Page 54 of The Return
Then I noticed my stomach had his hair on it, matted in the cum from last night. The memories came back, and my ass twinged, but at the same time, I wanted him again. “Jonas, I—”
The ringing phone cut me off. Jonas winced when I got up to get it, and then his started to ring.
“Fuck. Well, won’t have to worry about shaving it,” he muttered.
We answered at the same time. Mine was Doug, and what he said made my blood run cold.
“Corey? Oh, Corey, it’s awful.”
“What’s wrong?” I asked. “Are you hurt?”
“No, not me, but…. Corey, the coffee shop is on fire. DD was inside.”
I sat back on the bed, his words echoing in my head. At the same time, Jonas was barking orders, but his words were nearly indistinct. “…sure everyone is out. Clear the area around the building, and keep the pack away so the firefighters… … I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.” He threw his phone onto the nightstand, then grabbed his clothes and hurried into the bathroom. “Core, we have to go.”
I sat there staring at my phone. Doug’s voice seemed to come from far away as he called my name. My shop was on fire. DD had been inside. I couldn’t process it, and I think my brain shut down.
When Jonas came out, he put his hands on my shoulders. “We need to move,” he said, shaking me. “Kinsey!”
A few moments later, the bedroom door opened. “What’s wrong?”
I’m sure Jonas was explaining it to him. I still sat there, staring at my phone. Years of my life, up in smoke, and my friend hurt in the fire. I couldn’t help the hysterical laughter that burst from me. Up in smoke. That was funny. Arms surrounded me, and that brought me out of my stupor. Jonas was there, pulling me to him.
“I’m sorry, baby. I wish we had time to grieve, but we need to get down there.”
I jerked away from him. “For what?” I screamed. “To watch my life as it crashes to the ground?”
“No! Look, I know this is devastating, and I’m sorry, but you’re the Alpha Mate. You need to put aside your problems and focus on the pack right now.”
“Fuck the pack!”
Jonas’s eyes went wide. “You don’t mean that.”
“The hell I don’t. That place was my life. It held me together when you were gone. It gave me purpose. Now that’s all nothing but ash.”
“And what about your pack mates?” Jonas snarled. “What about DD, who got burned trying to put out the fire by herself? Fuck her too?”
That brought me up short. I was so lost in my problems, I forgot she’d been there. “Is she okay? Doug didn’t know for sure.”
“She breathed in a lot of smoke, and she has first- and second-degree burns on sixty percent of her body.”
“But she’ll be okay, right? She can heal. That’s what you said.” I needed Jonas to tell me something—anything—good, because right now, I was at the end of my very short rope.
“Wolves are tougher than humans. We heal faster, which will help, but she’s still going to be in a lot of pain”
Here I was, worrying about a building, when my friend—my pack—was hurting too, because she’d tried to save something of brick and mortar. Something that could be rebuilt. If she’d died, there was no coming back from that.
“I’m sorry,” I rasped out. “Let me get dressed.”
“Kinsey is getting Matt ready, and he’ll bring the car to the front. I truly am sorry about the shop, Core.”
“No. I’m the one who should be sorry. I put my feelings and what was hurting me ahead of actual human lives. I was being selfish.”
“You have every right,” Jonas said, squeezing my shoulder. “But we need to focus on the welfare of our people first and foremost. We’ll worry about rebuilding later.”
A knock at the door, and it opened slowly. “Car is ready,” Kinsey said.
Jonas took my hand and led me outside, where Matt sat biting his nails. Kinsey opened the door, and Jonas helped me in, then closed it behind me.
