Duncan hung up his cell and shucked on his jacket. He was about to storm out of his office just as his cell phone rang again. “Ryland, I don’t have time to talk, I’m on my way home—”
“If it’s about the kids that’s why I’m calling, they’re fine.”
“What do you mean they’re fine?” Still the knots tightened and settled in the pit of his stomach.
“I stepped out of the bunker for a few minutes, and when I came back, I found them talking with Jordan. I figured Parker must be going out of his mind with worry.”
Duncan exhaled and scrubbed his face roughly. “Yeah, he just called. I swear those two are going to give me heart attacks on a daily basis. How did they find him?”
“I don’t know, but you do realize the past few days they’ve been asking for Jordan, and they are very attached to him. Do you think they have formed a bond with him?”
“I don’t know, is that even possible?” Duncan asked. “If they did, you know what that means? They saw him as family from the first time they met him. I still want to know how they found out about the bunker, I never took them there and I know Ben and Mari never did either.”
“Well, he is a nyxian, what if they recognized what he was before we did? And used that bond to find him?”
“It’s a possibility, are you sure they are okay?” Duncan asked.
“Yeah, they are doing alright. I’ll give Parker a call and tell him where they are,” Ryland told him. “I wish we knew more about nyxians than the basics. Did Jordan’s parents tell you how they were able to hide it from him and everyone else?”
“No, not yet. I wanted to give her and Laxus a chance to explain it all to Jordan first. I’m still not sure how they knew my father. So many unanswered questions. I still can’t wrap my head around all of this.”
“I understand. But, I think we should move Jordan, we can’t afford for him to figure out about the other guest we have hidden in the closet, so to speak. I’m going back inside to check on them,” Ryland told him. Duncan heard the door closing.
“Yeah, I agree,” Duncan said.
“I can check with Ayumi and see if it’s alright to take Jordan home if you want?” Ryland asked.
“No, let me do that. I’m going to cancel my appointments for the day and—”
“Don’t do that.” Duncan was shocked, he wasn’t expecting to hear Jordan on the other end of the phone. “It’s very weird hearing you call her that, she’s always been Mom to me.”
“Hey,” he said with a smile on his face even though Jordan couldn’t see it.
“Hi,” Jordan whispered. Duncan thought he sounded good. “Don’t be mad at them, they were worried, and frankly, they didn’t believe you when you told them whatever you did.”
Duncan took off his jacket and loosened his tie. He threw his jacket over the chair. “Hey, you try answering the mountain of why questions to kids who can smell when you’re lying to them. I really didn’t know what to say to them. How are you feeling?”
Jordan snickered. “Next time be honest with them, they understand more than you think. And I’m fine, by the way, I’m ready to go home.” Duncan’s heart started beating very fast at Jordan’s implication. “To our home, if that’s what you want. I mean, I still don’t understand all of the mating stuff and apparently the new me, but if you are willing to try, then so am I.”
“How can you say something like that and not expect me to want to rush home and wrap you in my arms and keep you there all night?”
“Well then, I guess you have an incentive to come home as soon as possible.”
“I guess, I do. I will see you when I get home tonight then.” He couldn’t believe that Jordan was flirting with him when only a few days earlier the man practically ran away from him.
“I’ll wait up for you,” Jordan had told him before they said their goodbyes.
Duncan hung up with a pleasant smile on his face. Things were looking up between him and Jordan. Throwing his phone down on his desk he tucked his hands in his pockets as he walked over to the large windows behind his desk, looking out at the bustling city. Other than the possibility of someone coming after his pack, things in his life were looking up. Duncan scratched at the rash on the left side of his chest and neck that had been bothering him for a couple of days. He’d been so busy and worried about Jordan, he forgot to have Blayze take a look at it.
Duncan chuckled to himself. Finally, he and Jordan were moving towards their mating. Jordan wasn’t the only one that had questions about his heritage, he wanted to know how Jordan’s parents were able to hide or suppress his nyxian appearance and abilities. He’d heard tales that nyxians were born with special powers. Duncan had no idea what was coming next when it came to his mating. It seemed whatever he did three nights earlier satisfied their bond, keeping the effects to a low hum. Otherwise, Duncan would be feeling as if he was going out of his mind. The desire to be closer to his sodalis amans physically, still pulled at him.
“Soon,” he whispered to himself before closing his mind off to everything else and concentrated on his day. He had a beautiful mate waiting for him at home.
Jordan hugged his mom and then his dad, and watched as they walked to their car before driving off. They helped him back home and got him settled. He was surprised earlier when he woke up and the twins were beside him. He later found out that he was in a bunker that used to be a hospital that was used in the war between the sects. Everything was all new to him, things you hear in fairy tales were becoming true in his life.
He walked up the stairs and checked on Benjamin and Maddison, who were already fast asleep. Jordan smiled and realized he was no longer simply their caretaker. Before the changes happened, he felt a strong connection to the twins, as if they were in his blood.After explaining what he was feeling to his mother, she explained that it was his need for his own family calling out to him.
As a nyxian, once he recognized his sýntrofos, the need to have a family would become very important. It was the bond that the twins developed with Jordan, over his time as their caregiver, that enabled the kids to find him just by his scent. Maddison and Benjamin fell in love with Ayumi and Laxus. They were happy to help her make dinner, while Jordan was told he needed more rest. The unblocking of his abilities still had him feeling a bit loopy. He also noticed that the further apart he and Duncan were, the more tired he felt. His mom told him until he and Duncan solidified their mating bond, he would experience discomfort.
