Eight years ago, an Omega from Golden Valley had come to Green Field. Alpha Jackson had insisted that Keith meet Timothy Tillers, which was odd because Rupert generally wanted him out of sight and out of mind. Though Rupert offered no explanation for the change in his behavior, once Keith met Timothy, he didn’t mind, because something in Timothy’s scent triggered him. Having grown up without family, he had always yearned for a mate of his own and he had been certain that Mother Nature would bless him with someone wonderful. When he met that person at nearly eighteen years old, he had been overjoyed.
“You smell nothing like him,” Keith said, mind swimming.
This man—Brian Berger—also looked nothing like him—he was taller, broader, more muscular, similar to Keith’s size when he was at his regular weight. He had a kind face and the warmest eyes. Plus, he was an Alpha, not an Omega. But those weren’t the most critical differences. When Keith thought about it, he couldn’t describe Timothy’s scent and he hadn’t felt summoned by it, encompassed by it. When he met Timothy, his brain fogged, and he believed he was standing in front of his mate. But his draw to Brian wasn’t driven by thought; it was deeper, all consuming. Every particle of his being was prickling with awareness, need, joy, and peace.
“You’re awake.” Brian let out a relieved breath, worry lines easing from his forehead, and sat down. “How do you feel?”He raised his hand and caressed Keith’s cheek, his soft touch trailing warmth and pleasure.
“Confused.” Everything with Timothy had fallen apart quickly and horrifically when, despite Keith’s best efforts, Timothy rejected him, ran back to Golden Valley, and killed most of the Alpha’s family along with himself. He had hated himself for having failed his mate, certain that he hadn’t been worthy.
“Who are you?”Mate, his soul responded.Mate. Mate. Mate.“How is this possible?” He had already been given a mate and hadn’t been able to save him; he didn’t deserve another chance. He leaned toward the impossibly handsome Alpha and inhaled, calmness immediately filling him. Why did this feel completely different, incomparably so? Had he finally died? Was this the afterlife?
“Where am I?” he said to himself as he sat up and looked around the room. Curtained windows, sturdy wood furniture, warm blankets. It wasn’t fancy like Rupert’s house, but it was clean and orderly.
“You’re in Purple Sky.” Brian continued his gentle strokes, palm smoothing over Keith’s face and neck.
Nobody had ever touched him so tenderly, so intimately; reflexively, he leaned into it.
“I’m Brian Berger, the Alpha here.” Brian rubbed his lips together and cleared his throat. “You’re my mate.”
Keith’s breath hitched. “You can feel it too?” he rasped.
“Of course.” Brian dipped his face forward, inhaled, and then smiled serenely. “How could I not?” He scrunched his eyebrows together. “Are you confused because I’m an Alpha? I realize that’s not typical, but I’ve seen it work. The pack I grew up in—”
“He never could,” Keith said, mostly to himself. He pressed his nose to Brian’s throat and felt his strong body tremble and his scent deepen. “Something’s not right.”
“What…” Panting, Brian clutched Keith’s biceps. “What’s not right?”
“This isn’t like the last time.” He dragged his nose up and his lips skated over Brian’s skin. “Not at all.” He considered the situation. “Thisis right.Thatwasn’t,” he realized.
“Last time?” Brian gulped, his fingers twitching.
“When I met my other mate,” Keith explained. “It wasn’t like this.”
Seemingly as soon as his words registered, Brian’s scent soured and his body stiffened. “Other mate?” He jerked back. “Whatothermate? You’remymate!”
That was true. Undeniable. He nodded in agreement. “I am. IknowI am.”
“I’myour mate.” Brian ground his teeth together. “You can’t have another mate.”
“I think maybe…” The last couple of months had stripped him of his energy and he was nowhere near his best, so he was struggling to reconcile what he was experiencing with what he had believed for his entire adult life. “He wasn’t.” But then what had Timothy been to him? Why had he believed him to be his mate?
“Who are you talking about?” Brian’s voice shook, his tone having shifted from soft to angry and now anxious. “What other mate?”
The last thing he wanted was to upset this man, but he was overwhelmed, struggling to make sense of everything in his mind and body. “Can I take a shower?” he asked. Maybe cleaning his body would help do the same to his mind. Plus, it would give him a quiet place to think.
“A shower?” Brian blinked a few times and then looked him over from head to toe. “I forgot. I promised you could bathe after the IV. You must feel grimy from the traveling and”—he swallowed hard—“whatever you went through before that.”
He did feel gross. There was a toilet and sink in his basement room, but he could never get fully clean washing himself with a cloth, and he didn’t remember the last time he’d had the desire to bother or the energy to try. Ashamed to appear this way in front of his mate, he curled in on himself. “I probably smell terrible. I'm sorry.”
“Not to me, you don’t.” Brian shook his head and caressed Keith’s cheek again. “But I know you’ll feel better once you’re clean.” He rose to his feet and then hooked his arm around Keith’s shoulder and tugged him up. “Come on. I’ll help you.”
“I can stand and walk and take a shower on my own.” He grinned at the protective Alpha beside him, intrigued by those instincts being aimed in his direction. “I’m stronger than I look.” He winked and studied his mate. With them both standing, he confirmed that they were the same height. Brian’s eyes were a rich, calm brown. His face was perfectly symmetrical, jaw sharp, classically handsome. His hair was curly to Keith’s straight, but equally dark. He was the most stunning person Keith had ever seen. “How old are you?”
“I’m thirty-three and you were unconscious ten minutes ago.” He tightened his arm. “I’ll help you. I don’t want you to fall and hit your head.”
“I was just resting my eyes, and don’t worry, I’m hard to kill.” Something he knew from personal experience. Remaining alive had been one of his failures, but as he stood beside Brian Berger, he reevaluated that notion. “I’m almost twenty-six,” he volunteered.
“When’s your birthday?” Brian asked as he led them across the room.
