“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Preston sent us,” the one on the floor groaned, and I raised a brow at the sound of his strained voice.
“Preston?” I asked, confused but still yanking the bat to swing once again, nearly hitting myself in the face in the process.
The one who wasn’t on the floor stepped back and flicked the lights on. Brightness illuminated the apartment, making me squint and blink several times, before I could finally get a good look at the two strangers in my space.
Standing by the lights was a tall man who was undeniably an alpha. Even from this distance, I could smell the rustic, papery scent that clung to him. It was delicious and somehow familiar, even though I couldn’t recall ever smelling him before.
He had dark hair cropped close to his head and a smattering of facial hair, which upped the roguish appeal. His bright blue eyes were staring at me in wonder. And even more telling, a cocky smile graced his face, even though I was holding a bat poised and ready to hit him.
There was no doubt about it. They were both alphas.
On the floor, the one I’d given a good beating to was sitting up, holding his head, grimacing and grumbling as he looked at me through squinted eyes. In the stark light, I could make outall his features. Shaggy hair that was some sort of mix between blond and brown hung to his chin.
Despite the fact that I’d just hit him hard with a baseball bat, he was also staring at me with a crooked smirk painted on his face.
“You look far too happy for someone I just assaulted,” I said, glaring and cocking a brow.
“Oh, I am happy. I’m happy becauseyou’reour mate.” He continued grinning at me dopily. Up close I got a lungful of his scent—salt and caramel. Sweet with that sharp edge that made my omega perk up in a way she hadn’t since meeting Preston.
“It could also be the concussion,” the other one added ruefully.
“Okay, who the fuck are you two? Explain whythe hellyou’re here, or I’m going to hit you again.” I lifted the bat higher.
The dark-haired one held his hands up in surrender. “My name is Nolan. Sorry to just barge in, but when we learned of the situation, we thought we’d better get here, ASAP.”
“I’mnotyour mate.” I scowled at the one by the door, lifting the bat higher. “You’re hallucinating, just like your friend.”
Nolan shook his head. “No, we’re pack mates with Preston.”
All the fight drained out of me, and the bat fell to the floor. “What? He… I had no idea he had a pack.”
“Yeah, Preston fucked a lot of things up that night,” the alpha on the floor said. “I’m Wilder, by the way. Mean swing you got there.”
“Yeah, we got news that he’s feeling pretty shitty at the moment, so we can only imagine how bad it is for you. We got here as soon as we could,” Nolan explained, looking at his pack mate on the floor. “And yeah, your self-defense isquiteimpressive.”
“How can I be sure you are who you say you are?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at them. “Normalpeople would knock.”
“Well, considering we came here as fast as possible, we weren’t going to wait until morning. We had no idea if you were sick. Preston only just reached out to us. Judging by the way you look right now, you couldn’t wait till morning, either,” Nolan said, his eyes trailing over me.
“Yes, well, that’s your stupid pack mate’s fault,” I growled.
“He isincrediblystupid, but we do know of something that could help reduce your symptoms,” Wilder said as he stood up, shaking his head like he was flicking off droplets of ache.
“I’ve been looking into medicated ways to reduce it,” I admitted, shaking my head.
The throbbing at the base of my skull was getting worse as I stood there, though, and having a conversation so soon after being rudely awoken wasnothelping.
“That’s completely your right,” Nolan agreed as he moved forward, swiftly but gently cupping my elbow to steady me.
Part of me wanted to recoil, but I didn’t have the energy.
“But there are some lessinvasivethings we can try first.” He raised a brow at me, the corner of his mouth lifting
“What do you mean?” I asked weakly.
“Even though we’re not bonded, per se, we’re still technically pack. And that can be useful right now.” Wilder stepped closer, locking eyes with me. “Now, how do we smell to you?”
Unable to help, I breathed in again, his scent swirling through my nose.
