“Whatever you want.”
Rex grinned.“You won’t say that for long if you truly mean it.I can be a bit much.”
“I don’t think you can be more than Alpin.”
“I don’t think anyone can be more than Alpin.”
Harmon squeezed Rex’s waist.“I’m not joking, though.If you want to come and stay with my coven for a bit, you’re welcome to do so.If you feel like you don’t belong there, either, and want out, I’ll let you go.I don’t want to trap you, Rex.I don’t ever want you to regret being with me or agreeing to this.I don’t think I’ll be able to step away from the coven for a long time, but if you need to, it’s fine.”
“How am I supposed to step away from the coven when you’re there?”Rex asked, leaning over to kiss Harmon.
A loud banging on their door made both of them jump.Rex looked up to glare at it, but it was closed, so Merrick couldn’t see him.Even if he could, he wouldn’t have cared.
“I’m getting out of here,” Merrick declared, his voice slightly muffled.“And you’re coming with me because I’m not leaving Harmon here on his own.”
“Hey, I’m here too,” Rex complained.“He wouldn’t be on his own.”
“But I don’t trust you to protect him yet.Come on.We’re going home.”
They were.Rex’s home might be different from now on, but the pack would continue to be important.He might not feel like he belonged there, but as long as his family lived there, hewouldbelong.
Just like he would belong with Harmon.
Chapter Seven
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REX HAD KNOWN THISwould happen, but he hadn’t expected his brother to be quite this dramatic.He should have known better, though.This was Alpin they were talking about.
He was sobbing, standing in front of Rex, looking heartbroken.Rex would have rolled his eyes, but he was pretty sure that Merrick would have killed him for it.
“You’ll call as soon as you get there?”Alpin said between two sobs.He was rubbing his cheek with one hand while clutching Rex’s sweater with the other.
Rex sighed.“I promise I’ll call.”
“You better, because if you don’t, I’m going there.I need to know you’re okay.”
“You were never that worried about me being okay before.In fact, I’m pretty sure you cheered when you found out that harpy attacked me a few years ago.”
Alpin gasped.“I would never be happy to find out someone attacked you.”
“I think your exact words were that I deserved it.”
“That’s in the past.I thought we would finally be a family and live together, and now, you’re leaving.”
Rex glanced in Harmon’s direction.He was standing close by, talking to Rex’s father.He didn’t look worried about Alpin’s behavior.No one was because this was typical Alpin.Rex wanted to ask Merrick to get his boyfriend under control, but he knew better.No one could control Alpin, not even Merrick.
“I’m not leaving forever,” Rex explained gently.For all that Alpin was being overly dramatic, Rex knew he was doing it because he cared.He’d always been afraid to lose their family, and now, in a way, he was.He’d thought they would all live with the pack happily ever after, but Rex’s happily-ever-after wasn’t with the wolves.
It was with a tall man with long brown hair and his coven.
Rex had no idea how he would take to living with the coven, and he probably wouldn’t have agreed to try for anyone but Harmon.For him, though, he’d be willing to do a lot of things.
“And we’ll come and visit you,” Alpin said.
“I know.You’re welcome to come anytime you want.You know what Harmon said.”Merrick might not be a coven member anymore, but he and Harmon still considered each other brothers, just like Rex and Alpin.They were family, and Harmon hadn’t hesitated to extend an offer of letting Rex’s family stay with the clan anytime they wanted, to all of them.He wanted Rex to be happy, and he knew that would come in the form of Merrick and Alpin visiting way too often.
But Rex wanted both him and Alpin to also have time to settle into their new lives.They weren’t in danger anymore.No one would attack them.Their relationships with Harmon and Merrick had been born in difficult times, but that was over.It would probably take them a little while to truly settle down, but they would eventually.Once they did, Alpin wouldn’t cling so hard to Rex and their siblings.
