Forbidden: Part One – Chapter 53

“Stop hovering,” Ben hissed, bumping me as he headed to the kitchen to make yet another thing Josie would refuse to eat.

“I’m not,” I responded, my jaw clenched. Ben just shot me a look.

I was totally fucking hovering.

I stared into the study from my spot in the hall, my eyes drawn to where Josie was curled up in a leather chair with a book and untouched hot chocolate. Theo was in the chair next to her, pretending to read. Every few minutes, his eyes flickered towards her, tension lining his body. I could feel his and Ben’s agony through the bond, joining my own. We had known Josie suffered at the Academy, but nothing could have prepared me for the horror of it. Seeing Josie experience such terror, for her to be so lost in her dream, she flinched away from me… it had completely broken my heart. Her cries from last night echoed in my head, serving as a reminder of how I’d failed to protect her, just as I’d failed Ellie.

She’d been subdued when she woke, slipping out of bed to take a long shower alone. Since then, she hadn’t spoken much. Whenever I caught her eye, she looked away quickly, biting her lip as if embarrassed, her scent taking on a bitterness I couldn’t quite place. I wanted to punch something, needed to work out the helplessness blanketing my body. But I didn’t want to leave Josie. Being by her side was a compulsion.

I strode into the study and knelt by her chair. She was looking out the window, her eyes distant.

“Baby girl?”

She jumped with a whimper, and I quickly snagged the hot chocolate from her hands before it spilled.

“Cam,” she said, glancing around the room. “Sorry, I didn’t notice you.”

A wave of her bitter vanilla scent washed over me, and I finally realized what I was scenting: it was shame. A loud growl snarled from my chest before I realized what I was doing, causing Josie to shrink deeper into the leather chair with a whine.

“What the fuck, Cam,” Theo bit out, his voice cold.

“Sorry, sweetheart. I’m so sorry,” I said, stopping my growl and kissing the tops of her thighs.

Josie ran a cold, shaky hand through my hair. I had forgotten to put it up in a bun this morning and now, feeling her fingers running through it, I was fucking grateful. I purred, hoping the sound would relax her, and rested my head in her lap.

“You have nothing to be ashamed about,” I murmured.

Her fingers paused their movements, and I wanted to beg for her to continue. Her touch was the only thing anchoring me, the only thing stopping me from hunting down Glen Jacoby and fucking ending him.

I glanced up and saw silent tears running down Josie’s face. I moved instinctually, picking her up and walking towards the den where we would have more fucking space to cuddle. I jerked my head at Theo, signaling that he should follow. He looked even more out of it than Josie right now.

I settled Josie on my lap on our large sectional. Ben walked into the room holding a tray of sandwiches, immediately setting them down on the coffee table and joining us on the couch. We wrapped our arms around our omega, touching her as much as we possibly could, and purred. It wasn’t long before Josie’s tears subsided and she fell asleep.

We must have all fallen asleep because hours later, I was woken by Josie stretching on my lap like a kitten. Theo and Ben were sprawled on the sectional, their limbs entwined in mine. I sleepily pulled Josie onto me, kissing her on the forehead.

“Hi,” she said, smiling up at me.

“Hi, baby girl. How’re you feeling?”

“Better,” she responded, rubbing her face against my chest and reaching out to hold Theo’s arm. “Sorry about this morning. I just… last night was a lot to process.”

I didn’t like how small her voice sounded.

“You have nothing to be sorry about. And certainly nothing to feel ashamed about.” I gripped her chin gently, forcing her to meet my gaze. She exhaled slowly and nodded.

“Damn, that was a good nap,” Ben said, his eyes still closed. He stretched out his arm, reaching it across Josie and settling it on her breast.

“Ben, you’re grabbing my boob,” Josie said, her nose scrunching. But she didn’t shift away or tell him to stop, so I didn’t interfere.

“Am I?” he responded innocently.

“Yes,” she said, an edge of laughter in her voice.

“Any complaints?” Ben asked, cracking his eyes open.

“No,” she said, blushing beautifully.

“Will you eat a sandwich, precious?” Ben asked, giving her breast a squeeze.

She hesitated for a moment and I held my breath. She’d barely eaten dinner and hadn’t had anything today.

“Actually, is there any chance I could have some mac and cheese? Like just from the box is fine,” she added hurriedly.

“My beautiful, precious, sunshine omega darling, I would love to make you mac and cheese,” Ben said, leaping up from the couch. “And it’s not going to be from a fucking box,” he threw over his shoulder before skipping to the kitchen.

I snorted at Ben’s antics, and Josie giggled, her body soft and relaxed against mine. Damn, if I didn’t grow hard at the sound of her laugh.

“Thank you,” I said, caressing her face.

“For what?” she asked.

“For giving him something to do. For making him so happy.” I couldn’t resist brushing a kiss against her forehead. I needed to keep touching her, to feel that she was here and safe.

She snuggled against me, snaking one hand under my shirt and stroking my bare skin. I groaned, shifting my hand to her ass and cupping it. I wasn’t going to start anything sexual, especially after last night, but I couldn’t help if everything Josie did oozed sex.

Josie made a contented noise, continuing to trace one hand across my skin and keeping her other on Theo. I could feel through the bond that Theo was awake, but he was pretending to sleep. He didn’t “wake up” until lunch was served. He sat next to Josie, always touching her in some way but barely speaking a word. Josie kept casting him worried looks and I wanted to reassure her, but I didn’t know what to say. Theo’s anxiety could suck him down a deep hole, and it was almost impossible to drag him back out.

We all cuddled back on the sectional after lunch, and Josie turned on some British TV show I’d never heard of. I grabbed my knitting and went to sit next to her when she nudged me.

“Will you sit in front of me?” she asked. “I want to play with your hair.”

My insides danced with joy. This was everything I wanted. I kept my cool, simply sliding to the floor with my knitting, but I knew my scent was giving away my excitement. She sat with her legs on either side of my shoulders and started working her fingers through my hair.

Fuck. Me.

It was like her fingers were stroking up and down my cock. The pleasure was so good, her touch so tender, it almost brought tears to my eyes. After a while, I gave up the pretense of knitting, sinking more deeply into my spot on the floor and grasping her calves, which were still slung over my shoulders. Josie moved down to my neck, teasing out all the tension.

I groaned. “Feels so good, sweetheart.”

“Can I give you a braid?” she asked.

“You can do whatever the fuck you want.”

I felt the gentle tugs on my hair as she braided it and then used the hair tie on her wrist to secure the end.

“All set.” She leaned over, wrapping her arms around my chest and kissing me on the cheek.

“Thanks, baby girl,” I said, caressing her arms.

“Sounds like you got a text, precious,” Ben said, reaching over to snag Josie’s phone from the side table.

I didn’t want to let her untangle herself from me, but I reluctantly let go of her arms as she took the phone from Ben. I tensed. If it was anyone from her fucking family…

“Oh my gosh,” Josie exclaimed. “Sam and Gerald have a last-minute work assignment in the city tomorrow.”

Josie’s eyes were bright and she smiled widely. The relief it brought me to see her smile was instantaneous, my chest loosening even further as her scent sweetened to its usual cupcake vanilla.

“They’re asking if they can stay here. Is that okay?” she asked, looking between the three of us hopefully.

A zing of uncertainty and possessiveness rocked through the bond. I couldn’t refuse Josie anything that made her this happy, but the thought of having other alphas in the house right now set me on edge. Alphas had hurt our omega, and we needed to protect her.

I shifted to face the couch, still keeping my hands on Josie’s calves. I met Ben’s gaze and he nodded, signaling his agreement. Theo would be the greater challenge.

“Are we sure it’s safe to have them here?” Theo asked, speaking for the first time in hours.

The fact that he hadn’t immediately said no, that I hadn’t immediately refused, proved how far gone we were for our mate.

Josie’s smile fell slightly, and I felt Theo’s regret through the bond.

“Why wouldn’t it be?” she asked in a small voice.

“It might look suspicious for us to host two alphas from Sol,” Theo mumbled, running his hand through Josie’s hair in a silent apology.

“But Sam’s my childhood friend. I don’t think that’s weird.” Josie’s lower lip trembled and she looked away.

“Sweetheart, don’t cry. We’ll figure this out,” I said, giving her leg a squeeze.

“Am I putting you in danger?” she asked, her voice hitching on a silent sob.

“What?” Theo asked. “Of course not. Why would you say that?”

“Glen hates me,” she whimpered, tears rolling down her face in earnest. “Having me as part of your pack puts a target on your back.”

“You’re not just part of our pack,” I growled. “You’re our mate, our omega. If anyone has a problem with that, they can go fuck themselves. You’re ours, understand? And if you want to see your friend, we’ll make it happen.”

“Are you sure?” she asked, looking worriedly at Theo.

He took a deep breath before forcing a smile. “Yes, angel. Why don’t you let them know?”

She hesitated for a moment before picking up her phone and sending a text.

“Thank you so much,” she said smiling, but she was still a bit subdued. I wanted her bouncing excitement back.

“When will they get here?” I asked.

“Tomorrow afternoon, and then they have to leave the following morning,” she responded. Then she said almost shyly, “I’m excited for you to meet them. I haven’t even gotten to meet Gerald in person.”

“We’ll have a great time,” Ben said, wrapping his arm around her. “I’m excited to meet them.”

This time Josie’s smile seemed more genuine.

“Okay, I’m going to go get dressed,” she said, kissing each of us before heading up the stairs. We all watched her walk away.

“Why are we letting them come?” Theo asked, keeping his voice low as he turned towards us.

“Why wouldn’t we?” Ben asked. “He’s Josie’s friend.”

“And he protected her,” I added, clenching my fists. I wished I could have been the one to protect her, to save her from Glen fucking Jacoby.

Theo looked away, running his hand over his face.

“Theo,” Ben said, worry in his voice. He moved to the other side of the couch, pulling Theo in for a hug. “It’s going to be okay.”

Theo returned the hug briefly before pushing himself off the couch.

“I’ll go see what we need for the guest room,” he said, stalking out of the den.

“I think he just needs time,” I said to Ben, who was biting his lip and staring after Theo.

“Yeah,” Ben said with a sigh. He turned back towards me. “Nice hair, by the way,” he teased, his lips quirking into a wide smile.

I pulled out my phone to look at myself in the camera. I huffed out a laugh. Josie had done a French braid down the top of my scalp and tied it off at the back of my head. I would have gotten beaten up for wearing my hair like this growing up. I found myself not caring. My omega, my mate, had done this for me. I ran my fingers down the neat braid, the look growing on me. And now her scent was woven into my hair, into my very soul.