Chapter Ten

Jonah

It kills me to leave her alone in our room, to stand in the kitchen listening to her move around and run the tub. What really breaks me is what she is feeling. Now that I have bonded with her, left my mark on her skin, I can feel some of her emotions. Because our bond is still fresh, it will take time to settle completely. At some point, our bond will allow me to hear her thoughts and if I'm lucky maybe even more.

Right now, she is going through emotions like flipping the page in a magazine. Anger, fear, revulsion, self-hate, lust, and eventually acceptance. It tears at my heart that she is going through all of this alone, but it is one of the few things I can't do for her. She will have to work through this stuff in her own time. If I pressure her or push, she could shut down completely, and then the life I dream of having with he r— of giving he r— will be long gone.

She appears from the hallway, wearing one of my old Navy t-shirts, the faded blue material engulfing her form and hanging all the way down to her knees. She is such a tiny thing that all her curves are hidden but I know they are there.

"Hey," she says, staring at me.

"Hey," I reply, feeling stupid. "I made dinner."

I gesture to a seat before making her a plate. "It's the only thing I can make besides pancakes, so I hope you like spaghetti Bolognese."

"I'll let you know after I taste it."

She doesn't look at me, but she does eat the food. It fills me with pride when a little moan leaves her. Being able to take care of her after what happened in the woods makes me feel a little better.

"What now?" she asks after taking a sip of water.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, what happens next? Are you going to keep your promise or was that only a means to an end?"

I stare at her in disbelief.

"Come here," I demand.

Autumn stares at me for a moment before leaving her seat and walking around the table. I push my chair back to make space for her, allowing her to stand between my spread thighs. She stares at the floor using her hair as a curtain to shield her eyes from me.

"Look at me," I say, my voice barely above a whisper. I wait for long moments until she complies before continuing. "You and I need to clear the air. Yes, I'm an asshole. Yes, I took what I wanted. But I also promised to be honest with you and if you can tell me one time I lied, I will take you down to Town Hall tomorrow to end this union."

Her jaw drops but she remains silent.

"Now, I would like to spend more time with you before you go off to college. I know the semester is halfway through so I was hoping we could register you for next semester. You'll have to work hard to catch up on what you missed but I know you can do it."

Her eyes brim with tears. "Really?"

"Baby girl…" I pull her down on my lap so that she straddles me. It's not a sexual thing, I just want to hold her. "I made you a promise. And if I can't keep the first promise I make my wife, what does that say about the future?"

I pull her against my chest and hold her while she cries. I have no idea why this is such a big deal to her, but I will find out, eventually. For now, all she needs from me is support while she finds herself in this new landscape.

****

Autumn

I cried for long minutes. But they aren't tears of sadness. I'm happy. To finally have someone in my life who will keep a promise is more than I could have ever asked for. It was like a dam broke inside me and I quite simply couldn't hold back the tears.

"Feel better?" Jonah asks, stroking my hair away from my face when I look at him.

"Yes. I'm sorry about all the tears and dramatics. I'm not usually this emotional," I explain.

"You can be whatever you want. If you want to cry, cry. If you want to laugh, laugh. Just don't hide from me. I want to know what's going on so I can fix any problems before it's too late. The past twenty-four hours have been a lot to process."

I nod eagerly, happy to have an open channel of communication with the man I married and am supposed to spend the rest of my life with. I watch his gaze lower to my breasts before returning to my face. He doesn't even care that I caught him ogling me.

"Did you know yesterday was my birthday?" I ask.

"Yes, baby girl. I did know," he replies with a smirk. "I had to wait until you were twenty-one."

"Wait for what?" I am confused.

"To get you alone so I could convince you to choose me. The Sanctuary and the omega auction just gave me the perfect opportunity, but I was coming for you regardless."

My eyes must be the size of saucers, my shock clear for him to see.

"Why? Why would you want to marry me? I'm not special. Hell, I'm not even experienced with sex and stuff."

Jonah shakes his head. "Not all men want experience and I love that no other man has ever touched or tasted you before me. I can teach you what I like, and that isn't important to me. The moment I laid eyes on you I fell, hard. You made me feel something after years of being dead inside. I just wanted to be near you," he explains. "But your father wouldn't allow it. Even when I went to him after a few months and asked, begged, for his permission to marry you, he said no. So, I had to make another plan."

"What would you have done if I didn't want to marry you?" I ask, wanting to know his answer.

"It never crossed my mind," he admits. "I thought if I felt this pull, you had to feel it too."

His answer warms my heart for some unknown reason. He was so sure we belonged together that he never contemplated anything else. I take in his frown lines, the salt-and-pepper hair, and near white, neatly trimmed beard.

"How old are you, Jonah?"

"Does it matter?"

"No," I reply honestly. "But it's something basic I should know about my husband."

He studies my face, taking in every detail before he answers. "Forty-seven."

That's a year older than my father. I knew he was older than me, but I didn't think it was that much. Not that it matters. I meant what I said.

"I've never been a wife. I've never even had a boyfriend," I say, breaking the silence. "You'll have to guide me through this in the beginning."