“Don’t you dare.” Brian said playfully as he pulled the plate toward him. “I’m not done with the delicious meal you made.”
“I thought you said you wanted to eat my meat?”
He considered his exact words. “I'm pretty sure that isn’t what I said.”
“Oh.” Keith frowned and pouted exaggeratedly. “Do you not want to eat my meat?”
The insinuation had his eyes reflexively moving to Keith’s groin. His balls were nicely sized, his sac pink, and his cock was long and thick, even in its relaxed state. Yes, he very much wanted them in his mouth. Amusement giving way to arousal, he licked his lips.
Keith’s laugh pulled his attention back to his smiling face and twinkling eyes. “You’re easy.” He winked and sat back down. “I’m pretty sure it’s one of your best qualities.” He tipped his chin toward Brian’s plate. “Eat, mate.”
Yet again feeling like he was processing at point five speed, he blinked and stared. His emotions had been rocketing in somany directions, so quickly that he was getting dizzy. He had to get himself together so he could support his mate.
“Want me to feed you?” Keith took Brian’s fork from his hand, gathered some of the omelet onto it, and held it up to Brian’s mouth. “Open.”
His lips parted automatically and it wasn’t until he was chewing that he caught up to the situation. “Stop.” He swallowed the food and reached his hand out. “I’m supposed to be taking care of you,” he reminded them both. “You’re injured.”
“I’m fine,” Keith insisted. He handed Brian his fork and picked his own back up. “I’m stronger than I look.”
“You keep saying that.” He ran his gaze over his mate. Keith was gorgeous but not in good shape. No shifter should be that thin, especially not an Alpha. He wouldn’t point that out because he didn’t want to insult Keith’s appearance or his strength, but that didn’t change the truth of the matter.
“That’s because it keeps being true.” Keith once again inclined his head toward Brian’s plate. “Eat before it gets cold.”
He took another bite. “Thank you for making this. I’m supposed to be taking care of you.” He’d do better.
“We can take care of each other. And we made it together.”
Warmth bloomed in his chest. Was this why Jobe didn’t mind being mated to another Alpha? He shook off the thought. Alpha or not, Keith was in a fragile state and he needed care. “I fetched ingredients and watched while you cooked.”
“Exactly. Fan support brings out my A game. We’re a great team.”
“Fan support?” The heaviness lifted and he chuckled. “You’re something else.”
“Are you saying you’re not a fan?” Keith took another bite as he spoke to him in a teasing voice, his eyes lit up with happiness, his beautiful face glowing.
Each time Brian slipped into dark thoughts and worry, Keith effortlessly pulled him out. “I’m a fan,” he agreed sincerely.
“Me too.” Keith’s smile gentled.
They ate in silence for a few moments while Brian mentally caught up to everything his mate had told him. “What happened eight years ago?” he asked once his plate was empty.
“I thought I knew but I now realize that I don’t.”
That response only raised more questions, but before Brian could press him further, Keith continued speaking.
“Eight years ago, an Omega from Golden Valley came to Green Field. At the time, I didn’t know anything about him or why he was there, but I later learned that he had been seeing the then presumptive Alpha of Golden Valley and they’d had some sort of falling out so he was sent away. Rupert brought me to meet him, and when I did, I thought he was my mate.”
Brian growled and then winced. He didn’t want to scare his mate. “Sorry.”
“He wasn’t.” Keith put his hand over Brian’s, which he realized was clenched into a tight fist. Instead of being angry, afraid, or even offended, he was trying to calm Brian. He had never met anyone like Keith. Awed, he stared at him. “Being with you leaves no question that he wasn’t.” Keith frowned. “I don’t understand why I thought he was. I need to figure that out.”
“Where is he now?” Residual anger made his voice rumble. Nobody else could lay claim to his man. He had known Keith Iredell for one day and he was already sure he couldn’t live without him.
“Dead.”
The tightness in his shoulders eased.
“Something wasn’t right with him.” Keith shook his head. “He was all messed up, angry at being taken from the Golden Valley presumptive Alpha, mind all over the place. I tried to calm him, told him I’d help him, but it was like he couldn’t focus,and he wanted nothing to do with me and then…” He sighed and looked up at the ceiling. “He went back to Golden Valley and blew up the Alpha house, killing everyone in it, including himself.”
