23. Jet #2
When she left, Elliott crawled onto the bed and dug into the food. Sitting across from him, I did the same. We were so hungry, we didn’t speak until we’d finished.
“I’ll get our clothes,” Elliott said, going to the door.
When he brought them back, I saw Joel had picked out a pair of navy basketball shorts and a white tank from my drawers, along with clean underwear and socks. When I finished dressing and looked up, Elliott was wearing a green t-shirt and similar shorts to mine.
“Ready to talk to Laura?” I asked.
“I guess. What do you think she’ll say?”
I shrugged. “Does it matter? It’s our business. And it’s not like we set out for this to happen.” I took his hand and kissed it.
When he raised his eyes to meet my gaze, I was surprised to see uncertainty there. Fear, sharp and paralyzing, hit me like a bolt of electricity. Did Elliott regret what we’d done? Did he regret the fact that we were now mated? Did he even realize that we were?
“Do you, um. Doyouwishithadn’thappened?” he asked all at once.
“No!” The word exploded from my lips. “Not at all! Elliott, I know it was unexpected, but…” I paused and licked my lips. “I asked you before, but do you…realize that we—we mated?”
Elliott’s face turned red, but he nodded.
“Well, I wanted that. I think we both did.”
I must have looked unsure about him, because he grabbed my hand and squeezed it, giving me a reassuring smile.
“I did. I wanted to.”
Letting out a long breath, I pulled him into my arms and hugged him.
“So…you ready to talk to Laura?”
Elliott nodded, and, hand-in-hand, we walked downstairs.
“Where is everyone?” Elliott asked, looking around. Peering into the kitchen on the way to Laura’s office, I saw that the evening meal had been cleared away and the room was empty.
The office door stood ajar, so I rapped on it lightly with my knuckles and pushed it open.
Laura was seated at her desk. When she looked up and saw us, she smiled.
“Come in and sit. Nova and Eric took the kids down to the pond, so we’re alone in the house.”
At the mention of the pond, Elliott’s ears turned red. He was so cute.
“So,” she said matter-of-factly when she’d turned her seat toward where we sat in twin chairs, still holding hands. “You’re a mated couple.”
“We are,” I said. “I know it seems fast. Elliott and I went to Jessup the other morning—I don’t even know what day it is today.
” I chuckled and shook my head. “And when we came back, we didn’t want to leave each other quite yet.
We…uh…had come to an understanding about our feelings.
We took the canoe out on the pond, and Elliott suddenly went into heat.
Well, I responded by going into rut, and—skipping the details—woke up later on the ground beside Elliott, who was sleeping.
That’s when I called you. The mating had already happened. We aren’t sorry about it.”
Laura stared at me while I spoke and then shifted to look at Elliott.
“Elliott? Is this true?”
He nodded.
“Because you requested that Jet be your only bodyguard, I know that you felt more comfortable with him than any of the other ops alphas. And, of course, he saved you from a frightening situation that could have ended very badly. But for me to find out that you’ve suddenly mated him…
that’s a lot, considering how terrified you are of alphas.
I want you to be honest with me, Elliott.
Is this what you want? Because it isn’t too late. ”
“W-what do you mean?” Elliott asked, turning to look at me. I wanted to know the same thing. What was she talking about?
“I mean that, no disrespect meant to you, Jet,” she glanced at me before turning her attention back to Elliott, “you do not have to stay mated to Jet.”
A surge of anger propelled me to my feet. “Wait just a minute. What the hell are you talking about?”
A noise had me turning to see Anson, Joel, and Kirk in the doorway.
Laura remained calm. “I’m saying that I’m concerned that Elliott mated you either against his will or due to being overcome by his heat. I need to speak with Elliott alone, so your friends are going to escort you out.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“You think that I mated Elliott against his will?”
Elliott’s face had turned ashen.
“It’s possible. I’m not blaming you for your instincts during your rut.
This isn’t anyone’s fault. I would have separated the two of you when you first got here, only I wasn’t prepared to deal with the fallout of interrupting an alpha’s rut.
You were already mated by that time, anyway.
Nova confirmed it—she said she scented it on you when you arrived.
Do you understand that I need to make sure that Elliott was a willing participant in this mating? ”
“And you think I would stop him from saying so if he wasn’t?” I asked. “Because clearly, the presence of my ‘friends,’ here suggests you planned to drag me out of here.”
“They’re here for my safety in case I found myself confronting an irate alpha,” Laura said.
Everything in me wanted to revolt, but I forced myself to calm down. I didn’t want to scare Elliott.
Clearing my throat, I said as calmly as I could, “Alright. I’ll go with them.”
Elliott jumped to his feet. “Jet, no!”
“It’s okay, El.” I smiled at him softly. “Laura just wants to make sure our baser instincts didn’t lead us into a mistake.”
“A mistake!” Elliott’s bottom lip trembled.
Gail walked in, stopping beside Elliott. Putting her arm around his waist, she said, “Elliott, we’re just going to have a talk.”
“So much for us being the only ones in the house,” I said bitterly before turning to leave, stopping in the doorway when Elliott called after me.
“Please don’t go!”
“Come on, Jet,” Anson said. “Just give them some time to talk. Let’s go out on the porch.” I appreciated that he didn’t touch me or try to coerce me physically, because I know that would have sent me into a rage.
“I’ll be back for you, Elliott,” I said, without turning to look at him. If I did, I knew I wouldn’t be able to leave him there.