Page 203 of Alpha Mates

Animals.

And yet, I’d felt partially responsible since, with all that had been going on, we hadn’t given them time alone with each other. Of course they’d be making up for lost time when they finally came face to face.

That’s why Julian and I already agreed to give them every weekend from now on. Do whatever the hell they want. But they were on our shit list for now, so they didn’t need to know that.

“I’m going to shower and then we can head out,” I say, catching Julian’s hands in mine. “And it’s really important that you join me.”

A sly smile spreads across his lips. “Oh yeah?”

“Mhm,” I hum, kissing his knuckles. “That way I can make sure you’re squeaky clean.”

Julian throws his head back with laughter, and I pull him after me.

“Is this our thing now? Blindfolds?”

I glance down at the familiar black cloth in my hands and shrug.

“Apparently.” I dangle it, and with a sigh, Julian turns so I can tie it over his eyes. Once it’s secure, I lean in close. “Next time, I’ll use it in bed.”

A shudder runs through him, and I grin as I take his hands. He takes baby steps, walking like a newborn fawn even though the road’s flat.

“Come on, Jewels,” I prompt. “I was going uphill and I went faster than this.”

“Well, it’s a lot harder than it seems to be on this side of it,” he shoots back, taking another hesitant step.

“Alright, how about a distraction?” I tug him forward, forcing him to match my pace. “We still don’t know what happened to Ramon and Jessica.”

“Oh yes!” he cheers, head snapping up. “Let’s do that!”

“Where did we stop? Something with a fire?”

“Ramon tried to kill her by burning down the house, but she escaped, and that’s where we left it,” Julian recalls instantly.

My brows lift. “You really liked it, huh?”

He nods fast. “Yes, I did, and I hate cliffhangers, so let’s get back to it. You start.”

I chuckle as he walks after me, too invested now to worry about tripping.

And then one night, while Ramon was sleeping with one of his favourite rhinoceroses in the house he bought off the black market. Jessica snuck in and kidnapped Ramon. When he woke up, he was in a warehouse filled with candle wax.

“Wait a second, wax?” I pause while Julian bursts out laughing. He’s beautiful in the early evening light, even more when he’s happy.

“Yes, wax,” he insists, “now continue!”

Jessica forced Ramon to eat all the candle wax before drowning him in a bucket of hot candle wax that killed him. When she went to the new home, the rhinos were mad ’cause they couldn’t find Ramon.

“Where’s my Ramon?!” one rhino said.

“They talk?” Julian chokes between giggles.

“Accept it,” I reply, and snorting, Julian does.

Jessica tried to ignore them, acting like she didn’t know. But they could smell a lying skank as well as the rest of us. They cornered her in the basement and as they all took turns shitting on her, the younger siblings came in suddenly, bursting into the room t—

“We’re here.”

“But it was getting good!” Julian groans, his brows scrunching above the blindfold.