Page 165 of Finding the Forward: Part One
“Come here.” Jonas pulled Dean to him. “Some things aren’t for you to see. It doesn’t mean I love you any less. I appreciate your patience, Love.”
“But I enjoy being with both of you, Babe.” Dean nuzzled his alpha.
“It was nice. I might not want to share her sometimes.” He looked at me.
I nodded, not having a problem with it.
“Fine. I’m going to help her. But I’m not giving her back her panties.” Dean left the room.
“You punished her?” I frowned, voice low and quiet.
“I told you I would. She broke the rules. Things could've gone bad. I need her to remember that. She took it well, and I took good care of her, but she’ll need some extra snuggles from you.”He gathered up the hair ties on the bed and wrapped them around the handle of the brush.
“That’s why you were encouraging her to stay.” Understood.
“I don’t regret fucking her.” He looked smug. “Her blowjobs. Fuck.”
“I know.” I sighed in memory of the last one she gave me. “It just went fast from there being tension between you two tothis?”
Not that I was one to talk. If we had a pack contract and she didn’t have so many responsibilities, I’d be pushing to tell her everything so we could bond.
“True. I’ve wanted her for a while. It’s difficult to get time with Dean around. It also felt right. She feelsright.Verity had the power to stop me at any time, with zero consequences. Look, I’m head alpha. Ihaveto keep order. Since you and Dean are keeping her, we need to hold her to the rules, too,” he told me as he set the brush on his nightstand.
“While it’s nice that you think of her as basically pack, there’s only so far we can go before...” Before I told her the truth about my designation.
“I know. We’re not there yet.” His look went wistful as it fell on the empty doorway.
I left his room and entered the kitchen. Dean hadn’t even started making the sandwiches, so I made one for her.
As I dished up a sandwich and soup for her, she padded into the kitchen. Still in Jonas’ shirt, she put her phone on the counter.
“Come here, Kitten.” I opened my arms, and she curled inside them. Pulling her to my chest, I hugged her tight.
“That snowman holding the toilet paper in the hall bathroom is scary,” she told me, shuddering a little.
“I know. Dean loves to decorate.” I gestured to all the decorations.
“I can see that. Growing up, we never had many decorations. The alpha parents didn’t like clutter. It’s so pretty.” From my arms, she looked out onto all the twinkling lights.
“It is.” I rubbed her back, trying to soothe her. She’d taken a gigantic leap today.
She looked at the plate. “Is that for me?”
“It is. I made some coffee, too. We have a lack of chai lattes here.” I should fix that.
“Hold me while I eat?” Her voice went soft.
“Of course.” Grabbing her food and coffee, I led her over to the couch. Dean could make his own sandwich.
“You’re not mad?” She took a bite and her shoulders danced. “Oooh. Sourdough. This is delicious.”
“I told you I’m not. Please, take Dean on dates. Fuck all the guys. Even AJ.” I put an arm around her, and she squished into me.
“Getting pedicures with Dean was fun.” She smiled shyly.
I grinned back, recalling the photos. “I bet.”
As she ate her sandwich and soup, Verity told meeverything.
