Page 28 of Pixel Perfect Pack
I let my mind wander to lazy Sunday mornings and busy weeknights. We’d live somewhere bigger than this, somewhere where we could have space for a gaming room. A big family kitchen where we could all take turns making dinners. We’d have a garden where Jess could grow all the flowers she wants to grow. A room dedicated just to Jess’s nest, the ceiling lit up with as many twinkling fairy lights as we can fit. We’d drink wine and eat pizzas on a Wednesday, we’d have slow breakfasts on a Saturday.
Jess trails through to the living room, the nest is finally clear and her and Kito start moving furniture back into place.
“I think I’ll leave the fairy lights up,” she muses, her tone sounding almost sad.
“What do we do now?” Kito asks abruptly as he stops moving the sofa back to its original spot in the room. “Come on, like you’re not all thinking it.”
Orion is standing by the fire, eyes cast downwards and his arms folded over his middle. I stay where I am, still as a statue by the front door. Jess can’t quite figure out where to plant her gaze. Her lips part as if to speak, but she’s interrupted by the sound of a car pulling up the long driveway.
“Who on earth?” she grumbles, walking over to the window on the far side of the living room and peering through the thin net curtains. “Oh, fuck.”
Orion marches over to the window, craning his neck to see through the glass. “Who is it?”
“Jack,” Jess whispers, her body going tense.
“Do you want me to tell him to leave?” It’s a bold question, I’m basically asking Jess to make a decision right here and now. Who does she choose? Us or him.
“I’ll deal with him,” she says at the same time as his car door slams. Seconds later and there’s a hard knock on the front door.
“Jess, I know you’re in there!” he calls angrily. “Who’s fucking car is that, bitch?”
Every alpha in the room is standing to attention, shoulders squared and jaws tight.
“He can’t fucking speak to you like that,” Orion moves to march towards the door but Jess plants a hand in the centre of his chest.
“Like I said, I need to deal with him,” she replies, forcing Orion to stand down. “Give me five minutes.”
The second Jess opens the door, Jack is inside. He’s smaller than us by a good eight inches and although he might be physically fit, he’s no match for any of us. The downside of being a beta surrounded by alphas, it’s comical to look at from the outside. Still, he stands his ground, shoving past Jess to confront us all.
“What the fuck is this, Jess?” he spits. “You think you can sleep with half the fucking alpha population just because I’m out of town a few days?”
He turns to face her, eyes wild and dark with rage.
“A few days? You’ve been gone a week and I asked you to stay behind and help me but you didn’t. You took off with your friends just like you always do!” Jess squeals in disbelief.
It’s the first time I’ve ever heard Jess raise her voice and despite her five feet frame it’s a little terrifying. Gone is the shy, mousy persona and in its place is a woman scorned. A little scorned, anyway. If I’m honest, I know she doesn’t really give a shit about Jack. It’s written all over her body language, the way she veers closer to Orion, Kito and me than she does him. The disgust that’s scrawled across her features. If I had any doubts in my mind that she’s finished with him before, I don’t now.
Before any of us have a chance to react, Jack is lunging at Orion. A big fucking mistake. He’s the biggest out of the three of us and he’s built like a brick house. The second Jack is close enough to throw a punch, Orion shoves him back with what looks like zero effort.
Jess grabs Jack’s shirt and drags him towards the front door. “Come on before you get yourself killed.”
The minute they’re outside, Jess slams the door shut behind them leaving me, Orion, and Kito hovering in the too-small cottage living room.
“What do we do?” I ask, glancing between us.
“What do you mean what do we do? We fucking listen,” Kito says, the first of us to run towards the front door and press an ear to the wood. I shrug before taking off after him, swiftly followed by Orion.
Before any of us has a chance to realise how ridiculous this must look, we’re all huddling at the front door trying to hear what Jess is saying to Jack.
“Ow, you’re on my fucking foot, dick,” Orion grunts, pulling his foot from beneath Kito’s with too much force. It forces Kito to knock his head on the door and he spits a few profanities in Orion’s direction, but none of us move away from the door.
Jess’s voice is muffled, Jack’s is clear as day since he’s the one yelling.
“You just invited a bunch of alphas you don’t even know into your house? What about me, Jess? What about us?”
“You’ve always treated me like shit, Jack, and you know it. Your friends can’t stand me, your family hates me. I don’t fit in with you, I never have. Leaving during my heat was the last straw, but the truth is I should’ve mmphf an you frsdin afo.”
“Could you make that last bit out?” I ask, hearing nothing but mumbling. All those years of wearing gaming headphones and listening to music at full volume is coming back to haunt me. I should have listened to my mother when she warned me I’d go prematurely deaf.
