Twenty minutes later, we make a quick stop for a bathroom break and to scarf down the lunch Macy made us—peanut butter and jelly on soggy bread isn’t exactly gourmet, but my stomach appreciates it anyway—then get back in the car and keep moving.
The rest of the drive passes with me going back and forth between dozing against the window and cuddling up to Luke as closely as the center console will let me. Thanks to some traffic just outside Chicago, it’s almost eight by the time Luke slows and turns on to a long driveway, following the gentle curves up to a house and pulling to a stop next to another SUV, this one black.
The front door opens before we’re even out of the car, a large man with chin-length blond hair standing framed in the doorway, eyes narrowed with a slight scowl on his face. His expression shifts into something a little less intimidating when Luke steps out of the vehicle and waves.
“Hey, Julien,” says Luke. “How’s it going?”
The man—Julien, I’m assuming—jerks his chin in greeting. “Luke? What are you doing here?”
Luke sighs. “Sorry to drop in with no notice. It’s kind of a long story.” He glances up and gives the man in the doorway a half-smile. “Besides, I sort of owe Keir a visit.”
“Yeah, you do,” says a second man as he pops into the doorway behind Julien. This man is shorter—though still a few inches taller than me—with dark hair and gray-blue eyes. He pokes the larger man with his elbow and grins at Luke.
“It’s good to see you,” he says. “It’s about time you made it up here.” He nudges the larger man out of the doorway. “You ready to finally meet your… niece and nephew?” He glances up at the blond man. “What are someone’s cousin’s kids considered to them?”
Julien chuckles and shrugs. “I have no idea. It probably falls into one of those once removed things or something.”
Keir thinks for a second, then shrugs. “Niece and nephew it is then.”
“As much as I’m looking forward to that, it’s not the only reason I’m here,” says Luke. He motions for me to exit the vehicle and I jump out, quickly moving to my mate’s side. “This is Ollie.”
Keir’s brows rise and his gaze darts to Luke’s arm over my shoulder. “And who exactly is Ollie?”
A pink tinge spreads across Luke’s cheeks and he tucks me closer to his body. “Remember why I went up to Smyrna in the first place?”
“The shifter stuck as a wolf?” Keir cocks his head to the side, studying me. “This is him?”
“Yeah. It turns out he’s also my fated mate.” Luke pauses. “And an omega.”
“Well, shit,” says Keir, letting out a startled huff of a laugh. “You know I was just kidding about the whole fated mate thing yesterday. I didn’t actually expect you to go out and find one.”
“I wasn’t expecting to,” says Luke. He presses a kiss to the top of my head. “But I’m not complaining.”
Keir walks toward me, grinning and holding out his hand. “Nice to meet you, Ollie. If you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m Keir, and the guy looming in the doorway is my fated mate and Alpha of the Madison pack, Julien Matisse.”
“Nice to meet you,” I say, taking Keir’s hand.
Julien gives me a warm smile over his mate’s shoulder. “Welcome to the family, Ollie.”
“Uh, thank you, Alpha Matisse,” I say.
Keir snorts. “You can just call him Julien. We don’t stand much on formality here.”
We all file inside and Keir leads us into a comfortable looking living room with two overstuffed couches set up in front of an entertainment center. In the corner, there’s a carved woodenbox overflowing with blankets and soft toys. A small white speaker—a baby monitor—sits on one of the end tables and a burbling noise comes from it.
“We just put the twins down, so they aren’t asleep yet,” says Julien, gesturing toward the monitor. “Did you want to meet them now?”
Luke glances at me. “In the morning? I wouldn’t want to mess up their routine or whatever.”
“Then let’s all have a seat and you can explain more about what brought you up here,” says Julien, gesturing to the couches.
“And why you didn’tcall to let us know you were coming,” adds Keir with an exaggerated eyebrow raise.
Luke blinks at his cousin, then shakes his head. “So much happened that I didn’t even think about that. I suppose a heads up would have been nice, huh?”
Keir rolls his eyes and plops himself down in Julien’s lap. “You’re lucky you didn’t get here an hour later.” He presses a kiss to Julien’s pink tinged cheek and waggles his eyebrows. “We probably would have been busy.”
Luke laughs and takes a seat on the other couch, pulling me down beside him. “Sorry to keep you then.”
