Page 34 of Fifty & Feral

But that was insane, right? We couldn’t possibly be this attached to one another so soon, and Jack had so much going on. I didn’t need to add to that stress by becoming some clingy partner he didn’t ask for. He needed time to get to know his pack, and he didn’t need me in the way of that. I already worried that I had occupied too much time to talk to people this morning.

So I went home and putzed around the house for a while. Eventually it got dark, and I went to bed. Sleep was less than restful.

The next morning, I made myself a pot of coffee. I picked up a book, sat on my couch and opened it, my eyes moved over the lines, but none of the words actually registered. I flipped pages, but I in no way was absorbing the information on there.

When my doorbell rang, I welcomed the intrusion. At this point in time, I would accept telemarketers or solicitors or vacuum salesmen or whatever, anything to keep my mind off Jack.

When I opened the door to find two teenagers there, I wasn’t sure what was going on.

“Can I help you?” I said. “You’re Amanda and Benjamin, right?” I’d met them at the diner the day before. But what were they doing here?

The two exchanged a glance. The girl’s nostrils flared.

“It’s definitely him,” she said.

“Oh, good. It’d be so awkward if we were at the wrong house,” Benjamin said. His shoulders relaxed.

“Excuse me?” I said. “What are you doing here? Is something going on?”

“You’re Alpha Jack’s consort, right? Or you will be?” Benjamin asked.

“I’m sorry, what now?”

Based on the language they were using, I could definitely determine they were the pack members I suspected they were, but still, this felt like a test. A weird test.

“Do your parents know you’re here?” I asked.

They exchanged the glance again.

“They know we’re out studying,” Amanda said.

“This doesn’t look like studying.” I gestured between the two of them, standing on my stoop.

Amanda rolled her eyes. Of course she did. She couldn’t be more than sixteen.

“We’re all caught up on our homework. It’s fine. Now, are you Alpha Jack’s mate or not?”

Mate. I knew that word, and obviously, I’ve watched enough movies and read enough books, but I’d never heard Jack use it or anyone else in the pack. Was it just one of those things I still needed to learn? Did Jack know what mates were?

“Is there something I can help you with?” I asked. I felt like all I’d done was ask questions yet none of them were answered.

“Well, yeah. If you’re Jack’s mate, we’re hoping that you can help him to convince our parents that we’re allowed to do a study abroad in Germany this summer.”

Well, that was a lot to unpack. I stepped aside and gestured for them to come in. “Why don’t you come inside?”

They came right into my home despite the fact that I never confirmed nor denied who I was. Oh, God bless teenagers and their complete lack of self-preservation. I would make sure to discuss with their parents about things like this. Not only were they talking about pack business with a human, a person they didn’t know, but they went into my home. I had a strong suspicion no one knew they were here.

“First things first,” I said. “It’s almost lunch. Have you guys eaten?” Somehow, I’d managed to waste half the day and accomplished nothing except avoiding thinking about Jack. I supposed that was an accomplishment.

“We had snacks before we came over.”

Lord save me from what a teenager might consider a snack.

I motioned for them to follow me, and I went to the kitchen, pulling out a stack of cut-up pita bread and hummus. For good measure, I grabbed the carrots as well. At least then it could be somewhat healthy. They both dug in as if they hadn’t eaten in days.

“Okay, so tell me about this study abroad,” I said.

I picked up my phone and started typing away. I didn’t know much about teenagers, but I did know that they didn’t seem to care too much if someone was on their phone while listening to a conversation. It was called multitasking. In my day, it was just rude. I shot a quick text to Jack to let him know I had two pack members here, teenagers, in case anyone was missing some.