Chapter 26

“I wish that weren’t the case,” I admitted. “It makes me not want to choose either of you. I can’t stand the thought of coming between a friendship.”

“This friendship has been broken for a while,” Jori said. “You making a decision isn’t ruining anything that wasn’t ruined. You might as well pick your own happiness.”

I frowned at this. “It’s not that easy. I don’t think I will be truly happy with whatever decision I make, because I will be hurting someone either way, which will hurt me. I can’t win.”

“It’s okay to be selfish sometimes,” Jori said. “You’ve been through so much hurt that I think you deserve to be special.”

I didn’t know how to respond to Jori, so I stayed silent. His words rang true on a logical level. It was okay to be selfish to a certain extent. It felt wrong not to consider the feelings of others. It wasn’t in my nature.

We sat there in silence, but I didn’t mind it. I felt comfortable and safe around Jori, and I didn’t feel the need the fill the silence. After a while, I felt a chill come over me. I tried to suppress it, but my body shook anyway.

“You’re cold,” Jori said. He started slipping off his own jacket and put it on my shoulders.

I grabbed the jacket and tried to hand it back to him. “If you give me your jacket, then you’ll get cold instead.”

Jori pushed the jacket back at me. “Well, I’m not going to wear it anyway, so you might as well wear it yourself.” He suddenly turned to me, leaning in. “Unless you would rather have me warm you up with my body.”

“The jacket will be fine,” I laughed nervously. I slipped on the jacket, not wanting to push the subject more.

Jori didn’t move, even as I pulled the jacket on. He reached up and took a strand of my hair between his fingers. He twirled the strand in his fingers, leaning even closer to my face.

“The concept of mates was always so interesting to me,” Jori said, keeping his face only a few inches from mine. “A few days ago, we didn’t know the other person existed. But now, looking at you, all I want is to be your everything. I want to protect you, and touch you, and make you mine. Just being near you is setting my skin on fire.”

I gulped at his proximity. Even though Jori wasn’t touching me, I could feel his heat radiating from him. I felt my own body start to heat up as well. My body burned for him, and I was frozen, unable to make a move towards or away from him. Finally, I turned my head away from him.

Jori let go of my hair and sat back. “Do you feel that uncomfortable when I’m that close?”

I turned back to Jori slowly, and there was a frown on his face, making me feel guilty. “It’s not that I feel uncomfortable. It’s that I don’t know if I will be able to control myself, and I don’t want to do anything that I will regret. I don’t know you, and I don’t want to just act on instinct.”

“Maybe you should stop overthinking and just let yourself give in for once.” Jori leaned forward again.

I reached up and touched Jori’s cheek. His face was surprisingly soft. I left my hand on his face, but I didn’t make any other movements. I could see myself melting into the man in front of me, giving everything up for him. But I didn’t know him. Not really.

“I… I can’t,” I managed to say. My heart was pounding in my chest, and I felt like I could barely breathe. Growing up, I had heard many couples describe the mate bond, and I always thought they were exaggerating. They said that they were pulled to each other like magnets, and being near their mate and not being able to touch them was nearly painful. I thought they were needy or giving an excuse for their carnal behaviors, but now I understood it a little better.

Every cell in my body was reaching for Jori. My fingers felt like they were on fire with the minimal contact they had. It would be so easy to give in.

Jori leaned in closer, brushing his lips very slightly. “Tell me to stop then.”

I opened my mouth to say stop, but instead I closed the gap, pressing my lips against Jori’s. His hand was instantly in my hair, and he pressed his lips against mine even harder. His hands were rougher than I expected. He tugged on my hair, making me tilt my head back. Jori’s lips started attacking my neck, peppering me with k****s. The sensation was almost too much.

A cool breeze swam through the little grove, sending a chill down my spine. This snapped me to my senses, and I pulled away from Jori. I quickly stood up to put more distance between us. My chest was heaving up and down as I tried to catch my breath.

“We should head back. People might start wondering where we are,” I said breathlessly.

Jori smirked, slowly standing up. “I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist me. We can go back for now, but just know this place is always here if you want more privacy with me.” Jori held out his hand, but I walked past him without taking it.

Now that I had created some distance between us, the guilt was starting to wash over me. I had just kissed Mark last night, and now I was kissing Jori. It felt wrong, even though the moments had felt right. My head felt too clouded right now, and I felt myself power walking away.

“Hey slow down,” Jori called out after me.

I could hear his footsteps behind me, but I didn’t slow down. I just wanted to get back to the pack house and take a moment to myself. Luckily, the path was pretty easy to follow back, so I didn’t need Jori to lead the way. I burst out of the foliage, and I could see the pack house again. Jori was still calling my name, but I couldn’t stop. I couldn’t face him right now.

I ran up the steps to the front porch of the pack house, but before I got to the door I felt a firm grip on my wrist, pulling me back.

“Adira, please stop,” Jori said between breaths. “Please look at me. Are you okay?”

I still didn’t turn to Jori. I didn’t know how to explain my sense of shame to him. “Please let go of me.”

“Not until you look at me.”

I turned to Jori, but I looked up at the ceiling. I could feel the tears start to build, but I didn’t want them to fall. I didn’t want to start crying. “Will you let me go now?”

“You’re still not looking at me.” Jori’s grip was firm and unwavering.

“I think you should let her go,” a deep voice reverberated from behind me.

I turned to look. “Mark.”

“This isn’t any of your business,” Jori said.

“She asked you to let her go,” Mark said. “You’re not listening to her, and she’s clearly upset. That makes it my business.”

I could feel the tension rising between the two of them, and it was worse because they were both alphas. I pulled my wrist, and this time Jori let go of me. I took a step back from the two of them. “I’m okay. Please don’t fight.”

Mark didn’t take his eyes off of Jori, and he looked like he was about to boil.

Jori smirked in return. “See, the lady said all was good. It’s none of your business, like I said.”

My lips curled down as my frustration grew. “Jori, that’s enough.” He was clearly taunting Mark, and I didn’t like it. “Please, can you two not fight for just today.”

Mark shifted his demeanor after my words. He seemed to shrink in height and looked ashamed of himself. “Yes, of course. Rie has been looking for you, so I was helping her search. She was stressing about getting you ready for the party.”

“Isn’t the party not for a couple of hours?” I said. At most it took me an hour to get ready for anything. That was a rare situation too.

“I don’t know what she has planned for you, but I do not wish to be you right now,” Mark laughed.

“I will leave the birthday girl to go get ready then,” Jori said. “I will see you later, darling.” Jori leaned forward and kissed me on the cheek before going inside.

I found myself blushing, but I wasn’t sure if it was from embarrassment or excitement. I didn’t like that he did that in front of Mark. It almost felt like he was marking his territory.

“I guess I should get going,” I said, looking at the ground. “I don’t want Rie to go too crazy.”

“Wait, don’t go yet,” Mark said quickly.

I stopped and looked at him. I felt ashamed standing in front of him, and I hated that. “If this is about Jori-”

“Are you okay? He didn’t do anything to you, did he?” Mark asked. His voice wavered as he spoke.

“No, no. I’m fine. I just got a little overwhelmed and needed a moment to myself. Sorry for worrying you.” I was careful not to tell Mark about the kissing. I didn’t do anything wrong per say. I hadn’t picked Mark, but something still felt wrong about it.

“Okay. As long as you are sure. Jori can be a prick sometimes.” Mark ran his fingers through his hair. “I was getting pretty worried about you. I tried calling and texting you, but you weren’t answering.”

“You did?” I pulled out my phone and saw several missed calls and text messages from Mark. “Oh shoot. My phone was on silent, and I didn’t hear it. I’m so sorry for worrying you. Jori wanted to show me that grove.” I cut myself off, wondering if Mark knew about the place. Jori did say it was his secret hideout.

Mark nodded carefully. “You’re safe. That’s all that matters. Oh and happy birthday, Adira. I have a present for you, but I’ll give it to you later. I’m pretty sure Rie will beat me if I keep you any longer. She already said she was behind schedule.”

I smiled. “You got me something? You didn’t have to.”

Mark smiled back. “I wanted to. I care about you, Adira. All I want is for you to be happy.”