Happily Ever Alpha: Until You're Mine (Kindle Worlds Novella)

  Text copyright ©2018 by the Author.

  This work was made possible by a special license through the Kindle Worlds publishing program and has not necessarily been reviewed by Aurora Rose Reynolds. All characters, scenes, events, plots and related elements appearing in the original Happily Ever Alpha remain the exclusive copyrighted and/or trademarked property of Aurora Rose Reynolds, or their affiliates or licensors.

  For more information on Kindle Worlds: http://www.amazon.com/kindleworlds

  Until You’re Mine (Happily Ever Alpha)

  Jenika Snow

  Contents

  Newsletter

  Happily Ever Alpha

  Note From ARR

  Until You’re Mine

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Epilogue One

  Epilogue Two

  Happily Ever Alpha

  Newsletter

  A Real Man Series

  Where to find Jenika

  Newsletter

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  Happily Ever Alpha Kindle Worlds is based on the bestselling Until Series by Aurora Rose Reynolds. Every single author included in the world has been hand-picked by Ms. Reynolds.

  Some of the authors have chosen to write about characters or couples that you have met in the series while others have just referred to a place or person from one of the Until books.

  Each book is a stand-alone, there is no reading order.

  Until You're Mine by Jenika Snow

  Until More by S. Van Horne

  Until Nox by Layla Frost

  Until We Meet Again by K.D. Robichaux

  Until Avery by Brynne Asher

  Until Arsen by K.L. Donn

  Until Leo by Rochelle Paige

  Until The Summer by Elle Jefferson

  Until Kayla by CC Monroe

  Until You by Samantha Lind

  Until Sunrise by Sarah O'Rourke

  Until Brandon by Natasha Madison

  Until I Saw You by Jordan Marie

  Until Mallory by Ella Fox

  Until Tom by Mary B. Moore

  Until Susan by C.P. Smith

  Until Rayne by Elle Christensen

  Dear Readers,

  Welcome to the Happily Ever Alpha Kindle World.

  I personally chose each author participating in the Happily Ever Alpha Kindle World because I love their books, and the way they tell a story. That said, this book is entirely the work of the author who wrote it, and I didn’t have any part in the process of writing the story.

  Enjoy the BOOM!

  xoxo

  Aurora Rose Reynolds

  Cora

  He left eight years ago for the military. That was the hardest time of my life. Xavier was the boy who’d sneak into my bed at night and hold me as my parents fought in the next room.

  My protector.

  My best friend.

  The man I was in love with.

  The man I’d saved my virginity for.

  And now he was back home for good. Too much time had passed. I was done keeping us in the friend zone. I wanted him in my life in every way that counted.

  So if he wasn’t going to make the first move then I would, even if it might ruin what we had. Because I had to take that chance.

  Xavier

  She was my life, the very reason I breathed.

  I saved my virginity for Cora because no one else compared. No one else ever would.

  It was time I man up and tell Cora that she was the only girl I’d ever loved, that no matter how much time had passed she’d been it for me.

  But how could I go about doing that when eight years had gone by? Admitting how I felt was hard as hell seeing as we’d always just been friends. How could I not cross any lines and screw up the relationship we had?

  Easy. I’d tell her I loved her and propose.

  Warning: Sit back, relax, and dive into a double virgin friends-to-lovers romance that’s so sugary sweet your teeth will ache. Although it’ll tug at your heartstrings, make no mistake it’s as filthy as can be. A standalone romance with no drama and just the juicy bits, this story features cameo appearances by Asher, Cash, and Trevor Mayson from Aurora Rose Reynolds Until series.

  Chapter 1

  Xavier

  I’d left her when I hadn’t wanted to, before I could tell her she was mine. But duty had called and I’d been sent overseas to serve in the military. I was back now, heading home, the only place that my roots had ever been, where I’d ever wanted them to be. I wasn’t just going back to the place where I came from, but to the community that I thought of as my family … back to her.

  Home.

  Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

  Where I’d left so long ago, yet never forget about.

  So many emotions rushed into me that I had to tighten my hands on the steering wheel, trying to gather my control. The leather creaked under my hold. I hadn’t told anyone I was coming back, wanting to surprise my family, the Maysons, and most importantly, her.

  The only girl I had ever loved.

  The one person who held my heart, body, and soul.

  The one person I’d saved my virginity for.

  Cora McKenzie.

  She was sweet and innocent, my best friend, the girl who lived next door, the one person who I could look into her eyes and get lost in forever.

  As I passed the town sign, I felt my heart jackhammer in my chest. Memories assaulted me, of growing up, days spent with Cora, the good times I’d had with the Mayson boys. It was all a wave of emotion, one that tightened my throat and had my muscles straining under my skin.

  After being away for the last eight years, I was ready to come home, to settle down, and to finally be with Cora. But on the heels of that a wave of grief settled over me. I’d left town because I’d lost my father all those years ago, and so I joined the military as a marine in hopes of getting my aggression and hopelessness out. I’d focused on fighting, protecting my fellow soldiers, but it hadn’t helped, not when I knew being with Cora could have made me whole.

  But I’d been blinded by what I didn’t have anymore.

  My girl. The love of my life.

  Even though we’d written frequently while I was overseas, I didn’t know all the little things about her life anymore, not like how I had back in the day. She never told me those things in the letters, maybe keeping things short, sweet. And I never asked, mainly because I didn’t want to know if she was with somebody. Because the very thought of her with somebody else sent me into a rage, and had every possessive instinct in me coming alive. Where Cora was concerned I was a caveman, ruthless, reckless. I’d do anything for her, but maybe I’d made a mistake by being gone for so long, by leaving in the first place?

  I didn’t even know if she felt the same for me as I did for her. I was in love with her, hopelessly, madly in love with her. Maybe she just saw me as her best friend, the boy who used to live next door, the one who would sneak in her bedroom window at night and hold her while she cried against me as her parents fought in the next room, telling her everything would be okay. Promising her that.

  There were those nights that I wanted to tell her the truth about how I felt, that I would do anything for her. But I’d never admitted anything, too afraid to lose what we shared. I’d wanted to run away with her, take
care of her, but I knew I couldn’t provide for her the way she deserved. Not at that point at least.

  So I kept my mouth shut, didn’t cross any lines, and I worked my ass off to make a better life for her, for us. Together. I did something with myself so that when I did come back for her, to her it would be because I was the man who could take care of her.

  But a lot could change in eight years; I knew that, anticipated and braced myself for where she was at in her life right now. My leaves had been few and far between, but when I did come back to town I kept my mouth shut, didn’t tell her how I actually felt.

  That was all about to change now. I lifted my hand from the steering wheel and placed it right over my heart, where the small black box in my shirt pocket was housed. Inside that box was a diamond ring, the one I would use to propose to Cora.

  This time there was no going back, no trying to be “just friends” because I was worried about ruining what we had. I was done waiting, pissed at myself for letting too much time pass between us.

  It was time I made Cora mine.

  Cora

  I pulled off my reading glasses and rubbed my eyes, exhaustion settling inside of me. It wasn’t even that late, maybe eight at night, but I’d been going over the paperwork for the bakery, the small business I owned with my friend.

  It had been our dream job after college, something we knew we wanted to try and do, even if it failed. But it hadn’t failed. Sweet Treats was the local bakery in town—our bakery—and one that was still fairly new, but well known. We were even starting to ship out nationwide. But running a business was damn hard, and really all I wanted to do was bake, not deal with the paperwork and business aspect of it all. But Carly, my friend and partner, was no good at numbers, so I took the responsibility of making sure all the I’s were dotted and the T’s were crossed.

  I looked at the framed picture on the desk right beside me. I couldn’t help but smile as I reached out and picked it up, staring down at the picture of Xavier and me. It had been taken years ago, eight, to be exact.

  He was always on my mind, always in my heart.

  And no matter how much time had passed he’d always be the one, the person who’d been my one and only.

  The “one who got away.”

  Although that had been my fault, simply because I hadn’t had the guts to tell him how I felt, how much I cared about him, how everything we’d gone through together, everything he’d done for me while we’d been growing up had shaped the person I was today.

  It was because of him I’d stayed single, had never dated, and had never even wanted anyone else. It was because of Xavier that I’d compared all other men to him. It had been so long since I’d seen him, since he’d come home on leave and I got to have my best friend and the love of my life close to me.

  And this picture held so many memories. It made me happy and sad all in the same breath. It had been the night before he left for the service, and although it just seemed like yesterday that he’d left me to better himself, these past eight years had been the hardest of my life.

  Our letters back and forth had helped ease some of the pain of me missing him, but I wanted my best friend back. I knew he had to live his own life, be his own person. He was making something for himself, helping others as well. I couldn’t fault him for that, even though initially I was angry that he’d enlisted in the service. It had been a selfish emotion on my part.

  But I kept that anger to myself, never showing it, never letting him know how upset I really was, how sad I truly had become. I hadn’t wanted to tarnish what little time we had left.

  So it had been all smiles and good times before he left, and while he was here on leave. He’d been through a lot with me, and it was those times of him sneaking in my bedroom at night, just holding me as my parents fought, as the violence escalated between them and the tether had slowly split in two, that I’d fallen in love with my protector.

  He was the one person who could save me even from myself.

  He was the one person who I wanted in my life always, who I wanted to share my body with … share my life with. Forever. Always. The truth was I knew no one would ever compare to Xavier. I’d never have a connection with anyone else the way I had with Xavier.

  I stared at the picture, at the way his short blond hair always looked like he’d been driving with the top down, how his body had always been so big, so much taller than mine. He’d had a lot of muscles from working odd summer jobs with the Mayson boys. I thought about Asher and Xavier when they were younger, how they were so damn rowdy while growing up. They’d always been typical guys, ones who drank out by the lake, took joyrides, and did a bunch of other shit that had the older folks in town shaking their heads and cursing under their breath.

  I set the picture down and exhaled. I missed Xavier so damn much I could cry. But crying wouldn’t bring my best friend back any sooner, and all it would have me doing was feeling depressed and being moody.

  I knew if Xavier had stayed in town he would have helped Asher start up Mayson Construction, or at least had a big hand in running it.

  I set the picture frame down and shook my head. When I saw Xavier again, when he came back to town, I wasn’t going to hold back. I should have told him all those years ago, should have admitted I was in love with him, that he was my soul mate, but damn my fears.

  Nope, when I saw him again I’d just finally confess, because telling someone you wanted them as more than a friend was best done in person, not in a letter sent halfway around the world.

  Chapter 2

  Xavier

  I sat in my truck, my hands curled around the steering wheel as I stared through the bakery’s front window. I remembered her talking about opening a shop way back in the day, and vividly remembered her letters about how she and Carly had started the business. But this was the first time I was actually seeing it in person.

  My heart swelled at the thought that my girl had done what she’d always wanted to, that she’d fulfilled her dream.

  And then I saw her through the front window and my entire body tightened. My heart raced, and I could hear the leather of the steering wheel creaking as I tightened my hold on it. A part of me said I should’ve told her I was coming, shouldn’t be surprising her like this, but a selfish part wanted to see the reaction on her face when she saw me for the first time after so long.

  I don’t know how long I sat in the truck, maybe it was only minutes, maybe far longer than that, but fear had me staying put. I was nervous, afraid to face her after so long, anxious about the fact that I wanted to propose to Cora in the worst kind of way. I took the ring with me everywhere, that small box tucked inside my coat jacket, a reminder of what I wanted to do, how I wanted to make Cora mine irrevocably.

  I pulled my hands off the steering wheel and manned the fuck up. I’d waited too damn long to do this, and it had been so fucking long since I’d seen her. I was wasting time sitting here, worrying, thinking about the what if’s. I got out of the truck and slammed the door, the hinges creaking as it closed.

  I crossed the small street, and once I was standing in front of the bakery I found myself frozen. I could see her through the window behind the counter, her back toward me, her long blond hair moving along the center of her back in gold waves. I lifted my hand and placed it on my chest, my heart hurting in that moment. I hadn’t seen her face clearly yet, but it didn’t matter.

  My soul knew when its other half was near.

  I’d been in love with her since the moment I saw her. It was that BOOM! It was that recognition that she was the one. That pull that she was my other half.

  A few people passed by, a car honked in the distance, but I was focused on Cora. I was always focused on Cora. I took the few steps it required to get to the front door, reached out, and curled my hand around the brass handle. I pulled it open and a little bell above the door jingled at my entrance.

  “Welcome to Sweet Treats,” Cora said, her back still toward me. “I’ll be right with
you. Just got to put these buns down,” she said and laughed softly. I couldn’t help but smile that she still had that sense of humor, the one where she’d laugh at her own jokes.

  God, her voice sounded like angels singing. I felt dizzy, lightheaded with being so close to her. She didn’t even know I stood only feet from her, the anticipation building inside of me.

  She had a tray in her hands as she turned around, her focus on the baked goods. I found myself taking a step closer, and then another one. I swear I could smell her, this sweet, floral scent that brought back memories, that was completely Cora. Her scent was stronger than the bakery aroma, the one of donuts and rolls, sweet little treats that they baked by hand.

  And then she lifted her eyes and our gazes locked. For long seconds we just stared at each other, the realization that I was standing just feet from her covering her face. It was the sound of the tray she held crashing to the floor that had me rushing back to reality.

  Something in me snapped and I couldn’t help myself. I stalked toward her, placed my hands on the counter that separated us, and scaled the fucker. I had her in my arms seconds later, her body so much smaller than mine, her scent slamming into my head and making me drunk. I was so damn possessive. All I wanted to do was throw her over my shoulder and take her far from here.

  Silence stretched between us, but it was perfect.

  “Is this really happening?” she whispered against my chest and I tightened my arms around her. “Are you really here, Xavier?” I could hear the tears in her voice, knew she was probably crying. I was on the verge of crying myself.