Page 42 of Follow Your Instincts

“You’re not acting insane. I think you might be entitled to a few meltdowns after the week you’ve had,” I protested.

“No one’s judging you,” Soren added gruffly.

Maggie nodded, her eyes downcast. “I promise I’m not this volatile in my normal life.”

Ben shushed her. He tilted her head up with a finger under her chin, then easily lifted her onto the island counter by her hips. Another wave of jealousy hit me; it looked so easy for him to touch and comfort her.

“I am sorry for freaking you out,” Ben said.

“You don’t need to apologize. I’m just… I’m adjusting,” Maggie said.

Ben leaned down to give her a gentle kiss, and my heart squeezed. I had never seen him this tender with any of his previous partners, men or women. He was clearly already half gone for her.

Their kiss lengthened, turned from something tender into something else.

Maggie spread her legs to allow Ben to move in closer. He cradled the back of her head for a deeper angle. Maggie whimpered in the back of her throat, and Ben gave a soft growl as he pulled her hips forward to grind against his body. Soren was leaning towards them, watching hungrily.

Her scent flooded the room, and I watched her lose herself to the pleasure of the kiss. She looked more beautiful than ever.

Ben captured her bottom lip in his teeth and tugged hard, eliciting a whine that was half pain and half pleasure.

And then all hell broke loose.

I wasn’t sure when he’d arrived, but Lachlan was in the kitchen, growling in the back of his throat. He was staring at Ben and Maggie, still wrapped up in each other, and there was a strange vacancy in his eyes. He started advancing on them like a predator.

I caught Soren’s eye, and he looked just as bewildered and concerned as I felt. I moved towards him unconsciously.

“Lach,” Soren said loudly, trying to catch his attention. He didn’t react. His pupils were dilated, and he wouldn’t take his eyes off Ben and Maggie. He lookedferal. I looked at Maggie, expecting fear, but she looked pinned by Lachlan’s gaze, likeshe had accepted her fate as captured prey.

What the fuck is going on?I thought. I caught Ben’s eye, and he looked more uneasy than afraid.

Ben slid Maggie off the counter, slowly, and carefully placed himself between her and Lachlan. I made my move.

“Lachlan,” I said, stepping into his path. “What are you doing, man?”

He pushed me roughly out of the way, stronger than I expected, and I stumbled back.

Then suddenly, Lachlan gripped Ben around his shoulder and yanked him closer. “Mine,” he growled in his face, and I didn’t recognize that voice. Maggie was a half step behind Ben, and when Lachlan turned to her, reaching out his hand, I acted on pure instinct. I caught her around the waist and pulled her back and away from his grasp.

Maggie had been watching, still frozen, but at that moment she turned her face to my chest and whined.

And just like that, the tension broke.

Lachlan stopped growling, shaking his head as if to clear it. He dropped his hand from Ben’s shoulder as if he’d been burned and took several steps back, staring at his hand like it had betrayed him somehow. He backed up even further, putting distance between himself and the rest of us, until his back hit the wall.

His shoulders slumped, and he looked so desperately sad, but I wasn’t feeling very sympathetic to anyone but the Omega softly whining in distress in my arms. I shushed her gently, rubbing my hand along the knobs of her spine as she curled into me, and she bit off her whine abruptly.

Nobody spoke for what felt like an eternity.

Lachlan cleared his throat softly. “I’m so sorry for… my behavior. I have no excuse.”

Maggie looked up, her face miserable. But there was also a glint of anger in her eyes.

“I want to go home,” she murmured.

“Of course, sugar,” I said. “I’ll take you back to the Centerright now.”

Ben and Soren both started towards us, but I shook my head firmly. “You need to deal with him,” I said, looking at Lachlan. That same anger I’d seen in Maggie’s eyes burned in my stomach.

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