I stop, unable to finish the sentence. It’s an odd word for me. Want.
I want lots of things, sure. Respect. Understanding. Friendship. To be seen as an equal among my pack.
But beneath those base wants is something else. Something unfamiliar.
Connection, maybe? I’m not quite sure, but I leave the empty space until I can formulate a proper word. And because I’ve got a strange sort of feeling in my gut, my dick twitching even though I’ve already done my business.
I roll my eyes, adjust myself, and close the notebook. It’s probably just stress. My body always reacts to stress in weird ways, and today has been more stressful than I think any of us would have expected. One glance at the clock, and I note it’s nearing seven a.m. A knock on my door pulls me from my thoughts, and I get up. I make my way over to the door, my dick already starting to soften and ease up as I push thoughts of Auryn and stress out of my mind. When I open it, I see that it’s Gage.
“Morning,” he says. He looks more refreshed than he should, especially given his injuries.
“Morning,” I say, sliding my hands into the pockets of my sweats.
“Sleep well?” he asks, cocking his head to the side.
“Yes, actually,” I say, blinking. He’s looking at me funny, though I can’t ascertain why.
It’s like all of a sudden since Auryn showed up, everyone’s looking at me weird.
I feel weird, too, but I think it might have something to do with the fact that Auryn is clearly a more complex case than we thought.
I like complexities. I like puzzles. Perhaps, that’s all this strangeness is: a new puzzle for me to solve.
“Breakfast in twenty. We need to discuss the situation,” Gage says carefully.
“The omega, you mean?” I say, feeling a strange wave of protectiveness.
“Among other things, yes,” he says, looking over me in a way that makes me feel exposed. Like I’m not wearing clothes, or like I myself am some specimen that needs to be studied.
A strange sound leaves my throat, and Gage smirks.
“What?” I ask, feeling on the spot.
Gage chuckles. “Didn’t know you could growl.”
Is that what that was?
I shake my head. “I’ll note it in my findings,” I say, and he shakes his head.
“Twenty minutes. I mean it,” he says, pushing off my door frame.
Only when he leaves do I realize how starving I actually am.
At breakfast, it’s just Gage, Emmett, and me. I report what I can to Gage, about my observations, but I keep it simple. I tell him everything I’ve observed about Auryn, about him and Emmett.
“I’d like to observe Diego with her today,” I say, picking at my pancake.
“Or…tonight, I take it, since he’ll need some sleep in between shifts.”
Gage sips his coffee. “Probably not a bad idea.”
Emmett grunts, and I notice his arms are crossed.
“What?” Gage asks. “Spit it out, Em.”
Emmett glares at me from across the table. “And who is going toobserveDoogie Howser over here?”
I don’t miss the contempt in his voice. He’s seething.
