“I know you’re right…” Chi sighed, and then another thought occurred to him. “What if he doesn’t?”
“Don’t borrow trouble, Malachi. Trust me when I say it’s not going to be as complicated as you think. I found Axel on a trail while in wolf form, shifted, he passed out, and somehow hestillagreed to mate with me. Now we have a son, and we couldn’t be happier. Trust me, it will all be okay.”
“How do you know?” Malachi knew he sounded like a whiny five-year-old, but he couldn’t imagine what would happen if his mate walked away from him.
Before Malek could reply, Axel opened the door to the nursery. It showed how distracted Malachi was that he hadn’t heard him leave the master bedroom.
“Are you talking about me?” Axel asked, then scooped his baby out of Chi’s arms, sidled up to Malek, and wrapped one arm around his waist. “Love you,” Axel whispered. It was said in a low voice, but of course Malachi heard him.
“Where’s Alfie?” Malachi asked. He looked over at the closed master bedroom door and could hear his mate’s even breathing.
Malek replied, “Love you too.” Chi couldn’t take his eyes off the closed door until he heard his name from Axel. “Alfie needed to rest for a bit. I explained something to him, and, well, when you add that to everything he’s been through, he just needs a moment.”
Malek was at the door and closing it—Malachi hadn’t even seen his brother move.
“I need to speak to him,” Malachi said, and moved towards his brother.
“Chi, you need to give him a moment. I believe my mate has just explained some things to yours, and he may need a second to catch up.”
Malachi let out a growl, “Get out of my way, Malek.” He took a step towards his brother.
“No, I’m sorry, bro. I can’t imagine what it feels like to have your mate this close and having to stay away, but he asked for space. You don’t want to barge in there and act like you know who.”
“You guys were listening in on our conversation?” Axel asked, and as he turned and looked at his mate, his gaze narrowed, but at least it was directed at Malek and not Malachi.
Malachi spoke too soon because Axel shot him a dirty look too.
“I was just making sure he was okay.” Malachi put his hands up in a peaceful gesture. He’d seen Axel upset, and Malachi didn’t want him to direct it at him.
“He will be. I just dropped a lot of stuff on him and he needs a moment. Trust me when I say we Baines brothers are smart enough to know when we’ve found a good thing. Alfie just needs to breathe.”
Chi heard all that Axel was saying, but all he knew was his mate was so close, yet somehow so far away, and his wolf was restless.
Malek’s hand on his shoulder jolted him, “Why don’t you go for a run, bro, then come back and crash here. Your mate will still be here in the morning.”
Malek was right. He needed to run—needed to centre himself—before he did something to scare Alfie away.
“Fine,” Malachi let out a sigh, “but I’ll be back for dinner, and I’ll be taking you up on that offer to crash here.”
He glanced over at Axel and he had to swallow several times before asking the question rattling about in his head.
“Do you really think he’ll give me a chance?”
Axel walked over to him, went on his tiptoes, and placed a kiss on his cheeks. Malek’s mate took a step back and held his gaze as he spoke, “Trust me, I know he will. He’s just a little overwhelmed.”
Chi nodded, then turned towards the door. Malek stepped aside this time and let him out. He took a moment to listen to his mate’s even breathing outside the door before legging it out of the house and throwing himself into his shift, not caring about ruining the clothes he had on.
Thirteen
Alfie
Alfie woke up, and for a moment he was completely disorientated, not sure where the hell he was until it all came flooding back. He was at Axel’s home. A home his brother shared with his wolf-shifter mate and a baby he apparently carried himself.
He wasn’t sure he believed a word of what Axel had said to him, but since he knew his brother wasn’t crazy—at least he hoped he wasn’t—his brain was trying to process the info dump he’d just received.
The pain in his body made itself known and Alfie sighed. He needed some painkillers before he figured out whether he needed to get his older brother committed.
Alfie was about to get out of bed and go search for the medication, but when he looked to the left, he saw caplets and some water left there for him on the bedside table.
