mischief as a young uber-alpha for that not to be widely known—but they weren’t expecting him to return with an entire pack. He’d only meant to find an omega, someone he might eventually form a pack with, but it turned out Jack Henry came as part of a set.
“I didn’t realize we’d have to move,” Jack Henry grumbled. “My dance studio is here. And my parents.”
“It’s only a few hours away. Your parents can visit.”
“And I’ll bet there’s a dance studio in Galvetta,” Elias said.
“Seems like I remember something of the kind,” Jasper agreed. “I know this is all new, but we’re going to make it work, I promise.” He smiled like he didn’t have any doubts, but in the bright morning sun, the four of them felt more like a group of strangers than a pack.
JACK HENRY
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What had been clear when his head wasn’t clear was less clear now that it was. Jack Henry found Jasper tremendously sexy—dark and powerful. Wearing Jasper’s vest gave him a visceral feeling of comfort, as if he’d known and depended on Jasper for years already. But the man was a stranger, and the situation was… odd.
Jasper said the people in Galvetta would understand, but Jack Henry didn’t understand himself. When he’d been dithering between Saul and Elias, he’d been debating between two sides of essentially the same coin. The three of them had all grown up in Ferris, and though he’d expected to move into his mate’s home after being claimed, it would’ve been a small move, a matter of miles at most. Everything else in his life would’ve stayed the same. The dance studio, the park, the pizza place—all the things he knew. He could’ve had Saul in his bed at night and Elias for company during the day and been a happy man. He didn’t need… this. Though last night it’d seemed like he did.
Great moon in heaven, he’d had an orgy. And now he belonged to not just one alpha but three, which meant there’d be more orgies. Which didn’t sound so bad. But he didn’t know what having three mates would mean other than a lot of sex. Moving to Galvetta might be the first step toward a frightening loss of autonomy.
It was a pleasant morning, though, bright and cheery as if nothing ominous loomed on the horizon. When their stomachs started grumbling, Jasper offered to take down a deer. It was an impractical suggestion—the rest of them didn’t have super-sharp teeth or an appetite for raw meat—but it gave Jack Henry a reassuring glimpse into Jasper’s mind. Jasper wanted to impress them, to take care of them.
Other than the rustle of their own footsteps, the forest was quiet, and none of them broke the silence. They touched in little ways—him and Jasper holding hands, Elias and Saul bumping against them, each of them taking pains to hold back a branch or offer a hand over a log—but they didn’t speak. It was all a bit much by the bright light of day.
As they got closer to the starting line, they began to come across mated pairs, as tentative and shy with each other as Jack Henry and his mates were. Everyone had lived through a life-changing event last night, and they were awakening to the results this morning. But the curious glances flashed in Jack Henry’s direction kept reminding him that his result was extra strange.
He nodded to his fellow omegas as they crossed paths. Some wore contented smiles, others didn’t look as happy. Jack Henry forced a smile onto his own face. He might be uncertain about what he was walking into, but he refused to look scared. Jasper was his alpha now, and this pack would be his home. They weren’t strange. They were extraordinary.
Ashton was waiting for him at the starting line, snuggled into Beauregard’s arms. He bounded toward Jack Henry before coming to a confused halt a few feet away, his eyes flickering between the three alphas accompanying him.
“Talk to your friend,” Jasper said with a nudge. “I’ll go see the race director. Saul, you come with me.” The two of them walked off with Jasper’s arm around Saul’s shoulders, Jasper whispering something into Saul’s ear as they went. Suspicious looks followed them, people wondering if they’d entered into an alpha/alpha mating which, while not entirely unheard of, was rare enough to turn heads.
Ashton assumed Saul and Jasper going off together meant Jack Henry had mated with Elias. “I’m so happy for you,” he