Heading over to the bags, Norm smiled to himself, glad Theo’s blues were gone—at least for the moment. The problem though, was whatever was causing his honeybunch’s unhappiness would be surfacing again and he was at a loss as to what to do about it. Distracting Theo was a temporary fix, but he was sure it wasn’t going to help in the long run.
Picking up a bag, Norm hefted it over his shoulder before making his way back to the spot where Theo wanted it put. The repetitiveness of the job freed his mind to try to figure out why Theo wouldn’t tell him what was bothering him. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t tried to find out, but Theo dismissed every inquiry, claiming everything was fine, or worse, changed the subject.
Dropping another bag on top of the first, Norm paused for a moment. His fiancé was humming a tune. It was a song Theo’s mother had sung to him and he’d taught it to Norm the first year in Arald’s prison—when Theo was sure his parents would come to get him. But when he realized it wasn’t going to happen, Norm never heard him sing it again. Once he’d tried to sing it to Theo on a particularly bad day in an attempt to cheer him up, but Theo had stopped him, saying it was too painful to listen to.So why is he humming it today? Is it a clue as to why he’s now sad so much of the time?If it were, Norm couldn’t decipher the meaning of it and the only person who might was thousands of miles away in France.
Chapter 8
Glancing at Hunter, Fionn waited until his mate nodded his assent, before approaching the forlorn Alex. He understood the real reason behind his brother’s miserable expression. Slipping his arm over Alex’s shoulder and giving him a slight squeeze, Fionn waited until only Hunter, Quin and Alex remained in the room. “Your mates will come back, you know.”
Dashing a lone tear away, Alex looked at his brother with a shaky smile. “I know…it’s just…that…”
“You’re afraid of losing another person in your life,” Fionn said softly.
Nodding sadly, Alex brushed away another stray tear. “Stupid, right? Just because it happened before doesn’t mean it’ll happen this time.”
“Exactly,” Hunter said while sending out his Alpha power in an effort to sooth Alex. “Unfortunately, our minds are fickle things and even though there’s little chance of something going wrong, our minds always expect the worst to occur.”
“Hunt’s right,” Quin said, “and so is Fionn. I know my brother and trust me, Sawyer will be all right…and Glenn, too.”
“Thanks, Q,” Alex replied, sniffling. “It’s just the waiting for them to return that’s going to be so hard.”
“That’s why I have a surprise for you!” Fionn exclaimed.
“A surprise? Really?” asked Alex, gazing at his brother. “Do my mates know what it is?”
“Yup!” squealed Quin. “This is gonna be so much fun. I’ve never done this.”
“Done what?” asked Alex, his curiosity overcoming his glumness.
“I’m taking you to see my hoard!” Fionn exclaimed, grinning broadly. “And before you refuse, Glenn and Sawyer thought it was a great idea.”
Frowning, Alex asked, “I thought your hoard’s in California.”
“It is,” Fionn replied. “We’ll use the portal to go there. Mystia changed the settings so we all can use it. Ready?”
The only response was “yes” as far as Alex’s dragon was concerned, yet even with the delight Alex sensed from his animal, he still hesitated. Leaving France while his mates were in danger wasn’t sitting well. “I don’t know…what if they need me? They won’t be able to contact me.”
Hunter spoke up. “Mystia took care of that. All they have to do is call your name and the portal will take us directly to them.”
“Do they know this?” asked Alex.
“They do,” Hunter answered.
“Okay…and you are sure they know where I’ll be?” asked Alex.
“Absolutely,” Hunter said.
“So, you’ll go?” asked Fionn, his eagerness barely contained.
Hesitating for a moment, Alex finally nodded, knowing he couldn’t refuse his dragon or his brother something they both wanted so badly.
~/~/~/~/~
Luckily for Ghost, Riley was able to hack the trackers Smokey found on the humans allowing him to keep tabs on his men as they descended the mountain. Unfortunately, he was still an hour away from them; a rutted dirt road he’d turned onto forced him to slow down. Frustrated, he pressed the call button on the steering wheel, hoping an update on the situation would ease his uncertainty. If there was one thing he hated it was a delay in a mission—which was happening now. The call finally connected, and Ghost wasted no time with niceties. “Where the fuck are my men?”
“They’re still on the mountain,” Riley replied.
“Why?”
