An indescribable wave of relief swept through Titan.
“You’re good people too,” Titan murmured. He had glimpsed Mathlin on the edges of his pack ever since he’d shown up, but he had been too busy juggling his businesses to take a closer sniff. Until now.
“I don’t want to think about him coming after me,” Mathlin mumbled. “It’s not like we can do anything against a wizard; we’re shifters.”
“Call Uriel. He might have ideas. But call him using my phone.” Titan sighed, glancing at the bakery’s front door. “But first, we should print that notice, in case anyone else barges in and we have to put on another act.”
Mathlin looked at the floor. “Okay.”
Was it Titan, or did the omega sound disappointed?
Titan wished—again—that he could use his arms. “I want to hug you so badly.”
Mathlin looked up, the corners of his mouth twitching. “Really?”
“Yes.”
Mathlin fidgeted. Then, shyly, he said, “I can hug you. You’re not the only one with arms.”
He parted his arms and legs; Titan didn’t wait for another invitation to step closer. Those thin arms wrapped easily around Titan’s back, pulling him flush against Mathlin’s chest.
Titan exhaled and closed his eyes. “Fuck, that feels good. I didn’t realize how much I needed a hug, after all this crap landed on me. Pretend that I’m hugging you back.”
Mathlin laughed quietly. “What if I pretend that you have octopus arms? You could hug me with eight arms instead of two. That’s four times better than a normal hug!”
“You may as well look for an octopus shifter. I don’t have eight arms.”
“Maybe I will!”
Titan couldn’t help the growl that rose in his throat. No, he really didn’t like the thought of Mathlin wrapped up in another alpha’s arms.
But Mathlin wasn’t his, either.
With great difficulty, he muttered, “Only after your contract is up.”
Mathlin nodded sagely. “Who else is going to help you fend off Mrs. Everdin? She might tell people you became a snail shifter and slimed their homes overnight, and they’ll all come in with pitchforks.”
Titan snorted. “Thanks for the laughs, too. I meant it when I said you’re amazing.”
Mathlin blushed, ducking his head.
Want him,Titan’s instincts rumbled.
They were quiet for a while, the silence filled with their thumping hearts, their breaths rustling in and out.
“What else do you think Mrs. Everdin has told everyone?” Mathlin asked.
Titan groaned. “Whathasn’tshe told everyone?”
“Do you think she told people that we’ve been turned into zombies?”
“Maybe she told them we’ve been bitten by radioactive spiders,” Titan said dryly. “Or that we’re now muscular mutant turtles living in a sewer.”
“Or maybe you have a harem of tree monsters waiting for your fertile juices.”
Titan cringed. “Don’t call it that.”
Mathlin snickered. Titan shook his head, wondering how he had grown so fond of this omega in the span of a few hours.
