Ronin laughed, nodding. “True.”
Ollie looked over at his mate. “And River and I can get to know one another more. We don’t mind. Do we, River?
River shook his head. “Nope!”
Nix looked over at Ro, then shrugged. “Well, we could celebrate.” He finally smiled. “Yeah, alright then. Tell him we’ll be there.”
Ro laughed before lifting the phone back to his ears. “Nix and I will be there after all. Haha, fuck you, we are happily whipped.” Nix snorted at that, but he didn’t deny it. “Right, then. See ya in a few.” Ronin disconnected the call, glancing over at Ollie. “Are you positive you’re alright with this?” he checked again.
“Most definitely,” Ollie reassured his mate.
“Yeah. This is going to give us time to bond as brothers should,” River chimed in. Ronin looked over at Riv and grinned, a grateful look in his eyes. And Nix knew it wasn’t because he’d agreed to stay. Ronin wanted to make sure Ollie settled in and felt welcome.
“Alright then!” Ro clapped and got to his feet. He walked over and gently lifted Amelia from Nix’s arms. He breathed in the baby’s scent and cuddled her close as he walked over and laid her in Ollie’s arms. “We won’t stay out too late,” he said, then leaned in and kissed Ollie, taking his time.
Phoenix stood and bent over, sealing his lips to his mate’s in a slow, languid kiss, nibbling on his mate’s plump lips.
“There are minors in the room,” Ronin teased.
Nix straightened slowly. “I’ll pick you up here, okay?” he said to his mate and took a second to touch the top of Matthew’s head, gently grazing the full head of hair. He couldn’t wait to meet their baby.
He would never walk away from them.Ever.He didn’t know how a parent could.Nope, don’t go there, Phoenix.
“Don’t have too much fun.” River squeezed his hand. Clearly, he’d felt Phoenix’s distress. He met his mate’s gaze, and the love in those stunning blue eyes floored him. Nix lowered and stole another kiss, then pulled back and whispered, “I love you.”
“Love you too,” River murmured.
Yeah, he would never get tired of hearing that. The thought came—not for the first time since he’d realized River was his mate—that if only he’d followed Ronin home all those years ago, he’d have met his mate a long time ago.
He must have let that thought seep through their bond because River cupped his jaw and whispered, “We have each other now. That’s all that matters.”
He left with Ro, and unlike before when he’d gone out drinking looking to drown everything, Nix knew he would be counting the minutes till he returned home to his omega. That word had never meant more, and he didn’t just mean the house he shared with River. His omega was his home. Wherever he was.
He walked into the bar with Ro and spotted the guys at their usual table at the back of the bar. He pointed Ro in their direction, and they began making their way over. Nix noticed that of the few patrons present, each made sure to acknowledge him. He even got congratulations from some he’d never met. He simply smiled and thanked them.
“Is that normal?” he asked Ronin, voice lowered so no wolf-hearing would pick it up.
“What?” Ro asked.
“The …” He gestured, not quite sure how to describe it. “Everyone is so nice, and they know who I am.”
Ronin’s lips lifted in a small smile. He slung his arm around Nix’s shoulder and squeezed. “Welcome to the pack,” he said. “Besides, River is beloved, and you’re his mate.”
Nix smiled because, of course, his mate was well-loved. Unlike some of the guys he hadn’t left a pack, he’d never really had one. So this was all new to him.
By the time they got to the table, it became apparent the rest of the team hadn’t been there long either. The glasses of beer in front of them were still mostly full.
“Good of you to join us.” Zander nodded toward them as they approached. He raised his hand and motioned for the waiter. When the dark-haired man reached the table, Zan pointed to Ro and Nix. “A beer for our latecomers, please.” Zan looked around. “Anyone else need anything?” he checked. The other alphas at the table shook their heads, and as the waiter turned to leave, Nix heard Ronin say, “Thanks, Rex,” as the man left.
He grabbed a chair from a nearby table as Ro lowered himself to the last remaining one at the table.
“What’d we miss?” Ro asked.
Nix glanced around the table and realized this was no social gathering. Their whole team was there: Maddox, Zander, and even Dax, Ro’s cousin. With him and Ro, it was a full table. It occurred to him that maybe the guys hadn’tjust invited them to shoot the shit.
“Some intel came our way,” Zander spoke in a low voice. “We’ll probably need the backup, or we would have left y’all to it.” Zander’s tone was serious.
The waiter came back to the table with their beers, and Zander stopped speaking. Nix nodded and shot the beta a grateful smile. “Thank you,” he said.
