family. My parents did everything to have me. They broke the law, and most likely damn near broke each other in the process.
What my father must have gone through when my mother was with Shane Greystone…. It chills me to my core.
I’ve seen Jonah jealous. I’ve felt my own jealousy rise up. Fated mates are as primal as you can get, and my parents had to do the unthinkable to make sure they stayed alive.
“Your parents are strong,” Jonah reassures me. I peek over, watching water flow down his cut body. Dirt and grime pool at his feet, slowly spiraling toward the drain.
“They did what they had to.”
“And we’ll do what we have to.” He opens his arms, and I walk to him. He wraps me up in one of his humongous hugs—a true mate safety blanket. I settle for real because though everything feels like it’s up in the air, this right here—my fated pairing—is the end and the beginning. It’s what everything will start and come back to, and as long as I have Jonah, I’ll be okay.
He kisses my temple before reaching behind him to grab the shampoo and squirts some in his palm before working it through my long tresses. When he finishes, he tilts my head into the spray to rinse the soap from my hair. While I stay there, he shampoos his own mane, and then we switch positions until we’ve both rinsed the muck of the day from us. If only I could find something that would erase the worry, too.
Plush towels sit on shelves under the sink. Jonah pulls two out and wraps me in one. The soft material feels like silk on my skin as I dry off. Afterward, he leads me out of the bathroom and down the length of the hallway. At the very end sits a master bedroom. A gigantic four-poster bed sits in the center with enough room around the sides that I could do cartwheels. Immediately, he goes to the closet and brings out two sets of clothes. “We have hundreds of these kinds of outfits lying around,” he tells me, passing me a stack. “We call them shift-safe outfits. If you ruin them, it doesn’t matter.”
My parents had a few of those too, but nothing as nice as this. Their shift-safe outfits were paint splattered, and the kind of clothes you worked in the garden with. These are brand new.
I tug them on, frowning at the fit before I realize these were likely meant for the alpha’s wife because what Jonah pulls on also fits him perfectly.
“Come here,” Jonah says, beckoning me toward him. He sits on the edge of the bed, looking every bit the alpha right now with his stern, hard jaw and serious face. I walk to him, and he yanks me between his legs, pinning me there with a hard grip on my hips. “You’re my family, and my family’s family. We’ll do everything we can, but I meant what I said yesterday. We’ll leave here if we have to. I’m not letting Lydia get her hands on you.”
“We can’t go Feral, Jonah. We’ll die.”
“I’ll take my chances.”
“They won’t kill you,” I protest. “They’re only after me.”
The low growl that starts in his chest curls my toes. “If they touch you, it’ll kill me. When are you going to learn that?” His bite into my hips increases.
I place a steady hand on his. “I do get it. But if they hurt you, it’s the same for me. If one of us can come out of this, it’s you.”
Before I know it, I’m flat on the mattress, and Jonah’s wolf eyes lock me in place. He’s still mostly in his human form, but sharp teeth have elongated past his lips, showing off his fierceness.
I don’t care what he says about me being a Greystone, he’s obviously the alpha in this family, and I’m just fine with that.
“Don’t make me punish you, Kinsey.”
I smile at that, but this is so not the place. My hand finds his chest, resting just above his heart. “Fine. I’ll stop trying to save you.”
He gives me a cocksure smile. “You don’t have to worry about me.”
He can say that, but it’s not going to change my mind. Dread pools in my stomach. I feel so damn helpless. “I’m scared.”
Pulling away, he moves us side-by-side and cradles me to his chest again. “Let me take care of you, Little Mate. You don’t have to worry when I’m here.”
He