Chapter 39
“All I’m saying,” Thrall pointed his spoon at Cyrus. “Is that Oliver and D are just going around chomping on broads and…”
“Absolutely fucking not!” Koe bellowed as he stepped into the mess hall, immediately silencing Thrall who dropped his spoon into his bowl of Fruit Loops with a clatter.
“Awww, come on, man!” Thrall eased back in his seat. “It worked out okay for D and Oliver’s already pussy whipped even though Yasmine hasn’t given him the time of day. He’s following her around like a love-sick moron.”
Koe’s brows winged up as he went to the buffet line and snatched up a plate. “And you want that?”
Thrall looked from Koe to Cyrus, then back to Koe. “Fuck yeah, I want that!”
Cyrus choked on the bite of eggs he’d just shoved into his mouth.
Koe chuckled, filling his plate high with eggs, bacon, sausage, and fruit as he spoke.
“That’s fine, and you can have that, but you’ll do it the right way.
” He stilled in mid-reach for a doughnut to glare at Thrall.
“You’ll court, and you’ll ask, and you’ll wait to mark her until she says you may. Understood?”
Thrall’s shoulders slumped. “Fucking shit,” he muttered under his breath. “I knew I shoulda just bit her when I had the fucking chance.”
That had Koe turning to face him fully. “Her? Her who? Are you already crushing on one of the females we’ve taken in? It’s been one goddamn week.”
“Yeah,” Thrall growled. “One week of the sounds and scents of you and Daemon claiming your women filling this goddamn manor and torturing us.” He looked at Cyrus. “I don’t know about you, but my balls are so goddamn blue I feel like they’re going to pop.”
That had Koe chuckling. “Yeah,” he set the doughnut on his plate, lifted his hand and licked the icing from his fingers, not looking an ounce repentant. “Sorry about that.”
“Oh, shut your fucking lips, bro! The only time you leave that room is to come grab food for you and your mate. You’re not an ounce of sorry.”
Koe dropped a second doughnut onto his plate. “No.” He grinned unabashedly, “No, I’m not.”
“And that’s just…” Thrall choked on his words when Cyrus elbowed him hard in the ribs, eyes on the doorway. Turning to frown at Cyrus, Thrall followed his gaze and saw a few of the women they’d taken in entering the mess hall. Adina was among them.
Shoving up from the table, cereal abandoned, Thrall walked straight up to Adina. “Good morning, beautiful.”
Shoving a strand of sandy-blonde hair behind her ear, Adina looked him up and down. “Oh, goody, the Beta,” she drawled sarcastically. Her eyes dropped to his feet. “Who helped you tie your shoes today, Thrall?”
He grinned and boasted proudly, “I did it.”
From behind him, Koe laughed.
The sound had Adina sobering, her attention abandoning Thrall. “Alpha, Koe. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean any disrespect to you or your Beta. I was just teasing. I…”
“By all means,” Koe cut her off. “Disrespect him all you like.”
“Yeah,” Thrall breathed, eyes never leaving her. “Disrespect me. Please.”
Koe rolled his eyes and carried his towering plate of food from the mess hall. “Ladies,” he remarked as he passed.
Alone again, the women behind Adina went to the buffet line, leaving her with Thrall. Glancing up, she looked repentant as she whispered, “I’m sorry, Thrall. I was only teasing. I would never…”
“Stop.” His brows speared down as the smile left him.
“Don’t apologize to me for teasing, sweetheart.
” Unable to stop himself, he reached out and pulled her to him, his arms going around her as he canted his head and stared down at her.
“I enjoy our banter, Adina, and I’m honored that you’re comfortable enough with me to tease.
It means you think I’m a safe space. And I am. I always will be.”
She blinked up at him with her baby blues, then glanced toward where Koe had disappeared.
“I don’t want anyone thinking I’m ungrateful,” she whispered.
“I’ve never been able to tease a male before.
I’m sorry if I embarrassed or demeaned you, Thrall.
” She reached up, looking sincere, and placed a palm on his chest. “I would never disrespect you like that, especially in front of the Alpha. Again, I apologize. I won’t do it again. ”
She pushed at his chest, but Thrall kept her corralled. “Uh-uh,” he shook his head. “I don’t agree to those terms.”
Confusion clouded her pretty features. Glancing around them nervously, she lowered her voice. “Please. I shouldn’t have started this. I think you’re beautiful, Thrall, but I need to fit in here. I can’t make waves or mess this up.”
“You won’t,” he started, but she cut him off with urgency.
“Please! I’m asking you to stay away from me.”
And that felt like a punch to the nuts. He didn’t want to stay away, but he didn’t want to pressure her either. How did he convince her that something forming between them was okay?
She shoved at his chest again. “Thrall. Let me go.”
And that’s the problem. He didn’t think he could, and he certainly didn’t want to, but he reluctantly did as she asked. Lowering his arms, he released her, even though his wolf was shredding his insides.
Yasmine took a step back, wrapping her arms around herself and lowering her eyes. “I wish… I wish things could be different.”
When she turned to walk away, Thrall caught her elbow.
She didn’t turn to face him, so he walked up behind her, pressing his body against hers as he towered over her.
His hands settled on her hips, and he leaned down, lips brushing the shell of her ear as he whispered, “This ain’t over, Adina.
I’ll give you space. I’ll give you time.
But I won’t give up. I see you, little wolf.
He nipped her ear, evoking a startled gasp from her, before he turned and stalked from the mess hall, hands flexing at the absence of her touch.
Things were about to get very interesting at the Allegiance Compound.
***
Jury waited in Koe’s room, intimately sore yet splendidly satisfied.
After he’d carried her to the manor, he’d locked them away in his room and had finally claimed her, repeatedly.
Fingers tracing absently over his mark on her throat, she smiled happily.
Happily! It had been so long since she’d felt genuine happiness that she’d forgotten what the emotion felt like.
Right now, she felt so fortunate and grateful.
The Alpha had chosen her, and it still felt so surreal.
She didn’t feel worthy, but she’d work on that.
She’d work on believing that she deserved all the things that Koe told her she did, and not just because he was the Alpha, but because he was a good man.
A good man.
She’d stopped believing in them. Then Koe had shown up like a knight in shining armor and given her faith right back.
And it wasn’t just her happiness that was awe-inspiring.
Narae was safe, mated, and happy too, and that probably meant more to Jury than her own joy.
Narae had thought for so long that being born of Bragga meant that she’d inherited some of his evilness.
Jury knew it was one of the reasons, Narae was such a caretaker.
She was trying to kill any dark parts of herself because she feared they’d come from Bragga.
Narae fought hard to be the light, and she was.
She’d kept Jury going, and now that they were safe and loved, Jury was so excited about the future.
Maybe she’d get pregnant, maybe Narae would!
Either way, it’d be a miracle that neither thought they’d ever receive.
For the first time in her life, Jury was excited for the future.
She was excited to learn about her mate.
At the thought of him, the door clicked open, and Koe walked in carrying a plate piled high with food.
Just the sight of him stole her breath. He was beautiful and considerate.
He’d made her stay in bed while he got them food, and to him it was a simple task, but for her it was being cared for in a way no one—other than Narae—ever had.
Hell, she didn’t know that males did things like this.
And maybe they didn’t. Maybe it was just a Koe thing.
They’d only been mated for hours, and he was already taking such good care of her, and she got it, because she wanted to take care of him too.
“I hope you’re hungry,” Koe beamed, walking to the bed and settling the plate of food onto her lap before climbing onto the bed beside her.
Teasingly, Jury asked, “You mean for food, or…”
“Nope!” Koe grabbed a doughnut and ripped off a bite with his perfect teeth before pointing a finger at her. “Don’t even try it. I’m feeding you before I touch you again. Then we’ll shower and rest.” He winked at her, “And then we’ll start again.”
Jury smiled, her heart squeezing at his patience and consideration. Other men wouldn’t care about her hunger or cleanliness or exhaustion, but Koe wasn’t one of those other men. He was hers! Sucking back the grateful tears, Jury couldn’t stop the breathy, “I love you,” that left her.
Koe stopped chewing. Eyes on her, he studied her face before he said, “I love you too, baby. And I’m grateful for you.” Swallowing the bite of food in his mouth, he reached for her hand and then stopped because there was sugar on his fingers from his doughnut.
Seeing his dilemma, Jury grabbed his hand and brought it to her mouth, where she closed her lips around one long finger and sucked the sugar off.
Eyes on Koe, she watched his mouth fall open before he hissed, “Goddamn you, Jury.” Then he pulled his hand back, took the plate of food from her lap, and rolled to put it on the bedside table before he covered her with his body.
“Just this once,” he breathed. “Then we’ll shower and rest.”
Jury laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down for a kiss. She relished the fact that she could snap his control. It was heady because it showed what he was. Hers!