Tristan choked on his soda, which promptly went up his nose. That resulted in an all-out disintegration of Matt’s nice orderly meeting, with Bryce banging Tristan’s back, Jason complaining about the soda Tristan had spat all over the table, and Christian grumbling about precious princesses who were too full of themselves for their own good.
Matt shook his head despairingly as he looked at his unruly, unasked-for, exasperating pack. After all these years, all hismistakes, it turned out he’d done something right. He hadn’t just built a pack—he’d built a home.
JESSE
Matt had dismantled all of Jesse’s defenses. The last tiny remnants, the ones Jesse hadn’t been able to surrender completely, crumbled in the days after he’d been hurt. Yeah, Matt was still the bossy britches he always was, and his words sometimes were harsh, but his eyes and his hands were tender, and he’d watched over Jesse—and Karl—with a care that Jesse had never known before.
His care extended to the entire pack. After dinner, while Jesse had tried to make himself useful by helping clean up, only to be told by Bryce to sit and rest, Matt had headed toward the back door. He’d glanced back at the last minute and caught Tristan’s eye.
“Help me with Missy and the foal?” he’d asked, and Tristan instantly dumped the silverware in his hands onto the table in a clattering heap.
Jesse watched them go, fighting a twinge inside. He’d had Matt’s attention and been his focus for the past few days. HeknewMatt had other responsibilities, but that hadn’t stopped the sting when Matt had turned to Tristan instead of him.
A small, petty part of him whispered that now he wasn’t on the verge of dying, Matt could turn his attention back where it belonged—on his pack.And Jesse still wasn’t sure where he fitted into that.
Heknewhe wasn’t being fair. But he also knew what he felt.
Right up until they were curled up in bed together, later that night, another of those pink tasseled lamps casting a dim light. One of these days, Jesse would remember to ask about that particularinterior design choice. But not tonight. He had other things on his mind.
“Missy okay?” he asked. Because he couldn’t quite shake the fear that he wasn’t enough for Matt. That thepackgave Matt something Jesse couldn’t.
Matt drew him closer, and Jesse gave a little huff of frustration. How was he supposed to stay mad when Matt held him like this, skin to skin?
“I wanted to check in with Tristan,” Matt said. “Make sure he was okay after what happened.”
Jesse hadn’t even thought of that. OfcourseMatt would have. He’d have seen Tristan standing there in all that blood, fighting like hell, and refusing to run. Jesse had been so focused on his own survival, he hadn’t thought what it must have been like for Tristan—to watch someone he knew go down and wonder if they’d ever get back up. And then he’d witnessed another wolf being killed in front of him.
Guilt flickered sharp and unfamiliar in his chest. Jesse just got through things and moved on. Maybe Tristan didn’t know how to do that yet.
“He’s okay, though, isn’t he?” he asked, suddenly worried.
Matt pressed a kiss to Jesse’s temple. “I’d be lying if I said yes. He’s not doing too badly, but it’s not something you ever get past—seeing your pack and your friends cut down in front of you.” His voice roughened at the end, and Jesse knew he wasn’t just talking about Tristan.
He levered himself up on Matt’s chest, heroically ignoring the acres of warm, bare skin under his hands in order to look Matt in the eyes. He couldn’t take away what had happened to Matt in the past, but hecouldmake sure he knew everyone here was safe.
“We’re okay,” he said, firm and certain, because Matt needed to hear it. Only after the words were out did he realize that he’dneeded to hear it too. The shadows slowly cleared from Matt’s eyes, until he was looking at Jesse and seeinghim,not whatever lay in his past.
Jesse lay back down on him, loving that he could do this, loving the way Matt’s arms tightened around him.
They lay like that a while, and Jesse was just drifting off to sleep when Matt spoke, his voice rumbling through his chest under Jesse.
“I need to go back to work tomorrow,” he said, and it sounded reluctant.
“You ain’t ready yet,” Jesse pointed out. “About the only thing you’d be able to stop right now would be if the old folks knocked over the liquor store for brandy. And even that’d be questionable.”
Matt’s hand, which had been combing through Jesse’s hair, tightened in it.
“Is that right, Turner?” he demanded.
Jesseknewthat tone in his voice, and suddenly every single part of him was fully awake.
“You going to prove to me otherwise?” he asked.
To his delight, Matt rolled him carefully over so he was above Jesse, and then he looked down at him, eyes teasing. “Hell, yeah,” he said, leaning in and kissing Jesse.
Later, Matt pressed a last kiss to his sweat-damp skin and murmured his name. Jesse held him close, no words needed. Matt was his. He was Matt’s. And he wouldn’t change that for anything.
Chapter Thirty-one
