“I’m going to talk to Hunter,” I said, the urgency to race from here almost sending the plate crashing to the ground. “You need to stretch your wings.”
Talon gripped the edge of the plate, keeping us both intact. “We have a trip to Europe planned once your other mates return. To explore the twin soul connection. I can wait for that.”
I hated that Fletcher’s way of punishing and conditioning him was to keep him isolated, and now we were doing the exact same thing. It had bothered me from the start, but now I’dgrown to care for the big bastard, it was hurting us both. When we returned from the volcano, I would be insisting he stay in the house with us.
Either we learned to trust him, or he went back to the evil dictator—this couldn’t continue indefinitely.
I slid down the bars to sit, and Talon joined me, staying close so our sides touched. We often sat like this, and our beasts would mingle, sending sparks through the bond.
“You want a taste?” I asked, holding out the fork.
His lips tilted up once more and I shivered at his dark gaze. “I absolutely want a taste.” He turned and brushed his lips across my shoulder, another of the many touches he now initiated. “Then I’ll try the cake.”
I snorted. “Ah, such a cliché line.” The tingles in my core indicated that cliché or not, I was a bit of a fan. Omegas must have been designed to require many,manyorgasms. It didn’t seem to matter how much sex I was getting; all of my mates elicited this response in me.
Apparently, the goddess gave you as much as you could handle, and for me, that was five alphas.
Talon took my proffered fork and slid it through the end of the cake, lifting the piece up to my lips first. Experience had taught me that arguing with an alpha trying to feed me was futile, so I ate his offering, relieved to find the cake was moist and flavorful. It was a new recipe, which always came with challenges.
Talon fed me bits of everything on the plate, and I groaned at the excess of sugar dancing across my tastebuds. When he was finally satisfied I’d had enough, he took his first bite of the honey cake, and I was pleased by his throaty sigh.
“This honey tastes almost as good as you do.”
The only realtastehe’d had of me was my blood during our forced mating. A memory I didn’t relish. And while I’d nevercondone his actions, I had grown to understand the true core of Talon, and I had forgiven him.
Anger was a painful and draining emotion to hold on to forever. Once I started to release mine for Talon and Finley, I felt lighter, more at peace with myself and the future I was ready to claim.
Talon made short work of the rest of the sweets, and when the plate was empty, he didn’t appear as drained as when I walked in. I stayed for another few hours, dragging a half decent conversation out of the generally reticent beast. Even if some of the answers to my questions were painful to hear.
It turned out that Talon didn’t have a favorite color, had never celebrated a birthday, and he wasn’t sure what he’d have done with his life if he wasn’t enslaved to a looney alpha.
Each of those answers upset me, until eventually I stopped asking questions and just held his hand. “Your birthday is on the thirty-first of October,” I said, my voice wavering. “Which is Halloween in the human world.”
He considered that for a beat. “What’s Halloween?”
While the day was a human tradition, most shifters still knew about it. “Oh, well, it’s this night where humans dress up as anything they want.Could be monsters or celebrities or inanimate objects. They dress up, they celebrate everything spooky, and they go around to houses and ask for candy.”
Talon’s perfect face creased in confusion, the scar pulling against his lip. “Why would they do that?”
I shook my head. “Honestly, I’m not totally sure of the history behind it, but there’s definitely a reason for the tradition. I don’t even think it originated here in the States, but they adopted it and celebrate every year.”
Talon still appeared confused, shrugging as he said, “As I’ve never had a birthday before. I don’t imagine I’ll even remember.”
I made a vow that I would remember for him. The pack had made my day special in a way that I’d never forget, and I could do the same for each of them.
“Wait,” Talon called, as I stretched out my legs, reluctant to leave but knowing dinner was soon. “When’s your birthday?”
His expression was expectant, and I hurried to say, “It was on the twelfth of December. Almost a month ago.”
Talon grew super quiet, and there was another drop in his energy. “I missed it,” he said, a hint of question in his tone. “I’m so sorry, mate.”
Technically, he had been with me for it, he just didn’t know at the time.
Turning his way, I slid my hands through the bars. “No, it’s totally okay. I never celebrated my birthdays either. My mom wasnot nice,and I usually forget the day too.”
Talon didn’t look convinced, his expression a mixture of anger and sadness that had my stomach lurching. “I met your mother once when Blaine brought her home. She wasn’t fit to be blessed with a child, and that’s all I’ll say about that.”
Where was the lie?
