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“I’m sure you’re wondering,” he starts, finally looking over at me.
I don’t deny it. “You can trust me, man.”
We keep walking as the story comes out. I find my jaw clenching harder and harder, enraged to hear that Leo’s father was practically torturing his own daughter, locking her up and colluding to sell her into slavery. I try to keep my mouth shut, wanting Leo to have the space to get all the words out, but when he tells me about the condition his packmate found her in I can’t help letting a growl escape.
“Please tell me the piece of shit is dead,” I snarl, realizing belatedly that I’m talking about his father. I can’t quite find it in me to take my words back though.
“He’s been arrested. Or taken into military custody? To be honest, I’m not real sure of the technicalities of it all. Linc has been following all that for me,” Leo admits, the stress clear in his voice.
“Linc? That’s your packmate, right?” I’ve met Leo’s packmates once or twice. Linc isn’t big on social gatherings from what I recall, but I’m pretty sure I’ve seen him at the occasional swim meet.
“Yeah, he’s the one who got her out that night. He’s in the military program, so he’s been able to keep an eye on things. Thank Gods.”
“It’s gonna be all right, man,” I say as I reach over to give his shoulder a squeeze. Poor guy is dealing with a lot of shit. The thought of anyone doing that to either of my younger sisters has me once again swallowing down a growl. “Let’s talk about getting you back in the water and burning away all that stress.”
He grins, and we quickly put together a modified training plan. I decide to follow him to the pizza place off campus, figuring I’ve earned a bit of a cheat day after my grueling workout. I’m sure Micah and Cabe will be thrilled they don’t have to cook. Leo ordered ahead, and I can’t help but laugh when I see the six large pizzas he grabs.
“Your sister must be a big eater, huh?”
Leo starts to smile back, but then he frowns, and I immediately feel like shit. Who knows what kind of trauma this girl is working through right now, and here I am joking about her appetite.
“We’re working on that,” he offers after a slight pause. “But we decided to have a low-key movie night with Tanner and Linc. And Mackenzie.”
“Mackenzie, huh?” I waggle my eyebrows at him. His crush on the omega is a poorly kept secret amongst the swim team. Probably amongst all of campus, to be honest.
“I figured Espy could use someone to talk to! Make her feel more comfortable with having alphas around.”
I feel like he doth protest too much, but instead of shoving him like I normally would, I take two pizzas off his stack to add to my three. “I’ll help carry. You’re on my way back.”
The campus dorms aren’t the most glamorous, but they get the job done. I lived in them my first two years at River Valley, but when Micah started here we decided to get a pack house. Cabe and I always knew we’d be a pack. Growing up we were practically inseparable, and it was he and his family who taught me about being an alpha. My family are all betas, but from a young age my parents suspected I’d present as an alpha. I was a bit big for my age and supposedly had a tendency to act like a mother hen with all my siblings, and even my mother at times. My father used to refer to me as “his eldest in disguise” since technically I’m the second child.
Cabe and his family pack lived nearby, and being the same age, we had a strong bond. Micah is two years younger, but as we were the only two boys in our family, he’d often tag along with us. It’s hard to say why Micah became a part of our pack, but none of Cabe’s brothers did. The driving forces governing pack formation are still a bit of a mystery. There are competing theories out there in terms of whether it’s based in science or culture—the classic “nature vs. nurture” debate.
Maybe it was growing up in a non-pack family as an alpha, but I’ve always been interested in the question of how packs form. I’m doing my senior thesis on the topic, putting my dual majors of molecular biology and anthropology to good use. Packs are still the norm, but it seems to have become harder to form them over the past few decades. In the past, people’s worlds were smaller and therefore their choices more limited. With the rise of technology and globalization, those choices have grown exponentially. Instead of having a set pool of potential packmates in a single small town, now alphas (and betas and omegas, of course) are living in larger cities, moving around more for school and work, and they can find and connect with any number of people living anywhere in the world. In my opinion, at least, all this choice has made it harder to identify and form strong pack bonds. Some academics it “decision paralysis.”
My pack is relatively old-fashioned in that we all grew up together. The university here hosts pack speed-matching socials through the Pack Council, and the other day one of my teammates showed me a new app his buddy had sent him called “PackMe.”
On the bright side, all this change and uncertainty has provided me with plenty of fodder for my research.
“I’m up on the third floor,” Leo states as we make it to the entrance of his dorm. “Your fat ass could probably stand to take the stairs.”
“Little shit,” I grumble at him good-naturedly. He already made fun of my dead-leg waddle earlier. “I can easily add a few more sprints to your set this weekend.”
He just laughs as we get in the elevator.
“You know I’d invite you to stay, but Espy has a tough time around alphas, and I don’t want to overwhelm her ...”
“No worries, man.” I cut Leo off.
Honestly, I have very little desire to be around other people right now. It’s been a long week, and all I really want to do is inhale this pizza and go to bed. Though when the door to his dorm swings open, I realize I may have spoken too soon.
“Thank goodness. I thought I was going to starve!”
My jaw goes slack as I stare down at the beautiful slip of a woman in front of me. She has long, dark hair and a delicate mouth curved into a sweet smile. I take in light caramel skin, light pink lips, and slight curves hidden behind simple jeans and a long-sleeve T-shirt. She seems to take notice of me at the exact same time, freezing in place as her eyes go wide.
“Espy, shit!Lo siento, lo siento, he was just helping me carry the pizzas.” Leo looks half-panicked, and I take a step back automatically to give the little omega some space.
“Sorry,” I murmur, not sure what to do. I avert my eyes and slouch down when I see she’s started to shake, trying to make myself look as nonthreatening as possible.
