so pervasive, it was hard for them to narrow down exactly what was worrying me.
“I can’t…”
My throat closed on the words. “One doesn’t say no to the pack,” Nan had said. “If they offer you something you don’t want, ask for something you don’t want to give, you might be able to weasel out of it or try to get out of it in an oblique way, but you never outright say no, not to one of the pack. Beth and the girls, you might be able to swing it but…”
I glanced up, something that all three men seemed to find amusing before dropping my eyes hurriedly.
“I have to be up at the new institute at eight am tomorrow, so I better not, but thank—”
My words were cut off by a hiss from the girls, the men immediately tensing up.
“Whaddya doing in a place like that?” Eddie asked.
“The alphas fought the council, fought them wanting to build on that site,” Jarrah said. “Too many of ours died in that prison. They wanted it turned over to them, but this new lot came in flashing money around.”
“It’s a bad business, what’s going on in there,” Jai said finally, everyone else falling silent.
Stay down, little brother… The words from Diablo’s memories came rushing back, my fingers tightening around my bottle, but I didn’t dare look up.
“I’ll bring you some food,” Jai said. “Eat, and then we meet with the alphas.”
“Someone’s gonna get it…” Jaz said in a low singsong voice as the men paced away, the two girls threading their arms through mine, then they burst out laughing. Eddie and Jarrah took a look at us over their shoulders as they went over to the food table, something that quietened them down, for a minute at least. “Nah, but serious, Shan. You always was my sister from another mister. Now you really will be.”
Don’t say no. Don’t contradict them.
“So which one gets Eddie and which one gets Jarrah?” I asked, shooting them side eyes over the mouth of my bottle.
“Well, we had to fight it out…” They started laughing again when I looked at them in shock. “Shan, we’re not that feral! Jaz and Eddie, me and Jarrah.”
Rita’s tone had softened somewhat as she watched the men pile plates up with ridiculous amounts of food. The girls might have that amazing metabolism that meant they could pack away the food and still remain willowy, but I couldn’t. The guys caught us watching, grinning amongst themselves before ambling back.
“Congrats,” I said, looking at each girl, seeing the contentment there and envying them for it. “But you know I—”
“Don’t,” Jaz said, seriously for once. “Don’t say that anymore. I know what your crazy nan said, and you know me, I don’t talk ill of elders, but her way’s not your way. You belong here, just like us. Whatever she thought was coming for you, it won’t get past the pack. Not for a second. Now, humour that stupid brother of mine. He’s trying, Shan.”
And right as the words faded away, the man himself came back to stand before me, taking a seat on the ground in front of us, the other guys doing the same. My eyes widened. Usually, pack always had their heads higher than non-shifters, only bowing them to senior members. When I glanced at the girls, I saw their faces were transformed, a curious peace settling over them as they accepted the plates from their prospective mates. Their movements, their hands, had a ritualistic quality to them, and I felt a stab of shock when each woman took their forks and took a mouthful from the plate.
Pack determined who ate first, usually the kids, because everything was about future generations, but…
“It’s OK, Shan,” Jai said, my eyes flicking back. He grabbed my hand and placed his spare plate in mine, putting the fork in the other.