Page 43 of Finding the Forward: Part Two
Chapter Fourteen
Jonas
Abuzzing sound wormed its way into the edges of my consciousness. With a grunt, I rolled over into the warmth Dean offered and drifted off to sleep.
The buzzing sound didn’t stop. My eyes cracked open. The green glow of the clock told me that it was 3:32 am. Ugh. Fatigue pressed down on me. Dean and I had gotten back from our date late in order to give AJ and Grif space.
With everything Dean was getting through his bond with Grif, he’d also wanted attention. Lots of attention. So really, I’d just gotten to sleep.
I worked up the energy to roll over to see who it was, because if they didn’t stop calling, it must be important.
Shit. Was it my sister?
Little Alphaflashed up on the screen along with how many times she’d called and texted.
Verity
I know it’s late, but I need you.
Please.
That wrenched my heart. Fuck.
Grabbing my phone, I tossed on a pair of shorts and crept out to the dark living room so I wouldn’t disturb Dean, who’d passed out on the bed like a starfish. From the sounds–and smells–in the hallway, Grif, and AJ were still at it and had moved to Grif’s room.
Maybe now that they’d bonded, AJ would feel like he was truly part of the pack. Sometimes, I wondered if he was only here for Grif, which was fine. Dean and I valued him, too. We just didn’t show it the way Grif did.
Slumping on the couch, leaving the room dark, I pressed redial.
“Jonas.” Her voice broke.
“What’s wrong, Sweetheart?” My eyes closed as I rested on one of the many cushions littering the sectional. We’d put away the Christmas cushions, but plenty remained. I think they multiplied when no one was looking.
“I’m so scared for Grif, and I can’t help but feel like all this with Chet is partially my fault. After all, he hates me. Still, I’m not sure I can do this again. It’s been riding me all afternoon and evening.” Her voice shook. “I need you.”
“I’m right here.” My brain had trouble processing her rapid and panicked words.
One thing was evident–my little alpha had come to me.Me.
Peeling myself up off the couch, I let myself onto the patio, so the snow and cold could wake my ass up and I could be of use to her.
“It’ll be okay,” I soothed, leaning against the freezing cold railing. The snow wasn’t coming down hard. It was more refreshing than shocking and reminded me of my youth.
“But will it?” Her voice cracked.
My heart shattered. “It will. You did the right thing by calling me. Sorry it took so long for my ass to wake up. We’renotbetter off without you. You leaving won’t make anything better. In this pack we don’t run from our problems, we talk them out like fucking grownups.”
Did I forget anything?
Her breathing went ragged. “Okay.”
“Breathe, Sweetheart. Breathe with me.” Closing my eyes, I lead her through some breathing to calm her ass down. She couldn’t tell me what was wrong if she was sobbing too hard to speak. “Better?”
“Thank you.” Her voice shook a little. “I… I’m scared. How do we protect them?”
“It’s okay to be scared. Now, walk me through everything again. Please?” I returned inside and got some water from the fridge.
“I don’t want Grif to go through what I did when I fired my coach—or Chet. It was awful. Chet harassed me so much. Not to mention, he riled up a lot of people when I got Coach fired. He came after me again when I didn’t go pro. Said I was ruining my life and if I came back to him, he’d fix my career.” Her words got a bit garbled as she sniffed.
