The emotions I had managed to blink away are back, and I swipe my cheek on Ronin’s shoulder. Ty’s love is deep and as raw as he is. Keeping her safe will forever be one of his goals in life.
“He’s going to be worse than he has been,” Ronin says, watching my twin closely.
With the small emergency averted, Ronin shuffles me around. “You can’t rush her, Raff. She’s going to be in a state of shock, seeing us. Throw in all of us showing up at once, she’ll naturally feel like we’ve been deceiving her, since everyone’s in on our visit.”
I nod, agreeing completely. Trying to stop the clawing need to feel Tally in my arms by repeating how we’re going to approach letting Tally know we’re here. “Joe goes in first. She’s armed and twitchy.”
“Aye to both.”
“Need to approach her from her left-hand side.”
Ronin doesn’t have to agree and nod his head to everything I say, but he does. Because, as much as we have Tally needing our attention, my Omega side is spiraling out of control. It’s her discomfort and pain bringing out my desperation to hold her tight, hide her under a mountain of blankets, and promise to keep her safe forever and a day.
Keegan, Ronin, and Joe let me keep running through the same thing we’ve been preparing for since the day we found out Tally was alive.
Tynan returns after a while, stopping the panic quelling inside me with one of his small smiles. He looks over each of us with equal measure and respect before speaking. “I canna wait no more.”
Chapter Sixty-One
TALLY
Harris’s face pops into view. I heard him asking me the first time. I knew he was hovering, waiting for a response. He knew I was ignoring him, which is why he’s in front of me, making it impossible for me to pretend he’s not talking to me. “Did you want to get the door for Joe?”
It’s a loaded question, and one I can’t figure out the answer to.
Getting up from my seat by the fire, I walk past him, still not sure how to answer. I don’t stop shuffling until I’m at my bedroom door. Without turning around, I ask, “Did you know?”
“Of course.” He answers decisively, without any time passing. “My only job is to keep you safe.”
I shut the door and lock it, climbing into bed, closing my eyes and breathing through the fact it’s not just Joe waiting to come inside. I’m torn, getting pulled in all directions by my emotions, and the voices in my head, and the longing in each strand of my DNA. It’s exhausting, and instead of packing my bags andbegging Harris to get me out of here, the last of my reserves completely drain away.
For the first time in a long time, there’s no frantic buzz on my skin, no endless chatter inside, filling my thoughts. Just a deep nothing that swallows me whole.
TYNAN
It’s not that I don’t respect Tally’s decision or understand her need to deal with our arrival her way. I simply can’t be away from her for a second longer.
Perhaps it was the look in my eye, but the UK Protected Persons Service officer who’s been caring for my wife handed over the key to her door without too much trouble. I don’t count his wordy threat of a slow, painful death if I hurt her. Shit, I’d throw myself to the wolves if anything I did brought her pain.
Worry coats my skin, though. Jesus, I question if I read her right back home, argue there’s no doubt I did. As soon as I open the door, I know I’m where I’m meant to be.
Leaving the key in the lock, as a token gesture, but firmly shutting the door, I think I take the first breath without feeling like I’m suffocating in eighty-seven days. She’s in a cocoon of blankets, facing away from the door, and I’m kneeling in front of her, my fingers on her face without realizing I’ve taken a step. But that’s how things are with us, and I need to trust myself more when it comes to our bond.
She doesn’t flinch or move a muscle as I run my fingers over her face. The deep, dark bags under her eyes are hard to stomach because they’re a reminder of her struggle, but they don’t detract from her stunning beauty. Her scent is off, but we’d known it would be since Tally’s been on a course of hardcoreOmega suppressants since the hospital. Her choice. And I back her decision entirely, but I fucking ache for her scent.
Pressing my lips to her forehead, I freeze on the spot when she takes a shaky exhale before her breathing deepens in the next inhale. Moving slowly, I extract her hand from under her pillow, guiding her arm closer to where I’ll be sitting. Once I park my arse on the floor, I interlace our fingers and rest in the peace of her touch. It’s enough, her hand in mine, but that doesn’t stop me from pressing the back of her hand to my lips, keeping them there as I lean back against the mattress and shut my eyes.
Without question, I’m absolutely fucking relieved and elated to be given the chance again to be in Tally’s world. Completely fucking exhausted by the struggles I’ve faced, while also knowing she’s battling more than all our trauma put together.
RONIN
Tynan disappeared within minutes of us walking up the stairs. Since then, I’ve checked over every inch of her space, making sure we’re as safe and protected as can be. Along the way, I’ve touched over every item she has lying around and questioned once again, if we’re doing the right thing.
I know we are. I fucking do. But at the same time, I’ve been in a similar spot as her, so I understand how fucking twisted a person’s mind can get. After Noinin got taken, I came close to topping myself more times than I can count. Dealing with the endless guilt, knowing I was the last to see her, her final line of defense. And when my baby sister needed me the most, I wasn’t there. It’s a fucking bitter, broken glass-covered pill I’m forced to swallow daily. Which is why I also know, from past experience, being surrounded by people who love you with every fucking fiber of their being is an important step in surviving.
Sitting on a chair that Tally has obviously spent a lot of time in, I call home. Jeanie answers on the first ring. “You made it, then? She’s okay?”
“We made it. We’ve just arrived, and she’s having a lie down.”
