2. Jasper

CHAPTER TWO

JASPER

I leaned back, stretching out over my desk chair. I had been sitting here for hours, finishing up charts.

As I looked back, I noticed Hawthorne was standing there, his arms crossed over his chest, making his large, sexy arms bulge even more.

I smirked at him. "Hey, handsome," I said playfully. "What are you doing here?"

He walked over, laying an upside-down chaste kiss on my lips. His long beard tickled my nose, making me huff a laugh.

"I wrapped up all my meetings early," he said, moving to lean against my desk. "Leo promised short ribs tonight, and I wasn't going to miss that. I figured you wouldn't want to either."

Looking out the window, I noticed dark clouds hovering in the sky, looking ready to open any minute. I hadn't left this room once today, which was made clear with how my stomach rumbled loudly.

"Jas," Hawthorne scolded. Apparently, he heard my stomach too. "You can't coop yourself up in here all day."

I sighed, shutting my laptop and gathering my papers. This was a conversation we had often, but I knew he was right. "I know. We're just a bit short-staffed. And?—"

Hawthorne gathered me into his arms, his warm, hot body surrounding me, making me feel relaxed. I wasn't sure how our pack alpha, who was wound up with everyone's problems all the time, could exude such a relaxed aura, but he always did.

"You'll figure it out," he promised. "But not on an empty stomach. I'm sure dinner's almost done."

"I hope so," I said as we made our way out of the clinic back to our home. Many people waved in our direction and paid respect to our alpha. Since I entered a relationship with the pack alpha, people have been a bit weird. And it wasn't just me, but to Leo too. It was always some mix of fear to cross us, worry about what we would tell Hawthorne, and irritation that we were chosen.

When we got home, I could smell the braised meat and something buttery I hoped were rolls. We stepped into the kitchen just as Leo was pulling the bread out of the oven. He had his blue apron on, the one that drove me absolutely wild. His hair was up in a bun, oven mitts over his hands that were made to look like paws.

He smiled when he saw us, setting the rolls aside before jumping into Hawthorne's waiting arms. Their kiss was drawn out and passionate, making my cock twitch in my pants. "Glad you didn't get caught in the rain," he said as he slid back to his feet.

"Yeah, I got us home early," Hawthorne said.

I didn't even know it was supposed to rain. I smiled at how considerate he was. He probably knew I'd be so deep in my work I would forget, and I didn't bring my car that morning, so walking home would have been a nightmare.

Though he'd always been so considerate. The three of us had been close for a long time. My parents moved to the Enski Pack when I was in primary school in the middle of the year no less. I felt like I was an outsider, but Leo quickly made an introduction, insisting we'd be fast friends.

At the time, Hawthorne scared the crap out of me. He was larger than everyone else due to being an alpha, and almost loomed over Leo, like his protector. I thought he didn't want me near either of them, but after a while, I realized he was just quiet and a bit stoic.

The first day I realized was when I left my lunch at home. Leo was home sick so I planned to just sit in the classroom during lunch to wait it out, when Hawthorne appeared next to me. He didn't say anything, just sat at the desk next to mine and gave me half of his lunch. We ate in silence that day, but from then on I understood.

After that the three of us became best friends. It wasn't until high school I realized I developed feelings, and not for one of them, but both of them. I didn't know what I was going to do. We were friends, and I couldn't ruin our friendship.

"I noticed you didn't take the lunch I left you in the fridge," Leo accused, pulling me from my memories. "I'm gonna have to stop by your office if you keep doing that."

I sighed, pulling him into my arms. "I know, I'm sorry. I'll be better at remembering." I knew I needed to be better for them, and I would.

He caressed my cheek, and I leaned into him, his warmth seeping into my skin. "You better," he chided playfully.

"Oh!" we heard from the other side of the kitchen.

Leo turned as we both watched Hawthorne blow on his fingers, the hot roll tumbling to the floor.

I laughed while Leo gasped. "I just took those out!" Leo scolded. "Let them cool down." He hovered around Hawthorne like a worried mother hen.

"But I'm hungry," Hawthorne whined. "And your rolls are the best."

Leo melted, easily letting go of his anger. "I tried a new kneading method that is supposed to make them fluffier."

"I can't wait to try them."

Leo took his apron off and grabbed the salad he'd made while I got out the plates and silverware. Hawthorne grabbed a carving knife and started slicing the ribs. The juicy meat made my mouth water.

Soon, we were all at the table together scarfing the meal down. "This is amazing," I told Leo earnestly.

He flushed and thanked me. I was sure to note the hard work he did. Leo went to college for accounting and then realized he hated it. It took some convincing, but we got him to agree not to take the first job he could find and wait until he found a passion.

When he first started staying home, he would insist that not having a job was unacceptable, that he wasn't contributing enough, but we were finally able to get him to see how much effort he put in and how much the work he was doing meant to us. Relationships weren't only about the money anyone was bringing in, there was more work than that, and Leo contributed heavily at home.

That also gave him a chance to work on his other things. He'd always loved to bake, and when he finally had the time and space, he started making small batch things for events around the pack. I loved when he had orders, because he always made us a little extra or tested his new recipes on us.

I looked to Hawthorne, who was pulling apart a flaky roll and spreading butter over it. "How was your day?" I asked.

"Fine," he said easily. "Lots of meetings with other pack leaders. The usual. What about you?"

"Good," I said. "Busy, as always. I fought with Mira about getting some new equipment we need, but she guards every penny." Mira was the clinic's financial manager. I understood that was her job, but it didn't make it any less frustrating.

We finished dinner, and Hawthorne and I cleaned up the dishes while Leo scooped cookie dough onto a baking sheet. He'd made cookie dough earlier but wanted to wait until we got home to make them, so they'd be hot.

"I'm going to grab some wood from outside," Hawthorne said as he slid his Timbs on. The air was beginning to get crisp as fall quickly approached, and Leo loved the fire crackling when the weather was cool.

I was in the middle of dishes when I heard a gasp, then a phone clatter to the floor.

"What?" I said, rushing over, flinging my wet, soapy hands.

He looked at his phone as if it'd bit him. "What?" I repeated.

Leo picked the device up gently and turned it back to me. I was glad to see that the screen wasn't shattered, but my eyes also went wide at the image.

The little K logo had a notification ping titled Match . It was as if I stopped breathing.

The whole thing felt a bit silly. Hawthorne had been dealing with the elders trying to find his mate for a long time. Every shifter had a mate, and having an alpha with their mate made the pack even stronger in the eyes of others. One of them called a mage that told us about some phone app that was meant to show your fated mate. She insisted it was some kind of magic and would work guaranteed. We all told her it was impossible. I had heard of two people sharing a mate at times, but three? It didn't seem possible. Still, she insisted that if we put all our names and all our photos, the app would only show us a match made for all three of us.

I was skeptical to say the least, as was Hawthorne, but Leo was hopeful, so we tried it. We downloaded it, and after completing a profile, it sat idle, saying, ‘waiting for match' for months.

But it had apparently found one. I still felt skeptical. I'd never heard of technology infused with magic outside of very few medicines. It felt like a scam. But when Leo opened the notification and the profile popped up, I almost swallowed my tongue.

There was a photo of the hottest woman I'd ever seen. She had long, dark, strawberry-blonde hair and deep almost golden eyes. Her body was curvy, and she wore a white blazer with tanned pants that hugged her in just the right way. She didn't have any other photos, but the one was enough. I wouldn't be able to know she was my mate until we met, but I sure hoped she was.

I pressed against Leo's back, my now-hard cock digging into him. He leaned back, rubbing against me.

"You think she's hot?" I asked him, trailing my nose up the side of his neck.

He growled low, the sound going straight to my cock. "Do you think she's really ours?" he asked.

I looked at her. "I don't know, but I hope so."

"Hope what?" Hawthorne's deep baritone asked from the mudroom.

We exchanged a glance, unsure of what to tell him. Though he hadn't been against the app, he had been the most uninterested, insisting we were fine how we were.

"We, uh," Leo started.

Hawthorne brought the wood to the stove before joining us back in the kitchen. His hair was wind-blown, and he smelled of fresh-cut wood.

"You what?" he asked, brows drawn in confusion.

Leo didn't say anything, he just turned the phone.

Hawthorne took it, confused at first until understanding seemed to dawn on him. His face didn't change, no signs of interest or disgust.

"Do you think it's true?" he asked, handing the phone back.

"I'm not sure," I said. "Maybe we can talk to her a bit and see where it goes."

"I like that idea," Leo said in a sultry tone.

Hawthorne landed a hard smack on his ass, making him yelp. "I'm sure you would," he said. "Fine. I'll agree to that."

I smiled. "So, what do we say first?"