My Not Yet Mate

Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Jo’s Empathy

She lifted her hips and his fingers slipped in deeper. He chuckled into her bare shoulder.

“Thought you were sleeping,” Ethan teased her.

“I’m trying to, dickhead,” she moaned,

He rolled over on top of her, pressing his lips to hers. He kissed down her neck.

“Come on, baby. It’ll take a minute. You know you want to.”

She rolled him over to grin down at him. “Maybe if it took two, I’d be more inclined to stay.”

He grabbed her around the throat and flipped her back over. She glared up at him as he ground against her.

“Your alarms haven’t even gone off.”

As if on cue, said alarm went off. Jo hooked her legs through his and tossed him off the bed. She hopped up as he climbed back into the bed from the Пloor. Her eyes followed the movement of his hand as he started stroking his hard dick. She licked her lips.

“Too bad I have to go to see Sasha with a hard on,” he said.

Her eyes shot up to his and a growl escaped, before she smiled. “Go for it.“.

She walked over to the dresser and began to hum as she pulled out booty shorts and a sports bra. She put it on and bent down to put her shoes on.

“Mind if I go to breakfast with that sexy guard at Lily’s school? No? I didn’t think so.”

He bared his teeth at her. “You’re trying to get him killed, aren’t you?”

“Well, you were trying to make me jealous. Two can play that game, asshole.”

“You’re evil. He’d be more than happy to take you on a date.”

“That’s the point isn’t it?”

“Touche, woman.”

She smirked and pulled jeans and a casual dress shirt on. She sauntered over to the bed, making her hips sway more seductively. His eyes darkened with desire as he watched her. She leaned towards his face and when he went to kiss her, she switched directions to lick the precum off of his tip. He groaned. She let her mouth slide all the way down his length and her tongue licked his balls. She pulled off and straightened up.

“I’ll see you la

later,” she

told his throbbing cock.

She turned around to walk away when a pillow hit her in the back of the head.

“You fucking tease,” he yelled.

She laughed and stepped out of the room. She hurried down to Lukas’s office where he had spent everyday waiting for a call from Lily. He raised his head to look at her miserably. She sighed silently. She hated that this all had taken such a toll on her best friend. His eyes were sunken in and had deep bags under them. His nightly stubble had grown into a full on goatee and beard. He stank from not showering for a week. His eyes were red and puffy, telling her that another night had

gone by with him in tears. His right hand was doing the same thing it had been doing for the last week.

Every

Writing her name over and over again. Lily. Lily. Lily, Lily. Paper upon paper littered the ground. All of them were full of her name. She was in his thought and every dream he had, she knew was of Lily. They didn’t understand why she had pulled away. He hadn’t told her much except that she told him she didn’t want to see him anymore and that she hated him. Jo opened a window, before turning back to him.

“Bro, you need a Goddess damned shower.”

Chapter 18: Jo’s Empathy

“What’s the point, jo?”

His voice was hoarse and broken. She sighed. Not only had he spent another night crying, he had been yelling in frustration, too. She walked over to sit on the edge of his desk next to him. She put her head on his shoulder.

“Lukey, come on. We’re going to fix this. I’ll go and talk to her. I’m sure she misses you

ou as much as you miss her.”

“You didn’t see the way she looked at me. You didn’t see the deadness in her eyes. You didn’t see the coldness. The way she said she hated me…”

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and hugged him tight. “I wish I knew how to fix this. I wish that you didn’t hurt like this. If you’re hurting like this, I can’t even imagine how had Lily is hurting.”

He pulled her onto his lap and buried his face in her neck. She felt his tears hit her skin and she murmured softly to him as he rocked her. Ethan walked in and narrowed his eyes, but didn’t say anything.

“Shhh, Luke, shhh. It’s going to be okay.”

o burn the Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.

His sobs got louder and she cursed herself. That was such a stupid thing to say. She had never seen him hurt like this and it made her want to world down. Her alarm went off and Lukas immediately let her go. He pushed her towards the door.

“Go,” he whispered. “Tell her that I love her. He put his face in his arms. “Please, Jo. Try to fix this.”

She paused at the door. “I will, Lukas. I promise.”

Ethan followed her out. She took his hand as they walked. Her heart was in a million pieces in her chest. She stopped suddenly to turn towards him. She wrapped her arm around his neck and kissed him, pouring every ounce of her love into it. He picked her up and her legs went around his waist. She finally pulled away, tears threatening to fall from her eyes.

“I love you, Ethan. I know we have our shit talking, but I wouldn’t change you for anything in this world.”

He kissed the tear that rolled down her face. “I’ve never been so glad to have you, baby. You are my heart, my world, my everything. You don’t even know the half of it.”

She sniffled, “Even more than your beloved Sasha?”

He smiled at her and brushed her hair back. “Who’s that?”

She buried her face in his neck as he carried her to her car. He held her for a few minutes longer, until her alarm went off again. She slowly let her legs down, but she still leaned against him, not wanting to let him go. He gave her a small kiss, before getting her in the car. He knelt by her side and took her hand. He put it over his heart.

“Do you

feel that?” She nodded. “That beats only for you, fo. I love you so much.”

Another tear coursed down her face and she rubbed at it angrily. “I hate crying.”

He chuckled and stood up. “I’ll let you kick my ass later to get your street cred back.”

She wiped her nose. “Promise?”

He nodded and closed her door. He tapped the hood of her car.

“I promise. Now, my beautiful mate, go get our queen.”

She drove off, watching him in her rearview mirror until he was, but a speck standing there unmoving. She set her eyes on the road and turned her music up. This daily two hour drive to get Lily to school was boring, but worth it. She missed her all summer and was ready to see her again. She couldn’t wait to see the progress she had made. She had worked so hard in the last year to make up the physical difference between her and the other kids. She pressed her foot down on the gas pedal harder.

*Hang on,

Lily. Your Jo is on her way, she thought to herself.

“What if she doesn’t want to see us?,” Isla asked. “If she could deny her mate, she could deny us.”

Chapter 18: Jo’s Empathy

Jo cursed. She hadn’t thought of that. Lukas had ordered her not to force herself on Lily. Fuck. Why did Isla have to say that? Now, she was worried. She bit her lip nervously as worry started to overwhelm her. She felt Ethan push on their link and she let it open.

“You got this, baby. Deep breaths and go in there and own that shit, just like you do with everything else.”

She melted inside at his words. He always knew exactly what to say to ease her anxiety.

‘You know, I was gonna suck your dick anyways tonight, right? You don’t have to suck up.”

He laughed in her head. ‘There’s my lo. Go get her, Tiger.”

The link was cut and she turned the music up more. She tapped her hand on the steering wheel and hummed along. In what felt like no time, she was pulling up the street Luis’s castle was on. She hit the brakes when she saw Lily walking slowly down the road. She looked up and her mouth dropped open. Jo u- turned in the middle of the street and stopped beside her. She pushed the door open.

“Hey, Lily girl. Your limo is here.”

Lily rolled her eyes, shifted her backpack on her back and kept walking. Jo cursed and shut the door. She pulled over onto the side of the road and parked the car. She got out and fell into step beside Lily.

“Come on, Lily. Let me give you a ride”

“Cio away

I don’t want- okay. Let’s go.”

Lily turned around and stomped back to the car. She slammed the door and put her forehead against the window. Well, shit, but at least she was in the car. That was a win, right? Jo got back in and started the drive towards the school. The sun began to rise and to flipped the visor down to block out the

“So, Lily, how was your summer?” No answer, “Did you have fun?”

Again no answer. Jo tried the entire way to the school to get her to talk, but she refused. Jo parked and she thought Lily would jump right out. When she didn’t, jo took the chance to really look at her. Lily had lost weight. A lot of weight. At least 30 pounds and on an already thin person, the weight loss made her look malnourished. She was unusually pale and the usual brightness in her eyes was gone.

Lukas was right. Her eyes were dead. Her blonde hair was greasy and had thinned. She had a bald spot on the side of her head and she cursed silently. That must have been where Lukas took her hair from. She was going to whoop his ass. She reached into the backseat and grabbed a pre– packaged muffin. She held it out to Lily.

“Here, honey. You need to eat.”

“Why do you care if I eat or not?”

Jo was taken aback. “Because I care about you, Lily.”

She gave a cold laugh. “The way the king does?”

“The way Lukas does, yes, but slightly different,” she responded, putting emphasis on his name.

Lily put her backpack on her shoulder as she climbed out of the car. She stood beside the door for a second.

“I thought you were my friend, Beta Jo.”

She shut the door and walked away. Jo jumped out of the car to follow her,

*Lily, wait. I am. Lukas loves-”

She spun around and energy forced to to her knees. “DON’T FOLLOW MEI LEAVE ME ALONE! AND WHILE YOU’RE AT IT, STOP LYING TO ME!” She screamed.

Jo struggled to stand up as Lily ran sobbing into the school. No matter how hard she tried to fight Lily’s aura, she couldn’t. She gave up and went back to her car, reaching for Kalani and Sasha’s links.

Chapter 10 Jo’s Empathy

‘What’s up, jo?” They both asked.

Jo shifted into drive as she looked at the school.

“Our little queen is fully awakening.”

Chapter Comments