Chapter 35
As soon as he saw the cottage, Alex instantly fell in love with it, certain that the charming, fieldstone house had been conjured up by fairies. Grinning, he climbed out of the SUV, his eyes taking in every detail from the storybook style roof to the leaded glass windows framed by pink, climbing roses. From the depths of his memories, he remembered seeing something similar in one of the many books he read each summer during his childhood, and recalled his overwhelming desire to some day live in one like it. Now was the time to make his wish come true. “Mates, this is the kind of home I want to raise our cubs in.”
Standing beside him, Glenn gazed up at the house, nodding his head in agreement with his mate; it would be perfect for the three of them. He’d already come to the conclusion that living in the Blackwood Pack house wasn’t going to cut it for him because there were too many shifters there for his tiger ever to feel at ease. And then there was his relationship, or lack of one, with Dylon that would cause endless tension within the pack, putting Sawyer in the middle. And that would not do at all, so he’d come up with the alternative of building a home for just the three of them somewhere near the Blackwood Pack house—though he’d decided to wait until they all returned from France before broaching the idea to his mates.
Watching Alex’s face as he fixated on the house, Sawyer saw the longing he had for it, making it easy for him to agree and, after listening to his mate talk about his childhood, it wasn’t hard for him to imagine what it must have felt like. A shiver went through his heart when he thought of never living in a home filled with love and laughter in the air and vowed their children would never suffer as his mate had. Gazing at the cottage, Sawyer’s mind pictured their cubs and pups playing games in front of a fire on a cold night while he and his mates cuddled together on a huge sofa. It was perfect. “I’m in. When can we start building?”
“What about you, tiger mate?” asked Alex.
“Count me in, too,” Glenn replied.
“Great! Now all we have to do is figure out where,” Sawyer said. “In the meantime, let’s go meet your brother.”
Smiling broadly, Alex strode up to the door and raised his hand, but before he could knock, the door swung open, revealing two men. Glancing at them quickly, it was easy to spot Sawyer’s brother so that meant the other one was…
“Alex,” Fionn said softly, “hi, I’m Fionn, your brother.” No sooner than the words were out of his mouth, Fionn found himself enveloped in Alex’s arms. His brother’s unexpected reaction surprised him but gave him hope his brother would understand why he had to kill their father. Patting his brother’s back in return, he felt his dragon roar with approval at the sight of Alex’s dragon.
Taking a step backward but still keeping his hands on Fionn’s shoulders, Alex grinned at his brother. “My dragon is doing a happy dance just like me…finally meeting you is like a dream come true. I always wanted a brother.”
“You did? Me too!” Fionn exclaimed, returning his brother’s grin. “I was heartbroken when my mother finally told me it wasn’t going to happen. That’s when Gus was born.”
Frowning slightly, Alex asked, “Who’s Gus?”
Chuckling, Fionn replied, “My imaginary brother. From that point on, whenever my mother caught me misbehaving, I blamed Gus.”
“Did she punish him?”
“Yes…but she said it was only fair if she punished me, too, since I was his accomplice.”
Giggling, Alex replied, “Your mother was one smart lady.”
“Yeah…she was,” Fionn said, his smile dimming as his memory of her filled his mind.
Stepping in, Hunter said, “Pet, why don’t you take Alex into the living room…we’ll be in shortly.”
Nodding, Fionn grasped Alex’s hand, leading him through the short entryway and then under the archway to the living room. “Quin is up at the chateau, preparing a bedroom for you and your mates. I haven’t seen what he’s been up to, so….”
“Don’t worry, I’ll blame Gus,” Alex replied, laughing.
Hunter paused for a moment, making sure Fionn and Alex were in the living room, before extending his hand to Glenn. “It’s finally nice to meet the man who the Fates picked out for my wanderlusty brother.”
Smiling, Glenn shook Hunter’s hand. “Nice to meet you, too.” Then, peering over his shoulder, he said, “Maybe we should join our mates.”
Batting Glenn’s abdomen, Sawyer squeezed by him, giving Hunter a warm hug. “How’s it going?”
“Good,” Hunter muttered. “What about Henri? Did you talk to him?”
“Yeah,” Sawyer replied. “He’s cool.”
“Good…good.” Moving aside, he gestured for Sawyer to follow him. “C’mon…they’re waiting for us.”
Glenn followed them, but before he got very far, Hunter grabbed his arm, stopping him. Looking down at the hand holding him, Glenn heard his tiger growl in warning, thrusting forward to deal with the threat. Using his free hand, Glenn slowly lifted Hunter’s hand from his arm. Then, turning his eyes to him, he snapped, “Next time, my tiger will remove it…permanently”
Raising his palms upward to signal he wasn’t a threat, Hunter stepped back. “Sorry…I just wanted to assure you Alex is safe with Fionn.”
“Yeah…well…I hope you’re right,” Glenn muttered.
Shaking his head, Sawyer grabbed his mate’s hand. “Stop with the bodyguard shit. If my brother said Alex is safe, then he’s safe. Now, c’mon, Alex is waiting to introduce us to his brother.”
