Page 18 of The Return
In truth, I wondered that myself. Most people wouldn’t have issue with money coming back in and all their debts being paid off. Unfortunately for Jonas, I wasn’t most people.
“You don’t get it at all, do you?” I went into the kitchen and poured a cup of LifeBoost coffee. I didn’t bother to offer him anything. “I worked my ass off. I went to college, got a degree, came back here, and opened my shop. IthoughtI’d made it successful. IbelievedI’d made something to be proud of. Now you’re telling me that everything I did, the endless search for money to afford school, all the late nights of studying, the—”
I stared at him as he looked everywhere but at me.
“Jonas, where did the money for my scholarship come from?”
He fidgeted, like he did when we were younger. It was a tic of his that told me he had an uncomfortable truth and was afraid of my reaction.
“Look, I—we—wanted….” His voice softened.
“What did you do?” I demanded.
He blew out a breath. “No one was going to give a scholarship to a C+ student. I knew how amazingly bright you were and that school wasn’t your place to shine. Still, you wanted it, so I went to my dad and we made it happen. That’s all.”
My life was a lie. Pretty much every fucking moment of it.
“I don’t believe you. You hid part of yourself from me our whole lives, then you got taken away—and I do understand why—only to go ahead and do stuff behind my back.”
“I couldn’t come here to talk about it!” he ranted. “My dad couldn’t very well stop by to chat, because when he got home, he’d have your scent on him and my wolf would go nuts. It’s my job to take care of you, and if that’s a problem, then we’re going to have to deal with it, because I will never,everapologize for taking care of my mate.” He crowded me into the corner, then reached out and cupped my chin. He tilted my head back so I had to look up at him. “Is this going to be a problem?”
Who had their dreams given to them? And what kind of idiot questioned that?
“I’m not signing the papers,” I told him, doing my best to inject some forcefulness into my voice. “I’ll do what you need done, but knowing what I do, I can’t think that every aspect of my life is based on something you’ve done. I just can’t.”
“Look, now that I’m back, I have to call a pack meeting. My dad will be stepping down, and I will become the official Alpha of the tri-county area. I want you to come. See what the people think about you, about your shop. You’re going to see that it had nothing to do with me. I gave you a hand, but you made your business what it is with grit and determination. I swear to you, everything you’ve accomplished has been based solely on your talent and way with people. Okay? Say you’ll come with me.”
Did I have a choice? I was being a salty brat, and I knew it, but finding out that what you thought was your success was due to someone else stung.
“Yeah, I’ll come.”
“Good.” He tweaked my nose. “We should get ready.”
“For?”
“I’ll contact the bank and ask them to postpone our appointment until I call them. Then I’ve got to send out a pack text message so everyone knows there’s a meeting tonight.”
“And they’re going to come? Just like that?”
He gave a grin. “When your Alpha barks, you obey.”
I patted his chest. “Keep dreaming, Fido.”
But I still went to change. The bastard.
CHAPTER6
JONAS
I stoodand stared at Corey’s ass, swaying gently as he went toward the bedroom. There was no doubt. My mate was a beautiful fucking man. To distract myself—and keep from going into the bedroom and watching him strip—I dressed, then made my calls and sent out the text. I’d have to add Corey to our list, so he’d know exactly what we said. I didn’t want him thinking I told people what to do.
It amazed me how Dad kept such a handle on things. He juggled our home life, the pack, and his own business, though you rarely saw him sweat. So far, I’d been back a few days, and within a couple hours of seeing him again, I was already in deep shit with my mate.
I wasn’t exactly sure how to explain to Corey what it was like, being a werewolf with a mate and the imperative to do whatever it took to keep them safe and make them happy. How could he understand the drive within me to ensure his brow never furrowed with sadness, that any anger was something to be shared with me, so I could remove it.
“Is this a formal thing?” he called from the bedroom.
“No, we don’t really do formal often.” Though there was one thing we needed to discuss, and it was vital. “Can I come in?”
