He pushed his matted hair out of his face. “I’m sure I’m not the dream you’ve had right now.” Hopefully, he cleaned up better.
“Hush; you’re perfect. I’m just glad I found you in time. I’m not sure you would have made it another day.”
“I don’t even want to think about how awful that is.” Oh, goddess, that was a scary thought.
Liam shook his head, leaning close to hold him. “No, no, me either… It doesn’t matter now, because you did it. You survived. It’s amazing. You never gave up.”
Of course he hadn’t. He never would have given up on his mate. Never. “I wish for all of us to have a long, healthy, happy life.”
Gael especially. To honor his parents.
He didn’t want to think about everything.
Honestly, he didn’t want to think about any of the dark days that had just passed. From the moment they’d been driven from their homes until this very second had been overwhelming and horrifying. And terrifying. Now he was going to think things that weren’t scary and awful. In fact, he was going to be joyous.
“Soon we’ll be able to take you down where you can have a bath and relax. Maybe have some breakfast. Meet everyone. I think everyone’s eager to meet you.”
“Are there many people?”
Liam chuckled. “There are a lot of werewolves and one people. But mostly werewolves. There’s Niall and Loyal and their children, all four of them. LuAnn and her mate and their babies.And then there’s three or four other couples who have joined them up here. So it’s, it’s not, it’s not a huge pack, not like Keegan and Jameson’s pack, but it’s a nice size.”
“Do you have a pack?” He wanted to know all about Liam.
“I have a large family. My brothers and I live at the base of the mountain. Well, everyone but one brother who lives with his mate in the pack, the big pack, and I don’t know how he’s a werewolf. He must have had a different dad. I don’t know.”
How very confusing. But it sounded as if Liam was hiding his whole self, and there must be a good reason, so he would play along until he could figure out the why. And then he would support his mate in that.
His omega mother had taught him how important it was for an omega to support their alpha as long as they were being fair and equitable. Liam seemed incredibly fair to him, so unless he proved otherwise Theo would just go ahead and cut him some slack.
Just about the time he got Gael settled in his arms and popped the nipple of the bottle into the baby’s mouth, a knock sounded at the door, quiet but firm. “Yoohoo. Did I hear everybody was awake in there?”
Liam grinned at him. “Come on in, Niall. We’re awake.”
The door opened, and a beautiful silvery wolf walked in, his hands laden with a tray. “Glad to see you’re feeling better, Theo, and it’s good that Gael is eating. I made sandwiches, and I brought those cookies I promised you, Liam. I also brought some cut-up fruit and some macaroni and cheese I had leftover and heated up. I hope that’ll work.”
All of a sudden, Theo was shaking he was so hungry, his body trying to tell him that he was having a crisis. “That sounds amazing. Thank you.”
“No problem at all. Just call if you need me. I’ll leave you to it. Oh, and, Theo, let me know when you want to have a bath, andwe’ll get that set up for you.” Niall was gone with a wave of his hand and a swirl of magical energy behind him.
Theo looked at Liam. “He’s kind of amazing.”
“He is. He’s our seer. He’s great. Here, hand me the baby, and I’ll feed him while you eat. It looks like you need to have a sit.”
Liam was absolutely right, because he’d gotten up to walk a bit while he fed the baby. So he handed over Gael and let his wobbly legs take him back to the bed where he could sit down. The food smelled like heaven, and his belly snarled again. It felt as if it had been eons since he’d eaten anything but jerky and hardtack he’d made himself.
Theo grabbed the grilled cheese sandwich first, and it was perfect. Crunchy and golden on the outside and gooey and cheesy in the middle. He wanted to snap it up in two bites, but he didn’t. Instead, he savored it, tearing off little chunks and eating them, chewing them completely, and swallowing before he went for the next bite. He thought that way if his stomach was going to rebel, he would know right away.
Liam looked as though he fed babies all the time, holding Gael confidently in one arm and the bottle in the other hand. The baby sucked lustily on the nipple.
“Is it good?” Liam asked gently.
“It’s so good you can’t even begin to understand.” He chuckled, grabbing a piece of fruit. This fruit salad held all sorts of things he knew there was no way they could get up this high at this time of year, so somebody had to bring them supplies. Bright and tart and yet sweet, the pineapple and strawberries and grapes burst on his tongue. “Did you want something?”
He should have asked Liam to begin with and given his alpha the first choice, but he had just been so hungry.
“God no. I’m still full from what I ate when I first got here.” Liam jerked his chin at the food. “You just go ahead.”
“Thank you.” He started on the macaroni and cheese, and that was just as yummy as the grilled cheese sandwich, so creamy and scrumptious, and yet it had that little crust around the edge that the leftover mac and cheese got when you heated it up again in the oven. Tears stung his eyes because it had been so long since he’d had something so wonderful, and he tried to swallow them down, not wanting Liam to see how on edge he was.
