3

BROCK

“Is she gonna be here soon?” I ask, agitated, as I glance down at my watch.

Jax looks my way, arching a brow. “Why, you in a hurry or somethin’?”

I blow out a breath, kicking at the ground on the practice field where I’m waiting with Jax, Reid, Gray, and Fallon for the Denver Alpha’s sister to arrive. “I’ve gotta get back to Riverton. I’ve got shit to do.”

“I’m sure it’ll still be waiting for you when you get there,” Reid chuckles, stepping up beside me and clapping me on the shoulder. “Besides, what could be more important than meeting…” he trails off, squinting, looking to Gray over his shoulder. “What’s her name again?”

“Astrid,” Brooke supplies, approaching us with Quinn in tow. Quinn immediately makes a beeline for Jax, slipping under his arm and winding her own arms around his waist.

Reid snaps his fingers. “That’s right. Astrid.”

Seeing Brooke, it suddenly dawns on me that her mate is conspicuously absent. “Where’s Theo?” I ask, glancing in the direction Brooke came from.

“He drove out to the lodge to meet Astrid and bring her back here, so her driver didn’t have to try to find it on his own,” Brooke says.

I guess that makes sense since the squad complex isn’t exactly searchable on GPS and Theo has met Astrid before. Still, I don’t know why the rest of us have to wait out here for this chick like we’re the six-pack’s fucking welcome wagon. Also…

I fold my arms across my chest, arching a brow. “Her driver?”

“Yeah, what else did you expect from the princess of the Denver pack?” Jax chuckles as his mate elbows him.

Brooke rolls her eyes. “She’s not like that. Things are just different there. Bigger pack, more money. She’s cool, though, you’ll see when you meet her.” Brooke’s lips spread into a smile as she looks toward the gate. “Speaking of…”

I turn over my shoulder to follow her gaze, and it feels like all the air whooshes out of me at once.

Fuck. Me.

I’m not sure what I expected, but Astrid is a total knockout. She’s a tiny little thing- Theo probably has a foot on her, height wise, towering over the girl as he leads her in our direction. Despite her small stature, she’s got curves in all the right places, and she’s flaunting them in her dark skinny jeans and tight white sweater. It contrasts against the caramel tan of her skin tone- a color so gorgeous, so unique that it makes you want to lick her just to see what she tastes like.

The closer she gets, the more I can make out her features- her heart-shaped face, her high cheekbones, and her cute little nose. Dark eyes framed by thick black lashes and full, plush lips. She looks like Zendaya with a little bit of Jessica Alba thrown in there, all wrapped up in a petite little package, her light brown curls bouncing as she walks. Drawing closer, her lips spread into a smile, and of course her smile is stunning, too- two rows of straight, white teeth and a shallow dimple on her left cheek.

I’m practically in a trance watching her, until my view is suddenly obstructed by Brooke rushing forward to greet her with a hug. As Brooke pulls her in, I snap out of it, releasing a breath I didn’t realize I was holding. Goddamn, what the hell am I doing? I haven’t been this affected by someone at first glance since…

Quinn bumps my elbow as she pushes past me, heading toward Astrid right as Brooke is releasing her from the hug. “So glad to finally meet you in person!” Quinn gushes, going in for a hug of her own.

“You too!” Astrid chirps, throwing her arms around Quinn and returning it eagerly.

Fucking girls, man. Always so excitable.

When Quinn steps back, Astrid looks over her shoulder to Fallon, her brows shooting up. “Wait a minute…” She looks from Brooke to Fallon and back again, blinking. “Am I seeing double? You never told me you were an identical twin?!”

“Oh, did I forget to mention that?” Brooke asks coyly, waving her sister over. “This is Fallon.”

“Damn, that just doesn’t seem fair.” Astrid looks between the two of them and laughs, the sound of it so light, almost melodic.

Fallon also greets Astrid with a hug- what’s with these girls and all the fucking hugging?- pulling back with a grin. “Okay, we may look alike, but just so you know, I don’t know the first thing about the IT stuff that you two work on together.” She cocks a hip and rests a hand upon it.

Astrid giggles again. “No worries, I do more than just IT.”

“So is it true that you’re a psychic?” Fallon blurts.

Brooke swats Fallon’s arm, scolding her sister with her eyes.

“Not a psychic,” Astrid smiles, running her fingers through her curly hair. “An intuitive, actually. But it’s not nearly as cool as it sounds, I just get random feelings about things and people. Being a psychic would be a lot cooler.”  

“Damn, we could really use a psychic right about now,” Fallon chuckles.

Astrid grins. “Tell me about it.”

Theo steps up beside her, once again drawing attention to how small Astrid’s stature is in comparison to his own. I wonder what it’d be like to be with a girl that small. I bet it’d be fun to throw her around.

I mentally scold myself for that thought, pushing it out of my brain. I’m not going down that road again, especially not with some spoiled rich girl. The ‘princess’ of the Denver pack, give me a fucking break.

 “You’ve gotta meet the guys,” Theo says, and for the first time, Astrid looks past the girls to where Reid, Jax, Gray, and I are standing.

As Theo leads her over, I watch her chocolate brown eyes briefly slide between the four of us. Her gaze catches on mine for a moment and I quickly avert my eyes, looking down at the little black ankle boots on Astrid’s feet. Her feet are fucking tiny, and wait a second, are those heels? There’s no way she’s even shorter than she looks…

“These are the other squad leaders, Gray, Jax, Brock, and Reid,” Theo introduces, my eyes flying back up when my name is mentioned. Again, Astrid’s eyes meet mine, and again, I look away.

Yeah, she’s hot- you’d have to be fucking blind to miss that- but I’m not a sucker anymore. I’m older and wiser than I was when Annalise stepped off that bus at training camp four years ago, and hell of a lot more jaded. I can already peg Astrid for the type of girl she is. She’s the type that you pine over, obsess over, only to be left holding your heart in your hands. The kind that looks sweet but will fucking eat you alive.

“Hi!” Astrid greets cheerfully, extending a hand to Gray first. He takes it, shakes it, and she moves down the line to Jax. The next thing I know, I’m looking down at a slim hand held out in front of my chest.

I look up, and I immediately wish I hadn’t. Those big, dark eyes of hers threaten to pull me into their depths. She’s standing right in front of me now, and her scent hits my nose- sweet, with hints of cinnamon, peaches, and something else that reminds me of a springtime storm or fresh morning dew on the grass. Frustratingly delicious.

“Hi!” she chirps, that bright smile stretching her cheeks.

I grunt, bringing my hand up to take hers.

Now my mind is definitely fucking with me, because I swear I feel sparks dance between our palms on contact. Her hand is fucking tiny in mine, and as I shake it, there’s a flash of something in Astrid’s eyes- it’s like they change for a moment, her smile faltering. Before I can make sense of it, though, she quickly regains her composure and the smile’s back in full force.

“Brock, right?” she asks as she pulls her hand back.

This girl is annoyingly perky.

“He’s the one you’ll be staying with,” Theo supplies.

Gray clears his throat to speak. “We thought you’d be more comfortable at one of the packhouses as opposed to the complex,” he adds.

“Sure,” Astrid nods, and it’s then I realize that my eyes haven’t left hers since she stepped in front of me.

I turn away, and she takes that as her cue to move on to Reid, offering him a handshake.

When I agreed to put up Alpha Cole’s sister in my packhouse, I didn’t expect her to look like… well, that. The guys and I all discussed where Astrid should stay, and we decided that it would be best for her to stay at one of the packhouses so she could remain accessible to her pack- after all, we don’t want a bunch of random people coming and going from the complex while we’re trying to train and strategize. We figured that she’d probably prefer to stay with Brooke or Quinn, since she knows them from IT, but they both live at the complex. That left Gray, Reid, and me as options for hosts- and both Reid and Gray’s betas have small children that live at the packhouse with them, making it a little chaotic. So, I became the default option, and I was fine with it… up until about five minutes ago. I didn’t think it’d be a big deal to host her, but too late I’m realizing that I clearly didn’t think this through.

“So what now?” Astrid asks cheerfully, looking to Gray. She must’ve gathered that he’s the ringleader of this circus.

Gray tucks Fallon under his arm, offering Astrid a small smile. “Well, we figured you might want some downtime after your trip here, so Brock will take you up to the packhouse in Riverton and you can get settled in. Then tomorrow morning you can come back here and get the lay of the land, work with IT…” he shrugs. “Whatever you want.”

“Sure, sounds good,” Astrid replies.

She looks to me again, and it takes me a second to realize why she’s staring at me, as well as an elbow to the ribs from Reid.

“Uh, you ready?” I ask, flicking my head toward the gate.

She sinks her teeth into her lower lip and nods, her curls bouncing around her face. “Lead the way!”