“Thanks,” Riordan said, taking the donut. “I was filling Patrick in while you were gone.”
Wade nodded, taking a bite of a blueberry cake donut and getting flecks of sugared glaze on his lips. Riordan really wanted to kiss him, but Patrick was in the room, and he wanted to live to see another day.
“We’re supposed to meet with the Boston god pack today. Lady Caith said she’d take Niall back to Brigid. Boston has a hawthorn path in Back Bay Fens, and they left last night.”
“Let’s go see how the Boston god pack is doing,” Patrick said.
They didn’t linger, and when they all made it to the valet outside the hotel, Riordan reluctantly decided to go with his siblings, leaving Patrick to ride with Wade. The sad eyes that Wade turned on him made Riordan almost cave, but he knew Patrick probably wanted to talk to Wade alone.
“We’ll meet you there,” Riordan said before climbing into the front passenger seat of Saoirse’s car. His and Donal’s cars had been utterly destroyed in the fire at their home, and Saoirse’s had survived by virtue of being parked down the street at the time.
Saoirse got into the back seat, letting Donal drive. They pulled out first, idling for a couple of seconds until Wade pulled out behind them. Riordan watched Wade’s car in the rearview mirror, already missing the quiet moment of holding the other man in his arms in the early morning hours.
“Patrick seems a little intense,” Donal said off-handedly.
Riordan snorted. “He saw me leaving the bedroom with Wade this morning. I’m surprised I’m not bleeding.”
“Is he here to take Wade home?” Saoirse asked.
“Wade was always going to leave.”
It ached, knowing they probably only had a few more hours together. With Niall gone and the threat neutralized, Riordan knew there was no further need for Wade to stay in Boston. As much as he wanted Wade to stay with him, Riordan’s clan wasn’t Wade’s pack, and they both had their duties.
“Did you give him your skin?” Donal asked.
“He won’t keep it.”
Donal snorted. “Boyo, I’m not asking if you let him borrow it like you have been. I’m asking if yougave him your skin.”
There was a formality to giving up everything you were to someone you loved when you were a selkie. Riordan desperately wanted to share that with Wade, to give in to the fixation that had hit him in the gut when he’d first met Wade at the dessert table in Underhill. “Someday.”
Donal made an aggravated sound before knocking his fist against Riordan’s shoulder. “Now would be good.”
“Just drive.”
His siblings were kind enough to not pester him about his reluctance, but Riordan didn’t want to back Wade into a corner. He’d rather they come to an agreement slowly so that Wade had ample time to think about if Riordan was who he truly wanted. Because Riordan wanted Wade, and he was pretty certain Wade wanted him, but he would never force Wade into anything.
When they finally made it to the Boston god pack territory, they found nearly all of the street parking was taken. Cars were doubled up in driveways, and they had to go further afield to find a spot. Ella must have had someone on the lookout for them because the front door was open when their small group finally walked up. It was interesting to see the way she froze in the doorway at their arrival, attention focused solely on Patrick.
“Oh,” she said after a moment. “We didn’t know you were coming.”
“Just passing through,” Patrick said easily. “Wade and I are leaving later today. I came to see how your alphas are doing.”
Riordan refused to meet his siblings’ eyes at that news even as Wade sidled close, tangling their fingers together.
“Casey is resting. You’re more than welcome to come inside.”
They all entered the home, and no one asked Patrick for hospitality. Harper came downstairs, going through a formal greeting with Patrick as one god pack alpha to another. The pair got drawn into a conversation that Wade seemed happy enough to escape from.
“This is why Patrick is our alpha,” Wade said after he’d dragged Riordan into the god pack’s kitchen and started rummaging around in their cupboards. “I’m good in a pinch, but he has authority I don’t.”
“Authority for what?”
“I’m pretty sure they’re hashing out an alliance of some sort. We didn’t know Lucien was best friends with Abhartach. If Lucien is going to try to make inroads in Boston for whatever reason, Patrick is letting Harper know we’d be happy to come and deal with him if he becomes too much of a problem.”
Riordan almost wished Lucien would stick around, if only to have an excuse for Wade to come visit. “So you’d only come if there was an emergency?”
“Would you only want me to come for an emergency?”
