That’s when it hits me. A tiny pang of jealousy twinges in my chest when he mentions he knows this omega.
From his time before?
“I don’t like her like that, never have, never will,” Griffin says, not dropping my gaze. “I promise, Sweetheart. You’re the one for me.”
Man, I could get used to hearing that.
“Okay,” I say, flashing a reassuring smile at him.
“Cool, Ash, you can go get her,” Griffin says as he steps up to where I’m curled in Rage’s lap on the bed. He nods down at me. “Can I?”
Rage’s arms tighten around me as he stares down Griffin. Even though no words are spoken, I feel like the looks they’re giving each other communicate a million words.
I reach out through the bond Griffin and I have, tentatively pushing through to the other side. It’s grown weaker with distance. I also think he’s trying to keep some of himself blocked off from me.
When I get through, I realize why.
Inside, he’s barely holding himself together. There’s a whole whirlwind of emotions I can’t even unravel.
Getting the information we needed from his family must’ve been terribly difficult.
“Hey, Rage,” I say, squeezing his bicep and smiling up at him. “Let me give Griffin a hug. It’s only fair. You’ve gotta share me, remember?”
“You don’t have to talk about yourself like you’re something that has to be shared,” Griffin says.
“Well, I’m all of yours. And you’re all mine. But there’s four of you and one of me. So you guys kind of have to share.” My smile remains bright. There’s some hesitation leaking through the bondfrom Griffin, but I don’t understand what part of what I just said doesn’t make sense.
Rage turns his intense gaze down at me. I reach up and cup the scarred side of his face. His expression is written plain as day for me to see. He doesn’t want me to leave, but I think that’s because he’s afraid I’m never going to come back to him.
“I’ll be right back,” I say.
He finally offers me a single nod.
Griffin takes a seat on the foot of the bed next to us and opens his arms for me.
“Hi,” I say, sliding into his lap.
He leans back for a second, ripping off the t-shirt he’s wearing with a single hand.
“Whoa! What’s that for!” I say, my hands flying to his now-bare chest to steady myself.
“Sorry, I just realized I didn’t want to wear that fucking shirt any longer than I had to,” he grumbles, his arms wrapping around me and tugging me close to his body.
“Oh.” Now that I’m closer to him, I realize the faint hint of mold lingers on where his skin met the fabric of that dirty t-shirt.
Jett.
Yeah, I’m glad Griffin tossed that shirt to the floor. If we weren’t short on clothes, I’d want to throw it away. Maybe burn it all together.
Maybe we should still do that, even if we’re short on clothes. I can just borrow clothes from them, if it means getting rid of anything that belonged to that terrible man.
He’s dead now.
Thanks to Rage.
Well, thanks to all of them, really.
And now we have this amazing opportunity to figure out life together. Nothing has ever been more exciting. Sure, it’s a little scary, but I’m not alone.
