He Will Be Mine (New Horizon Book 1)

Her Two Mates IV: Matt

Mr. Bentley walks with me for quite some time after he tells me the news, remaining quiet unless I say something first. I’m not sure how long we’re out there, but I appreciate him so much for supporting me through it. He’s right. This is my therapy. This has always been how I figure things out and deal with overwhelming feelings.

He seems to enjoy the walk too. I don’t get the sense that he’s getting impatient with me, although at some point I do start to worry that I’m keeping him from whatever else he was supposed to be doing today. It isn’t until I hear his stomach grumbling that I realize we must have been out here for quite a long time.

Still, he says nothing. No complaints, no hurry. I am so grateful for his comforting presence, and I see where Aly gets a lot of her traits. It does feel a bit like walking through the nature park with her the many times I’ve had something on my mind, and she would come and keep me company while I sorted it out.

I don’t want him to go hungry, though. Come to think of it, I haven’t eaten in a while, either.

“Maybe we should head back and get something to eat,” I suggest.

He smiles at me, pausing to look me over, and then agrees. “Let’s see what Henny has waiting for us in the kitchen. She knew Aly’s mates were coming, so she probably cooked up something special.”

“Wait, does everyone know?” I ask, wondering what people think of the idea of someone with two mates.

“No, not what I told you. Henny does know that you’re her mate and Tyler wants to be her mate. She’s been calling you both Aly’s mates since before Thanksgiving. But most people know little more than that the two of you are people she knows from school. My warriors probably suspect that Tyler completed the trials, though.”

I get the impression that Henny is the cook or housekeeper or something like that, and that she must be pretty close with the family for her to have inside knowledge no one else has. I could ask, but it is too deeply ingrained of a habit for me to just hold on to information and wait to see if I can answer my own question before I ever speak it out loud. I hate asking questions that make me seem stupid.

The comment about the warriors I am tempted to ask about, though. I wonder what exactly it means to be a werewolf warrior. Do they have athletic competitions they train for? Or maybe he means it more in terms of soldiers in some sort of pack militia or something. Either way, I’m betting those are the guys Tyler was training with, and I’m betting they will take one look at how out of shape I am and wonder what in the heck their future Alpha is even thinking hanging out with me.

I ask about neither, though. I just follow along after him as he leads me back to the house, where the lively, cuddly force of nature that is Henny does indeed have something that smells incredible waiting for us. We missed dinner, apparently, so hardly anyone is around when we get there. Henny tells me that Tyler and Aly went upstairs to her room, so I eat my meatloaf as quickly as I can so I can head up there and join them.

Mr. Bentley shakes my hand and pats me on the side of the shoulder a couple of times before we part ways. He’s off to do whatever an Alpha does and I’m off to find my friends. Er, my mate? And her other mate? It’s so strange to think about, but I’m coming around to the idea.

I realized at some point during my walk that the way Aly, Tyler, and I have been the past weeks is basically already there. We share time with her and do a lot of things together. We share a bed, more often than not, and more and more she’s been acting the same way toward me as she does him. It’s so naturally comfortable that none of us even really thought about what it meant.

Besides, her dad made it seem like I don’t have to commit to anything right now, which is good. I’m still dealing with my feelings over the breakup with Jess and not quite ready for a new relationship, especially not one that is so different from what I’m used to. I will be, eventually, and a growing part of me is honestly pretty excited about it. But for now, I just want what Aly promised earlier. Nothing changes.

When I make it back up to Aly’s room, I hear giggling and Tyler’s voice saying something too quietly for me to hear from outside the door. It immediately brings a smile to my face hearing them having such fun together. I debate whether I should knock, but then a rare streak of boldness courses through me. Screw it, as Aly would say. This is my mate’s room, and I belong here. I don’t need to knock.

I open the door and see that they’re on her bed and Tyler is on top of her, straddling her and holding her arms pinned above her head with one hand while tickling her with the other. They don’t even notice me at first, not until I make my way over to the bed and join in. I laugh when Aly finally realizes that Tyler did not somehow grow three hands, looking at me with wonder when she realizes that it’s me holding her arms now while he tickles her freely with both hands.

“Hey, no fair!” she protests, still smiling and giggling. “Now I’m outnumbered!”

“Not that it matters. You were always outmatched,” Tyler teases her.

“Don’t make me embarrass you, Jenkins. I’ve been holding back,” Aly confesses with a smirk, which seems to sober him slightly.

“Werewolves,” he sighs, rolling his eyes and dismounting her.

I let go of her hands because it looks like playtime is over. He positions himself on the far side of the bed on his side, pulling her closer to him and making room for me to join on her other side. I swing my legs up onto the bed and settle in next to her, laying my head on her shoulder.

“You were gone a long time with my dad,” she says softly. “I was starting to worry.”

“Mmhmm,” I agree, wondering the best way to tell her about what I was doing all that time. “I was fine, though. We stayed out so long because I wanted to. He took me on a walk after he finished giving me a tour, and he just stayed with me while I thought about stuff and cleared my head. He’s a good guy. Not at all what I pictured.”

“Oh,” she sounds surprised. “I’m so glad to hear that. Shocked, to be honest, but also not. Most of the time, I go to my mom when I have something on my mind, but when it’s something I don’t even have words for, my dad is the best choice. He knows what it’s like to need to walk it out or get it out through your body sometimes.”

“Did it help?” Tyler asks.

“Yeah, I feel a lot less strung out,” I answer, realizing it just now.

Then we all get quiet for a few moments. I feel Aly bring a hand up to play with my hair and I close my eyes to just enjoy it. I love when she does that.

It occurs to me that I should tell her what her dad and I talked about so that I can talk to them about it now.

“Hey,” I say softly, practically whispering. “About what your dad told you earlier. He told me already, I just want you to know.”

I feel the hand in my hair freeze in place, and then she tightens her hold. She tugs on my hair to pull my head back so she can look at my face, and a strange sensation surges through me. She’s being gentle, but rough, and I realize I kind of like it. I like it in a sexy way. I never would have guessed that.

Another shiver of excitement rushes through me when I realize that I’m available now. I don’t have to fight my attraction to Aly anymore. I could have a s****l relationship with her. I don’t know that I’m ready yet, but the possibility excites me.

The intense look she is giving me doesn’t help with that. I can feel so much heat passing between us in this moment. God, I want her. She’s saying something to me, but I can’t pay attention to anything but how sensual her lips are and how inviting they look. I want to kiss her, and start to lean forward toward her lips, but she’s holding me back by the hair and the intensifying tug stops me, a moan escaping from my throat in response.

I snap back to reality when I realize she’s laughing, though.

“What?” I ask, still a bit dazed.

She giggles a little and then explains, “Well, I think you've missed a lot of what I said, but most importantly, I asked you what you think about that news.”

I hear her this time, but she smirks and tugs my hair again. I can’t seem to get control of my words, just stammering out an incomprehensible response.

“I think you’re going to have to let go of his hair if you want a real answer,” Tyler says, pretty obviously amused by me.

I guess he can tell that her pulling my hair turns me on. I feel my cheeks flush, and when she relaxes her grip on me, I duck my head and tuck my face into her neck. So embarrassing.

“Sorry,” I apologize softly.

“Nah, dude, you’re good. We all have our things,” Tyler says to console me.

“I, uh, what I think,” I start to try to answer her again, but pause to take a breath and get a grip on myself. “I think we’ve already been doing it for a while without thinking about it. Sharing you, I mean. I’m not a hundred percent ready to dive into anything yet, but I’m not opposed to it. I like what you said earlier, that even with all the new information, nothing changes. I think that’s what I want for now, to just keep doing what we have been.”

“Okay, I can do that,” she agrees, although I might detect a hint of disappointment in her tone. “Just let me know when you’re ready for more. I’ll follow your lead.”

“But how do you feel about me being involved though?” Tyler asks. “If I am a hundred percent ready to dive in, is that okay? Or do you want me to wait?”

I look over at him, considering. Really what he is asking for is how it already has been. He and Aly are already very touchy feely and cuddly, they kiss and make out, and I’ve been fine with it so far. There was a moment earlier today when I started to get excited about having her all to myself if she chose me over him, but that celebration was overshadowed by the feeling I got when I thought about how that would devastate him.

I honestly would rather share her than break his heart. A thought does cross my mind that if he is the only one relating to her in that way then she could fall for him and not want me anymore, but she’s been with him for months and so far, that hasn’t happened. I push it out of my mind and decide not to be selfish for once.

“I think I’m okay with that,” I tell him after a few moments have passed. “I’ll let you know if that changes.”

He grins at me, nodding. “Alright then,” he remarks, and I can tell he is excited that I gave him the green light.

“Yeah, that’s going to be key here,” Aly says, looking first at me and then at him. “I think we need to make a promise not to hide or bury our feelings. We have to bring up the things that bother us. We need to communicate and figure out, together, what is okay and what isn’t. No mate left behind.”

She holds her fist out and Tyler brings his up to bump it, so I follow his lead and bump my fist with hers. Then he holds his out to me, so I bump his too. It makes me laugh because it feels kind of silly, but I’m already feeling loads better about it all. It feels like this could really work and be good for us.

It hits me then that as much as I’ve been worrying about how to wrap my head around all this and whether I’ll be able to handle it, being with Aly while she has been with Tyler has always been easier and less stressful than being in my “normal” relationship with Jessica. That involved a lot of work and so much stressing over how to make her happy, but I’ve never felt that with Aly. I think this is my new normal, a better normal.

With that thought in mind, I’m finally able to relax again. We spend the rest of the evening just hanging out together, talking about werewolves and discussing ideas for the future. Aly tells us that though she wants us both as her mates, there is a chance that the Elders her dad told me about won’t approve of our relationship if she is to become Alpha. She also says she doesn’t care because the pack will be taken care of whether it is her who takes over or her cousin.

I can tell that she would be upset about it, though, even if she claims not to care. I realize that as much as I’m anxious about how being with her might change my future plans, it’s not like I’m alone in that. Tyler has plans, too, and so does Aly. We might all have to make some sacrifices if this is the path we decide to take.

But then I think of the hours I spent just walking through the woods, and how connected I was starting to feel to this place. I think of how lying next to Aly always feels, and the way being around her and Tyler has been bringing me out of that dark place I was starting to dwell in after Jess, and I realize that I’ve already accepted it. This place is starting to feel like home, and she is mine (well, ours), and I need to just trust that we’ll find a way to make it all work.