After thanking Ollie’s new friend Taylor for staying with Macy and making sure she gets some medical care—she’s not back to normal, but she’ll be fine—I snag Ollie’s arm and take him back to the Alpha’s house. It’s an hour past dawn and I’ve been awake… I have no idea how long, but I’mtired.The only thing I want to do is find a bed and curl up with my mate.
To sleep.
Both of us are way too exhausted to do anything else. Hell, we don’t even shower before crawling under the covers and promptly passing out. Kind of gross, but at this point, my only thought is not my sheets, not my problem.
Sometime later, I wake up with Ollie snuggled up to my chest, his head under my chin. He’s got some leaves tangled in his hair and there’s a smear of dirt on his cheek, but he’s never looked more beautiful to me.
I lie there holding him—and maybe watching him sleep like a creeper—until his eyes blink open and find mine. He grins and darts up to kiss the tip of my nose before nuzzling his face into my neck.
“Hey,” he says. “Good… afternoon?”
I glance around the room, looking for a clock and failing to find one. “Sure. We’ll go with that.”
He laughs and rubs his cheek against my chest. “We should probably get up.”
“Probably,” I agree, not moving.
We stay in bed another hour before dragging ourselves first into the shower and then downstairs. There’s food laid out on the table, and a bunch of people I don’t recognize are milling around. I fix plates for both me and Ollie and the two of us make polite small talk with the other shifters for a while before heading back upstairs and back to sleep.
Having sex with a houseful of strange shifters downstairs simply isn’t an appealing prospect for either of us.
We stay in Rockcastle for another two days to allow Macy time to fully heal before heading home to Sweet Water. I’m still a little apprehensive about how the pack will take the news of my male omega mate, but I’m pretty sure nothing Sweet Water can do could be any worse than what we went through in Rockcastle, right?
Dusk is just starting to fall when I pull the SUV to a stop at my house in Sweet Water. I turn the vehicle off, then sit here for a few seconds, staring blankly out the windshield.
Reaching across the center console, I grab Ollie’s hand. “I’m not sure what we’re going to be walking into, but I’m glad you’re here.” I swallow and look down at our intertwined fingers. “And I want you to know I won’t let anything happen to you, even if that means you and I walking away from here, from the pack.”
“I already know that, Luke.” Ollie grips my chin and lifts it so I meet his gaze. “What happened to Keir is not your fault. You were just a kid.”
“But…”
“No,” he says firmly. “Keir’s forgiven you. It’s time you forgive yourself.”
Somehow hearing Ollie say that finally makes it real.
“Okay,” I whisper, a lump in my throat.
Ollie smiles and pats me on the head. “Good boy.”
I let out a playful growl and grab him, pulling him over the console and pretending to gnaw at his neck.
Macy makes a gagging noise from the backseat. “Can’t you guys save that crap for later?”
I flash a grin at her. “Are we upsetting your delicate sensibilities, Mace?”
She scowls. “Just because I don’t want to watch you maul each other doesn’t mean I’m ‘delicate.’”
I huff out a laugh. “You’re right. I’m sorry. We’ll”—I smile at Ollie, giggling from his position half in my lap—“try to control ourselves.”
“See that you do.” Macy gives me a stern look, but the corners of her mouth twitch with amusement.
The three of us get out of the vehicle, Macy gabbing the bags, and head into the house. Linda’s sitting on the couch and she startles as I walk in, jumping to her feet.
“I’m sorry. I just—”
“It’s okay, Linda,” I say. “You’re more than welcome to sit on my couch with as much time as you spend cleaning my house.”
She smiles softly and dips her chin. “Welcome home, Alpha.”
