Alan needed to stop assuming that he knew where this conversation was going.They both did.
“Sorry,” he said.“I haven’t asked yet, but I’m hoping I’ll be allowed to move in with the tribe and work with them.Do you think that’s something Rikar would be interested in?I know I don’t have a lot to offer, but I do have some insight into Victor that most people don’t.It might not be useful, but it’s something.I’m also great at research.”
“Rikar would be lucky to have you,” Matthew said.“As am I.You’re talking about moving in with the tribe, so why don’t you move in here with me?It’s useless to get a second home when we both know you’re going to end up here eventually.”
Alan grinned, feeling better.“You’re making a lot of assumptions.”To be fair, they both had.
“Am I?You’re my mate.This is where you belong.”
Alan snuggled closer.Itwaswhere he belonged.“I didn’t want to force you into something you weren’t ready for by asking if I could move in.We’ve been rushing through this relationship.”
“Is that something you’re uncomfortable with?”
“Not really.It’s more that I feel Ishouldbe uncomfortable with it.This isn’t how human relationships usually work.”
Matthew hummed as he stroked a hand up and down Alan’s arm.“I don’t know if that’s true.Some human relationships are fast.Humans don’t have mates, but when it’s right, it’s right.”
“And it’s definitely right between the two of us.”
“That’s because we’re mates.”
Alan thought that he’d have fallen for Matthew even if he’d been human.He was just too perfect.Well, perfect for Alan.Alan knew no one was perfect, but he didn’t need Matthew to be.He just needed Matthew to be there for him, to support and love him, and he had that.Matthew had been doing that since day one.Hell, he’d been there for Alan before he even knew that Alan was his mate.If it wasn’t for Matthew and Franklin, Victor probably would have succeeded in killing Alan, and he wouldn’t be here right now, making plans with his mate.
He hated what Victor had done, but at the same time, it had brought him here.It had given him a mate and a group of people he knew he’d come to consider family once he got to know them better.He hated that people had been hurt, but it hadn’t been his fault, and there was nothing he could do to change what Victor had done in the past.He could only focus on the future and helping the people Victor had hurt, and that was what he was planning on doing.
“I need to talk to Rikar,” he murmured as he leaned back against Matthew.
Matthew kissed the top of his head.“About what?If it’s you moving in with me, he won’t care.In fact, he’ll welcome you.”
“I know.”Alan really did.He’d been living with Rikar and his mate for a little while now, and he’d gotten to know them over morning coffees and lunch sandwiches.They’d never made him feel like he didn’t belong, even though he was human.Hell, Hayes was human, too.He was a mutant, but that didn’t change the facts.
Everyone belonged in the village, no matter what they were.The only thing that mattered was that they were good people, and Alan liked to think that he was.
“So those are your plans?Be with me and take down Victor’s operation?”Matthew asked.
“I don’t think we can call it an operation, but yes.I want the people Victor worked with to be stopped.I want them to pay for what they did and for the labs to burn down to the ground.I doubt that Victor being out of the picture will stop them or even slow them down much.I’m sure they have plenty of alternatives to him to find the information they seek.”
Matthew hummed as he carded his fingers through Alan’s hair, lightly scratching his scalp.“Do you think Morin had anything to do with this?”
“Well, I don’t know him, and I could be wrong because I definitely was when it came to Victor, but Morin doesn’t strike me as someone who would do this.”Besides, Morin’s situation was completely different than Victor’s.
They both came from rich families, but Victor’s family was nice, or at least they had been the few times Alan had met them.On the other hand, Morin’s father had been a monster.Morin had been working hard to fix what his father had broken, and he’d thought he’d succeeded only to find out that some of the people who worked for him were still doing it.He might be rich, but he didn’t strike Alan as someone who would do something as awful as funding labs and research on shifters for money.
That wasn’t the only difference between Morin and Victor.There was also Nysys to consider, and him?Alan was one hundred percent sure about.There was no way Nysys would ever hurt anyone or allow someone he loved to do so.If he ever found out that Morin was involved, it would break his heart like it would anyone’s, but he also gave Alan the impression that he wouldn’t stand down.He might be colorful and a little weird, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t a good person.It didn’t mean he wouldn’t try to stop his mate if he ever attempted to use his company that way.No, Alan was pretty sure that if something like that ever happened, people would hear the yelling all the way from Whitedell.
“Well, if he didn’t have anything to do with this, he’s going to need our help to find out who did it,” Matthew pointed out.
“And that’s where I come in.I know Victor.I know his life.I might not have known what was hiding behind his posh image, but I’ve met a lot of people through him, and I know who he’s friends with.I might be able to recognize some of these people.”Alan would definitely be able to recognize the people closest to Victor.They might not have anything to do with any of this, but they might also be involved, and if they were, Alan would find out.
Everyone involved would pay for what they’d done.Alan wouldn’t have it any other way.
Chapter Seven
––––––––
MATTHEW KEPT AN EYEon Alan, even though they were perfectly safe.Really, there was no safer place than where they were today, at a birthday party surrounded by part of the tribe and most of the mutants.There was no need for Matthew to be so anxious, but he found out that when it came to Alan, it was hard not to feel that way.Maybe it was because of the way they’d met, or maybe it was just his instinct being strong because they’d only recently met and bonded, and had done so in difficult circumstances.Either way, he felt better when he could see his mate, and thankfully, the same seemed to go for Alan.He always stuck close, and he looked up from his conversations every so often to smile at Matthew.
Matthew still couldn’t believe how lucky he’d been.If things had gone even slightly differently, he wouldn’t have met Alan.Hell, he could have lost him before even knowing who he was.The thought was enough to give him nightmares, and it did, sometimes.When he was particularly anxious and tired, he dreamed that he and Franklin had been too late and that Victor had got to Alan before they could.Once, he’d dreamed that the car Alan had been driving had slammed harder against the tree and had exploded.
