Chapter 73

Kelly I tried not to bite my nails as I worked, really I did, but my stress level was through the roof. Why might you ask? Because today was the day Jonas got back. Today was the day I would tell him I chose Thorin. Hopefully I can tell him before he sees the hickey on my neck or smells Thorin on me.

It’s been several weeks since I told Thorin that I wanted him, and only him, and things have never been better. On almost all fronts too. I was finally getting into the groove of things, all forms of reconstruction were finally done within our pack, there were no wars, or aftermath of wars. We had plenty of warriors and lots of pups being born. The kingdom was peaceful, and Thorin and I were doing great together. My relationship with Kylie was growing, quite well might I add. And apparently, with her and Jocelyn too. They recently decided to expand their family and they found a donor and Kylie is now expecting.

Kelsey was only a week away from returning from her extravagant vacation with her girls. I was so excited to see them, to see more life in the house. She sounded well every time I talked to her, better than well actually, she sounded great. I think just knowing she made the right decision with Mason set her free. She still missed him dearly, of course, but she shared more happy memories than anything else.

And even with all that, I had knots in my stomach, counting down the time until he got back, knowing I couldn’t possibly keep this from him. He deserved to know. Plus, the sooner he knew, the sooner he would stop flirting with me. I can’t imagine Thorin would take kindly to him openly flirting with me, and I don’t want to stir up any unnecessary problems with my new boyfriend.

“Hey beautiful, did ya miss me?” Jonas said, his arms wide open, ready to embrace me. Until he saw my face anyway. “What’s wrong?” He frowned.

“N-nothing.” I said, rounding my desk and giving him a hug. “How was your flight?”

“Great.” He said, eyeing me as he took a seat across from my desk. “I got all but two contracts signed. The one wants to speak to you in person, and the other is completely unwilling to sign an alliance or a peace treaty.”

“Which is whom?” I asked.

“Some ancient pack way off the coast over in Japan.” He shrugged, “I wouldn’t worry too much about it.”

“But I will, because it’s my job too,” I sighed. “Thank you for getting all the rest taken care of. You deserve a metal.” I laughed.

“Or perhaps a k**s from a pretty lady?” He smirked.

“About that. I was going to wait until you got settled in, but I think we should talk now.” I said, clearing my throat uncomfortably. “I decided on who I wanted to pursue…romantically.”

“Oh?” Jonas said, an unreadable expression crossing his face.

“I chose Thorin,” I said nervously. “I hope you and I can still continue to be friends and work together as Alpha and Beta.”

“Sure.” He shrugged. “I’m going to go put my things away, then we should grab dinner.” He said, already heading towards the door.

“Oh. Well, I actually already have dinner plans…with Thorin.”

Jonas’s demeanor seemed to shift at that moment, from carefree to irritated, a side of him I rarely saw. “Listen, I get it, he is a super rugged guy and foreign or whatever and he has probably had several months of you to himself, but I’m not out of this yet.”

“This isn’t a competition, and if it were, you have already lost,” I scoffed. “Thorin and I are happy together and I need you to respect my decision.”

“Respect your decision?! He uses a f*****g cattle prod on you Kelly! What kind of a sick f**k does that?!” He started to shout.

“Lower your voice.” I growled. “I do not owe you any explanation. Thorin and I are together now and that is final.”

“Its not final until you have marked each other, and from the looks of it, you haven’t.”

“Get out.” I commanded him, letting my aura slip. He had no choice but to obey me, his Alpha Queen.

He stormed out, causing a bit of a scene, but I let it go. He needed time to simmer down. I had so many nice things I was going to say about him too. I know he will find love one day, and it is hopefully with his fated mate. I think that might be the only way he gets over his fixation with me. I love Jonas, but he does have a bit of an unhealthy attachment to me. When thinking of him as a mate, it didn’t seem so bad…but now? Seeing him acting like that? No thank you. I prayed that his fated mate would hurry up and be found so I could have my friend and Beta back. Hopefully, Jonas will grow up and realize the error of his ways, because if he should continue down this path…I might need a new Beta.

– – – – – – – – – –

Thorin “I could always make him disappear, no one would know.” I suggested, as I put our empty plates in the sink.

“I have no doubt that you could make it happen, Moya skala.” Kelly said, giving me a quick k**s on the cheek. “But I don’t want that. We grew up together, he was there for me during a lot of hard times. I just hope I can reason with him and we can go back to being normal again.” She sighed.

“Were you ever ‘normal’?” I asked using airquotes. “He always had the crush on you.”

“I…I guess I don’t really know.” She sighed, wrapping her arms around my middle. “Why couldn’t he have been easy like Emmett?” She sighed.

“How is evil plant doctor?” I asked, running my hands up underneath Kelly’s shirt.

“Mmm…” She hummed in approval. “He is good, he and Julie are a thing now, officially.”

“He works fast.” I snorted, thankful that at least one of the two men I had to worry about was already shacking up with someone else.

“Hey, as long as he is happy,” Kelly shrugged. “Now if only we could find Jonas’s mate.”

“Less talk of him and more of us.” I suggested, grabbing Kelly by the waste and hoisting her up onto the kitchen island counter.

“What about us?” Kelly smiled, her eyes lighting up like they did every time she looked at me.

“Let’s move in together.” I shrugged.

“Oh!” She smiled. “But I thought you wanted to live outside still?”

“I thought you wanted to take things slow.” I winked back at her.

“What changed your mind?” She asked.

“I am lonely out there. Never before, not until we started seeing each other. Now when I go home, it does not feel like home.”

“Why don’t we go grab your things right now?” Kelly suggested, biting her bottom l*p, a hint of mischief in her eyes. “And then we can come back and celebrate with dessert.”

“Dessert? But we did not make any?”

Kelly giggled and spread her legs wide on the counter. “I think I might have something sweet for you.”

I growled in approval, hooking my fingers into the waistband of her leggings and pulling. “Dessert first, Solnyshko, always dessert first.”