The phone stopped ringing. The second Jonas handed it to me it started again. I looked at my phone, not surprised to see it was my mom calling.
“Hello?”
“Oh my gosh, Aura!” my mother screamed in my ear. I moved the phone away before cautiously pulling it closer again. “Roger just won the casino jackpot in Vegas! He’s cashing it out now. He said he’s going to take me traveling around the world. Can you believe it, honey?”
“Wait, mom! I thought you said you were driving out of town?”
“We did. We drove to the Atlanta airport and hopped a flight to Vegas. Now, you know I’ve never been the marrying type, but I just might take the plunge this time, baby.” She giggled like a schoolgirl.
Vegas? Traveling the world? There she went again, carelessly forgetting about me. “I’m happy for you, Mom.”
“I know. Now, I’m not sure how long I’ll be gone for, but Roger said he’d mail you a check. You can cash it down at the local bank. I don’t know what kind of cell coverage I’ll have, but I’ll call and check up on you. If you have an emergency, call Martha, okay?” She sounded excited and frantic. Near the end, it sounded like she was genuinely concerned for me too. But that was before she said, “Oh, and try not to gain any weight while we’re gone. If Roger buys you any clothes, they won’t fit when we get home then, and it’s hard to return stuff to a foreign country.”
And, just like that, I went numb. I lifted another wall between us. “Have fun, Mom.” My words had no influxes, no gusto. With Roger’s bank account doubling or tripling or growing by who knew how much, I knew I wouldn’t see my mom for a while. What I didn’t understand was how she didn’t feel like a part of her was missing when she was away from me.
With Jonas, I wasn’t in love with him yet, but I felt the emptiness when he left the coffee shop that day. I felt the longing as I sat through art class and avoided him in English. And the love of a mother was supposed to trump all others.
Maybe she didn’t love me… or maybe she did, but just didn’t know how to show it. Regardless, Jonas was right. I deserved more in life; I deserved better in life.
“Oh, I will, honey. I certainly will! Oh! Here comes Roger now. I’ll talk to you later, Aura. Don’t forget to wake up for school. Love you.” She immediately hung up.
I pulled the phone away from my ear and stared at it. It was 4:06AM and apparently everything in my life was going to change in twenty-four hours.
Jonas pulled me into his arms; my back pressed to his front. “You have me now. I know I can’t replace your mom, but I’ll always be here to love you, to support you and take care of you. And if I’m not, you’re a member of this pack now. They’ll always protect you. As for a place to live, my parents already said you could stay here.” He kissed the back of my head. “You’re not alone now, Aura, and never will be again, regardless of whether your mom comes back.”
I turned in his arms. I was grateful for Jonas, his family and pack, but just as Brody had double-checked to make sure I knew what I was getting into, I had to do the same with Jonas.
“Jonas, my prescriptions are filled once a month, I also have to see the Rheumatologist once a month for an injection. Once a year they do a new scan of my thyroid and stomach and throughout the year I’ll have good days and bad. I don’t have insurance, my mother never believed in government assistance, so all of this has to be paid out of pocket. That’s a lot of doctor visits, a lot of time and a lot of money.”
He pressed a finger over my lips, quieting me. He replaced his finger with his lips, gently kissing the words away. “You’re worth all of it to me, Aura. You’re my mate. There’s nothing you can say or do to make me lose interest, remember?”
I smiled, thinking back to when he first spoke those words to me. Had it really been twelve hours ago? It felt like ages ago. It felt like I’d known Jonas forever, that he’d been a part of me forever. Maybe that’s just it though. He’d always been a part of me, but only recently became a part of my life.
“I remember.”
“Good. Now try to get some more sleep.” He kissed the tip of my nose.
I snuggled deeper into his arms, leaning against his chest. Sleep came easy beside him, or maybe I just slept easier beside him.
Chapter 29
JONAS
Her mom was worse than I thought. She blew her daughter off like it was no big deal. I gave her credit for tending to Aura’s medical needs, but outside of that, she seemed like a flake. And the comment about not gaining weight was the final straw for me. I barely contained my wolf when we heard that one, especially since her mom knew about her health issues.
Regardless, she was still Aura’s mother, an important person in her life, and someone who would always be there. I just wished she acted like she wanted to be there for her daughter a bit more. It was one of those unspoken hurts on Aura’s part. I knew it bothered her.
I held Aura in my arms for the next couple hours, watching her sleep, listening to her steady heartbeat and deep rhythmic breathing. I wasn’t generally a sappy guy, but she brought out the sensitive part of me that no one else would ever see.
My dad knocked on the door a little after 6:30AM. “Hey, son. I’m leaving for a meeting with a potential investor. Have a good day.”
“Thanks. You too.”
Ten minutes later the alarm on Aura’s phone went off. She rolled away from me and haphazardly felt for the device on the nightstand. It took her several attempts to fully wake up enough to turn it off. She scrubbed her face and blinked her eyes several times in succession before she peered over at me.
She gave me a warm smile. “Good morning.” Her voice was raspy, full of sleep.
I stared at her, lost in her beauty. Her blue eyes were bright blue, like looking at the Caribbean Ocean. Her hair fell in waves of sunshine around her face. It was a little messy, but it only made her more attractive. I loved how natural she was. “Good morning.”
I leaned in to kiss her slightly puffy lips. She clamped them together and adamantly shook her head. I frowned, unease nudging me. “Did you change your mind?”
She covered her mouth with her hand. “I haven’t brushed my teeth yet.”
Damn she was endearing, even when she didn’t mean to be. I pursed my lips. “You owe me one.”
Chapter 30
AURA
I quickly escaped to the bathroom with my toiletry bag and backpack of clothes. I brushed my teeth, brushed my hair and pulled it up into a knot on top of my head. I dressed in a pair of comfortable, grey legging pants, a long, oversized, thin navy blue, V-neck t-shirt, and a wide gold belt that helped thin my waistline and matched my gold ballet flats.
I folded my pajamas and shoved them back in the book bag with my clothes from yesterday.
When I opened the bathroom door, Jonas was standing there, dressed for the day in a pair of khaki cargo shorts and a black polo shirt, waiting. His smile instantly warmed my heart. “You look beautiful.”
I swallowed hard, trying to keep my emotions at bay. No one had ever told me that before. “Thanks.”
Without warning he captured my lips. His touch sent chills down my spine and had my heart skipping a beat. There was a new depth to our connection this morning. Every minute I was with him, the pull towards him grew stronger and my feelings for him intensified.
Slowly he pulled back with several quick, successive kisses on my lips. I opened my eyes to find him gazing right into my eyes, into the depths of my soul it felt. “Now that’s what I want to wake up to every morning.” He gave me one final kiss before stepping back and taking my bags for me.
I followed him into the bedroom where he set my bag of clothes and bag of toiletries on the bed. He grabbed my school backpack off the floor and secured my hand before leading me downstairs.
“What about your stuff?”
“It’s already in the car. I’m a tad faster than you at getting ready.”
“Damn werewolf speed,” I mock moaned.
He
winked at me over his shoulder. “I was thinking we could stop and get breakfast at the coffee place.”
“Let me take my meds now then.” I headed straight for the kitchen. I stopped short at finding Cassie sitting in her robe at the island, sipping a cup of coffee. “Good morning.”
“Hi, dear. Come on in. Make yourself at home. It doesn’t seem like my son is going to let you go anytime soon.” She smiled knowingly at me over the rim of her cup.
I felt my cheeks heat. Instead of saying something stupid, I focused on taking my medicine. I drank two cups of water with my pills.
“Aura, would you mind helping me with dinner again tonight? Whatever you did to the pasta came out fabulously. I think that was the first night in years that I haven’t had to pack leftovers into containers.”
I gave her a grin that I knew was huge and goofy. My heart seemed to skip a few beats at the idea of having some freedom in a kitchen again with plenty of ingredients to choose from. “I’d love to.”
She nodded her head once. “It’s a date then.”
“She only dates me,” Jonas barked from the other room.
Cassie rolled her eyes. “You better get going, dear. I’ll see you later.”
“Bye.” I waved on my way out the kitchen.
Jonas was waiting by the door with my bag over his shoulder. When we arrived at the Jeep, Brody was waiting, leaning against it.
He came around the car the moment he heard us. He smirked. “How was the love birds’ first night together?”
Jonas glared at him. “Don’t push it.”
Brody burst into a fit of laughter. “You know I’m going to.”
I climbed into the back seat, not wanting to be caught in the middle of their duel.
The drive to Mrs. Martha’s coffee shop was filled with banter between the guys. They were quite amusing together. I found myself chuckling a time or two, which typically irritated one of the two of them because I was laughing at a taunt the other one threw.
Brody opened my door when we got to the coffee house and Jonas opened the shop door. A girl could definitely get used to this sort of royal treatment.
The moment Mrs. Martha saw me, she struggled to hide her grin. I stepped up to the counter and she immediately laid into me. “I told you so.”
“I don’t even get a good morning?”
“Good morning. I told you so.”
I felt myself blush. “Yes, you did.”
Jonas leaned into me. “Do I even want to know what she told you?”
“No.” I met Martha’s gaze. Her eyes sparkled. She was happy for me.
“What can I get you guys this morning?” she asked.
After we ordered, she called me around behind the counter. In a low voice she broached the subject. “Wilbur told me you stopped by yesterday morning. He said you looked panicked. Is everything alright, sweetie?”
For once I could give her a positive answer. “It is now.”
She nodded in understanding. “I told him the truth. If you ever stop by again, he’s going to insist that you come inside.”
“Thanks, Mrs. Martha. For everything.”
“Oh, sweetie. You talk like someone’s going to put me in the ground tomorrow.” She frowned.
“Sorry.”
“Between you and me, you wrangled a damn fine man from what I can tell. If I was twenty… okay, perhaps thirty years younger, I would bed him.”
“Mrs. Martha!” I cried in a hushed whisper.
“Shh.” She winked.
If she only knew how great their hearing was.
I poked my head around the machines and snuck a peek at the guys. They were snickering. Jonas met my gaze, a goofy grin on his face.
I turned back around to find Mrs. Martha watching me like a hawk. “I see you two already have the secret communication step down pat. Tell your fellow your order’s on the counter.”
“Thanks.”
“Uh huh.” She cracked a smile as she started wiping down the counters.
When I returned to the table, Brody was still struggling to contain his laughter. “I love her. Ah, man. She’s awesome, and apparently has sized up Mr. Alpha over here.”
“Stop your cackling, Brody. Jonas has the ability to make your life hell. I’d keep that in mind if I were you.”
Brody instantly sobered. “Talk about harsh, Aura.”
“Looks like my mate is bold and beautiful.” Jonas beamed.
“Likewise.” I smiled.
~*~
~~*~~
~*~
Dear Reader,
I hope you enjoyed Jonas and Aura’s story.
For more information on the Future Alphas series, and my other titles, please visit: www.christinlovell.com
Thank you for picking up this book.
Christin
Bold & Beautiful Page 8