The threat worked, and Jude wasted no time in putting on his swim trunks under his beach shorts and raced out of the bathroom, where everyone else, Goose, and a picnic basket were already loaded up in the car.
Zayden had planned an afternoon on a small, private yacht he had rented for the day, which included a private chef, servers, and a captain, all to enjoy some time on the water and hoping to spot some whales.
“I’ve never been on a boat before,” Sonnet said as Jude slid into the seat next to hers and Zayden drove off.
“Me either! They have snorkeling gear for us, too, right?”
“Yes. For the thousandth time, yes.” Kai swiveled in the passenger seat and gave Jude an evil stare. “Stop asking questions we’ve already answered!”
“Someone needs a nap,” Sonnet teased, and raised her hands in defense when Kai turned his stare towards her. “Hey, don’t be mad at me. You’re the one who wanted to sleep with Goose last night, even though I warned you he’s a terrible sleeper.”
Jude grinned because Goose wasn’t the reason Kai didn’t sleep. Since Friday night, when they all fell asleep together, Sonnet agreed to a new sleep schedule in which two of them could sleep in her bedroom each night. She wanted all of them, but there just wasn’t any room, so last night Kai reluctantly had to let Jude and Zayden sleep with her.
Jude liked it. He liked seeing Sonnet fall for them, and Kai fall for her.
Everything was coming together.
At the docks of a nearby town, everyone was politely greeted by the owner and team of the yacht and welcomed them on board. Felix started chatting with the captain, interested in the facts Jude was veryuninterested in, and everyone else sat down on the back deck as it rode farther out to sea.
Jude noticed Sonnet hadn’t eaten anything and had a tight grip on her glass. He wrapped his arm around her and nuzzled her into her side.
“Are you okay?” He asked softly.
“Honestly?” She bit her bottom lip and looked at two of the female workers who had been serving them. “I don’t know what it is, but I’m feeling kind of jealous. My omega definitely is. Even though they seem nice and I know it’s not rational, but…”
“Really?” Jude tried to hold back his excitement. He knew that the more connected an omega was to her pack, especially before the bond; she could begin to feel tendencies toward possession and jealousy, among other strong emotions. “That’s good.”
She looked at him like he was crazy. “What do you mean?”
“It means you must really like us,” he teased before handing her a chicken and veggie skewer. “Just tell any of us if it gets too much. Okay?”
“Hey!Look!”
Jude’s face snapped over to Kai who was leaning over the railing to the yacht pointing out into the sea. A small pod of five humpback whales was hovering around the surface of the water only a hundred feet from the boat.
Kai never looked more excited. He kept waving them all over until they all watched the cluster of whales rise to the surface and sink back down.
“They’re so beautiful,” Sonnet whispered. “Aw, look! That one has a calf!”
“They’re jumping,” Kai gasped as two humpback whales breached the water.
The five of them remained watching the whales until they disappeared under the water and didn’t resurface. Soon enough, the boat returned closer to the shore and was pulling to a stop, and Kai wasted no time jumping off the end. Jude sat up right away, his competitive alpha impulse thundering inside him.
Sonnet squeezed his arm and laughed. “I’ll be okay. Go.”
Jude wasted no time charging into the water, doing a flip and landing not too far from Kai, who immediately splashed him. They went back and forth for a while, just like they used to, before Zayden joined them. For once, Kai didn’t leave. Jude wanted to shout with happiness.
Back on the ship, Sonnet and Felix stayed cuddled together and did their best to keep Goose from following everyone else into the water.
Jude dunked his head and tried to keep his eyes open, but the salt made them burn. “Dang it, I can’t see anything.”
“Idiot,” Kai laughed.
The three of them swam back to the boat and put on some simple gear so they could see underneath them and began to wade around. Jude and Kai knocked heads without meaning to, and Zayden kept spotting all the different fish first, pointing them out smugly.
Kai surfaced first after fifteen minutes of snorkeling and floating around. “Damn. I was hoping we’d see a shark.”
“Don’t jinx this good luck,” Jude whined.
