Since then, he questioned if he’d acted in haste, if he could have made them see reason, if there was some othersolution, if he should have accepted the challenge, if his brothers should have been consulted—the ‘if’ list was endless. But each time Hunter thought about that meeting, he could never figure out which choice would’ve been better than the one he made. That night, when he arrived home, Hunter sat outside, staring at their house—which wasn’t theirs anymore. It belonged to the new Alpha. Finally, when Mason opened the front door, and called to him, Hunter got up and went inside.
The reaction of his brothers was what he expected, but he didn’t expect the sad smile his mother gave him. She never said a word to him about his decision; in the end, life went on—he moved everyone to the new house he’d built and his brothers pursued their dreams. But in the dark of night, when he’d lie awake thinking of the life he was supposed to have, that’s when he knew he’d never get over it—missing out on the role he was born to play.
Until the moment his mate returned his hug. Happiness in his heart, soul and mind was his again; the Fates had given him a mate who healed his soul, giving him a new purpose, one where all his studying and training could be put to use. Leaning down, Hunter kissed Fionn’s head, vowing to the Fates he would not fail them—that he would cherish his mate forever. When Fionn finally sat upright, he noticed the joy on his face and, grinning in return, asked, “Better now?”
“Uh-huh, but would you mind if we met with Oracle tomorrow?”
“Not at all. I’ll let Jackson know. Now, what’s on the agenda today?”
“Do you like this room?” Fionn asked.
Checking out the suite, Hunter nodded. “It’s nice…good bathroom, pleasant sitting room, but more importantly, it has a giant kick-ass bed for our hanky-panky.”
“Then is it okay if I move in here with you? I just have a bedroom now, in the north wing, but Cody told me I could pick my room,” Fionn said. “Right now I’m next to Theo and Norm but they’re pretty loud at night. Wecouldmove to a suite over there, but I don’t know if any are available because Ki and Logan will need one and so will Zane and David. Plus, there’s going to be a bunch of newborn pups over there soon, so maybe being in the south wing would be better.”
“I don’t care where we are as long as I’m with you. Are you sure you want to be this far away from your friends?”
“I do. It’ll feel like I have some independence and I like that. And besides, I can see them any time I want. Does that make sense?”
“Perfectly. Why don’t we go get your stuff and bring it here?”
“Okay.” Jumping from his mate’s lap, Fionn began to get into his clothes. “Today is going to be a great day, I just know it.”
Grinning at his mate’s exuberance, Hunter dressed quickly and, reaching for Fionn’s hand, pulled him over. “Did I ever tell you how happy you make me?”
Fionn’s eyes rounded as he shook his head; no one had ever said that to him except his mother. Giving his mate a wide smile, he said, “The same goes for me about you.”
~/~/~/~/~
“Is this all you have?” asked Hunter, staring at three small trunks sitting in a corner of Fionn’s room.
Kneeling on the floor, looking under his bed, Fionn’s answer was a muffled, “Uhhh, yeah.”
“Pet, what are you doing?”
“Looking for something.” Sitting up, Fionn’s eyes searched his room, wondering where it was.
“What is it? Maybe I can help.”
“My backpack…it has my draw…oh shit. I left it in the kitchen last night,” Fionn said, groaning, remembering why he was there. “Hells bells, Dakota is going to kill me when he sees the mess I made.”
“No way, pet, he has to killmesince I caused you to drop everything.”
“Uh-uh, I’m pretty sure he’ll blame me.” Worrying his bottom lip, Fionn couldn’t make up his mind what to do. Facing Dakota was the last thing he wanted; he knew from past arguments with his father that angry confrontations never boded well for him. On the other hand, Fionn didn’t want anyone to see his drawings, especially those he was sketching during the past few days.
“Do you want me to get it?”
Shaking his head, Fionn wasn’t going to subject his mate to Dakota’s anger when it was he who dropped all the food on the floor. “Maybe I can go later tonight,” he said.
“What about your friend? Theo, is it? He brought us breakfast. Can he bring it here?”
Fionn’s face brightened. “Good idea.” Picking up his phone, he typed out a quick message to his friend. “Okay, we can go now. I asked him to bring it to our room.”
Hefting a trunk onto each shoulder, Hunter said, “I’ll take these two suckers.”
Carrying the third, Fionn, followed his mate out of the room, smiling as he watched Hunter’s sexy ass wiggle.
~/~/~/~/~
