“Hey,” Michael whispered, pushing off the wall and coming to stand in front of him. “It’s okay.” His hand twitched, as though wanting to reach for Isaac’s, but he clenched it into a fist instead.
Isaac watched the movement with a tiny spark of disappointment.
“Show me to my room, Isaac.” Michael’s smile seemed full of a sad resignation as he took a small step back. “We can talk more tomorrow.”
His words said in that calm, placating voice sparked a sudden fire in Isaac, as thoughhewas the one acting unreasonably. The spark, rekindled when Michael arrived at his house, now roared to life, and the alpha in him rushed to the surface.
Taking a step forward, he hissed, “Don’t take that tone with me.” Michael’s raised eyebrow only fanned the flames. “Don’t act like I’m the only one going out of my mind here when Iknowyou feel it too.”
Michael’s eyes flashed, the calm facade vanishing. “Of course I fucking feel it.” He pressed a hand to his heart, expression pained as he searched Isaac’s face. “Almost six fucking years, Isaac.”
“I know how long it was.”
“Did you think it was easy for me?” He stepped closer, within touching distance but kept his hands to himself. “I left the man I loved to go and be an alpha for a pack who largely stood for everything we were working against. Some of the things I’ve done—” He broke off and closed his eyes, and Isaac reached for him, hand cupping his jaw, waiting for Michael to look at him again.
“I know.”
“I’ve missed you,” he whispered. “So fucking much, but now that I’m here...”
The lost look in Michael’s eyes mirrored how he felt, and Isaac pulled him close, resting their foreheads together. “It’s hard.”
Michael huffed out a laugh. “Harder than I expected it to be.”
“Did you think we’d pick up where we left off?”
“No... Yes... Maybe?”
The seconds ticked by, the silence broken only by their heavy breaths. “We can’t go back to how we were before.” The words hurt to say, Isaac’s heart aching at the pain in Michael’s eyes. “We weren’t both alphas back then. We didn’t have the weight of a revolution resting on our shoulders.”
“Have we changed that much?”
Yes... and no. Not in the ways that mattered most, Isaac knew. But what did that mean for them? “I don’t know.” He met Michael’s gaze as he realised that wasn’t quite right. “I don’t knowyou. Not the man you are now.” As much as it hurt to say, he realised it was the truth. “And you don’t know me.”
This wasn’t the way he’d imagined their reunion going whenever he’d let himself imagine it. There’d been a lot less talking and a lot more nakedness. Heat licked up his spine at the idea.
Michael’s nostrils flared and he swore under his breath. “You’re not making it easy for me to walk away.” He went to pull back, but Isaac held fast.
“No.”
A pained whine escaped, and Michael grabbed Isaac’s shoulders, backing him into the wall. “What do you want from me, Isaac?”
“I don’t know.” He hated the words, hated feeling so lost, but Michael’s scent surrounded him, making his head swim and his heart clench, and the truth was, he didn’t fucking know what to do with any of it. They had responsibilities now. This wasn’t just about them anymore. They couldn’t afford to fuck this up by trying to rekindle something that might be best left in the past.
Closing his eyes, Isaac reached deep inside and let his instincts guide him because his wolf was a far simpler creature. Not burdened with the complexities of human emotion.
He breathed Michael in, sank into the familiar scent, cleared his mind of all the swirling thoughts of why this was wrong, and let himselffeel.
Lover.
Mate.
Mine.
His eyes snapped open, breath catching, and he slid his hands into Michael’s hair, holding him steady while he met his gaze.
He’s not my mate.
But he could be. Isaac had known the possibility was there five years ago. They both had. But acting on it had never been an option. Maybe it still wasn’t—their world remained in turmoil. But as uncertain as he was about their future together, one thing Isaac knew for sure.
