TWENTY

TWENTY

"Okay, dude, message received," Milo said, half-annoyed, half-laughing. "Can you stop making out with Selene and stop grabbing my sister now?"

The rest of the guys cracked up at his comment, clearly not too worried.

Milo only got serious when it actually mattered, and the fact that he wasn’t ripping Leo’s arms off meant I was safe—and that honestly made me feel better.

Then he glanced at Selene and gave her a small nod, one of those quiet thank-you gestures only siblings and close friends understand. I knew he appreciated her making sure I didn’t feel left out or totally clueless during this whole strange party ritual.

Everyone else took their turns with the weird shot thing, but none of them were as dramatic or extra as Leo.

Watching my brother now, I got it. Sitting there and watching someone you care about do this stuff was... awkward. Like secondhand embarrassment mixed with weird protectiveness.

Especially since Lena wouldn’t stop touching him, grabbing his hair and trying to keep his mouth glued to her stomach like he was supposed to match whatever Leo did to Selene.

She made all these over-the-top moaning sounds like she was auditioning for a cheesy teen drama.

Ivy wasn’t quite as bad, though that felt more like Ethan’s doing than hers. He casually pinned her wrists over her head before she could grab him, and she seemed way too into that. She even giggled something about how he should “tie her up next time,” which made me want to sink into the ground.

And then there was Raven.

Of course she had to be the center of attention—she practically demanded that both twins take shots off her.

She made it into this ridiculous show, tossing her hair, grinding on their legs, laying back and arching like she thought she was starring in a music video.

If she had bothered to look at anyone’s face, she might’ve noticed that none of them looked impressed. Most of the guys had neutral expressions at best, and a few looked like they wanted to be anywhere else. But Raven just kept going, completely unaware—or pretending not to care.

Ever since she and her friends showed up, the vibe had totally shifted. Things had been chill before—fun, even—but now it felt more like a performance, like we were all just extras in their spotlight.

Even so, the guys didn’t ignore Selene and me. They kept including us, no matter how hard the trio tried to grab all the attention.

Eventually, after about an hour of sitting through the chaos, I leaned toward Selene and whispered, “I think I’m ready to head out. You can stay if you want.”

She popped up way faster than I expected, especially since she’d looked half-asleep leaning on Leo’s shoulder earlier.

“Nope. I was literally just about to say the same thing,” she said, brushing off her jeans. “Some of us have training in the morning—unlike certain slackers.”

She said the last part loud enough for Raven and her friends to hear. They were still arguing over who was most likely to end up as mates after shifting.

“You train on Saturdays too?” Ethan asked, stepping away from Raven mid-sentence like he hadn’t even noticed she was talking.

I blinked. Was he seriously listening to us?

“Told you I’d win that bet,” Leo chimed in, grinning.

Raven, Lena, and Ivy looked completely lost. They clearly had no clue what was going on—or why everyone suddenly stopped paying attention to them.

Ethan sighed and stood up. “Well, I guess I’m walking you guys back.”

“Knew it,” Leo said, already on his feet. “And yeah, I’m coming too. I need to see this training thing for myself. Saturday morning legend, right?”

Milo stood next, untangling himself from Lena’s arms like she was made of cling wrap. “We’re all going, then?”

Max and Jade got up too, brushing off their jeans. “Delta Nolan’s gonna love that we all show up together,” Max said.

Raven groaned, clearly not thrilled with the sudden group decision. “Ugh, are you serious? We just got here! The party’s barely started!”

She tugged on the twins’ hands, teetering slightly on her ridiculous heels. “I was hoping we could end the night with a little one-on-two time. You know... like old times.”

She gave them her best puppy-dog eyes, fluttering her mascara-heavy lashes and pushing her chest forward in case we’d somehow forgotten it existed.

Selene turned away quickly, probably to hide a laugh. I just blinked. Gross. Was she seriously saying what I thought she was?

The twins didn’t even respond. Max mumbled something about needing to be up early. Jade gave Raven a tight-lipped smile that clearly meant “no thanks.”

They turned toward us instead.

I didn’t know what to say. Part of me couldn’t believe it was actually happening—that the girls who had always ruled every social moment at school had just... lost.

I expected Raven to throw a fit. Honestly, I was bracing for it. But instead, she just stood there, frozen in place, staring after the boys like she couldn’t figure out how everything unraveled so fast.

We all started walking back toward the pack house together. The cold air bit at my cheeks, but I didn’t mind.

There was something calming about the way our group fell into step—laughing, talking, teasing like nothing had just happened. The tension from earlier faded with every step.

“Just so you know,” Leo said, nudging me lightly with his shoulder, “if you’re training tomorrow, I expect a full demo. I want to see what thirty hours a week looks like in action.”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you when you end up flat on your back,” I said, grinning.

“That’s oddly specific,” Ethan joked from the other side of me. “Should we be worried?”

“Extremely,” Selene said, yawning but smiling too.

By the time we reached the edge of the trees, the fire behind us was just a distant flicker. We left the drama behind with it. And for the first time in a long time, I felt like I wasn’t just a background character in someone else’s story.

I was part of the group.

Maybe not center stage, but not invisible either.

And honestly? That was enough for me.