Page 81 of Follow Your Instincts

When?I asked in the group chat.

It doesn’t matter because she’s not going, Lachlan replied. I glared at him.

Two days from now,Soren answered.I’m almost home, we’ll discuss in a few.

“I have to go if we want to stop Phillips from hurting anyone else,” I said to Lachlan, standing my ground.

“He assaulted you twice and is holding a Beta hostage in his home with his unregistered pack that committed a violent burglary,” he said. “It’s notsafefor you.”

“I’ll be in a police precinct, maybe even a fucking court room,” I shot back. “He can’t hurt me there.”

My phone chimed with another notification. Ben had changed the group chat name to “Maggie’s Angels” with the baby angel emoji. I laughed in surprise.

“Let’s stop fighting, please. Things were just starting to get good. I still really want to know what the sex equivalent of jogging is,” Ben said.

“Can I read what you guys wrote about me before I joined the chat?” I asked him as we walked downstairs.

“We are all gentlemen. We’d never use the group chat for something so crass,” Ben joked, imitating Lachlan’s best disapproving voice. But then he scrolled up and found a selfie he’d sent to the group wearing the running clothes he’d worn the first time we kissed in the park, smiling and giving a thumbs up to the camera.

We totally made out!!!The message below read.

I laughed again and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Canyou please do a sex jog with me later?”

“As soon as Dad’s done being grumpy,” Ben replied, and Lachlan turned to glare back at us. We exchanged looks and giggled.

Chapter 31

Lachlan

My two obsessions were giggling behind me on the stairs, but I could hardly focus. My mind was shifting incessantly between replaying Ben’s hard cock pressed against me, and the terror of letting Maggie be in the same room as that shithead Todd Phillips.

Maggie’s strength of will was incredible, as was her moral compass, but I wished she would just be selfish and protect herself. Or maybe I was the selfish one.

I sighed, and my mind spun back to Ben’s sly smile when he was stretching me on the mat. Had that been intentional? Did he know I was irrationally jealous of every person he’d ever been with before, except for Maggie? Is that why he’d brought up that guy he trained that morning? And if so, why didn’t he just say something? Why didn’t I?

I looked up, surprised to find myself in the kitchen. Lucas was chopping zucchini. Ben and Maggie were still whispering and giggling to each other as they wandered into the room. Maggie kissed Lucas on the cheek before following Ben into the living room.

“You okay, Lach?” Lucas asked.

“Huh? Yeah, I’m good. I mean, no, I’m not.” I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts and focus on what was important.Maggie. Not how I felt about my packmate.

Lucas laughed. “Okay, sure. Wanna try that again?”

“How was Maggie’s appointment?” I asked instead. “She said the doctor cleared her for ‘light jogging’ and now she’s colluding with Ben for… extracurricular activities.”

He started slicing an onion. “Yeah, that’s true. The doctor said she’s healing right up. I do remember the jogging comment. He said as long as it doesn’t cause sharp pain, or make her too uncomfortable, she’s good to go.”

I sighed.

“Isn’t that a good thing?” Lucas asked. He saw too much, as always.

“Yes, of course,” I said quickly. I looked over my shoulder towards the living room to make sure Maggie wasn’t in earshot. “I’m just slightly terrified of losing my excuse to keep my distance. I’m not sure if I can trust myself not to come on too strong.”

Lucas gave me an understanding smile. “Hey man, you got this. She’s so ready for you, for us, to be something she can count on. All you gotta do is not mess it up.”

“Thank you, so helpful,” I said dryly.

Soren stomped up the stairs from the garage. He stormed in, looking murderous. Maggie came bolting into the kitchen when she heard the door close.

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