Chapter 19
Nineteen
Neil
I’m not sure how long I sleep after the early morning interlude, but the next time I open my eyes, sunlight is filtering into the room through the thin curtains.
Raquel is sitting up on her bed, watching some grainy game show on the TV at low volume.
She glances over when I stir and waggles her brows, sending a pointed look at the man behind me as if I didn’t already know he was there.
Besides the happy thrum of the still new bond, there’s an obvious—and impressively large—sign of Wolfie’s human form currently poking me in the ass. I wiggle out of his hold and sit up, making sure the blanket is bunched up over my lap to hide my own “sign” of humanity.
“Scaring the shit out of me aside, he’s pretty hot,” says Raquel, her lips curled with amusement. “Fate has taste.”
“Shit timing though,” I reply, glancing down at my mate.
His features are relaxed in sleep, making him look impossibly young and peaceful.
It’s the first time I’ve ever seen anything close to that on his face, and my chest aches with grief for all he’s suffered.
This is also the first time I’ve truly gotten a chance to look at my mate’s human form, the situation earlier too fraught with tension for me to pay much attention to something like physical appearance.
I brush the ends of his dark blond hair away from his face revealing defined brows framing deep set eyes, a slightly crooked nose, high cheekbones, and a square chin. There’s a harshness to his features, his past written into the shape of his face, but it doesn’t detract from his attractiveness.
In fact, the hint of savagery might even add to it.
I stare at him for a beat, watching his chest slowly rise and fall, then turn my attention back to Raquel. “How long have you been awake?”
“Not long,” she replies. Her eyes dart to the sleeping man beside me again. “He’s human, so now what? How does this all work? Are your lifelines merged?”
I shake my head. “No, that’s not really a feature of the fated mate bond.” I pause. “It is an occasional bug, though. Still, it’s not something we need to worry about right now. The bond hasn’t been… completed yet.”
“Completed? Like…?” She mimes a blow job, then makes a circle with the fingers of one hand and sticks another finger through it.
My cheeks fill with heat, and I can easily imagine the tips of my ears are turning bright red. “I mean, sort of?”
She giggles, then lets out a tiny burp and covers her mouth with her hand, her face going slightly green. She quickly gets up and sprints into the bathroom, the sound of retching following not long afterward.
Oh yeah. Morning sickness. My stomach churns with sympathy, and I try to tune out the sounds coming through the flimsy bathroom door.
A few minutes later, I hear the sink turn on for a few seconds and then Raquel exits the bathroom, looking pale, but slightly less green.
“Feel better?” I ask.
“I hate puking, so not really.” Her jaw tenses and she looks down at the floor, one hand pressed against her stomach. “What am I going to do?” Her eyes come back up to meet mine, a sheen of tears over them. “I don’t know if I’m cut out for this. My mother was… well, you know… What if I’m like her?”
I carefully slide out of bed, walk to her side, and wrap her up in a hug. “You’ll be a great mother.”
“But doing it alone? With Danny gone…” She lets her words trail off and sniffles.
“You’re better off without him,” I say. “And you’re not alone. I’m here for you, even just as cool Uncle Neil.”
Another sniffle. “But what about when you get married or whatever it is fated mates do? Won’t you have to live with other shifters or something?”
“I don’t know. A lot what happens next depends on Wolfie’s pack if he has one. I’m not leaving you behind, so either they’d have to learn to deal with a human in their midst or…” My gaze strays to my still sleeping mate. “Or I’ll have to make some tough decisions.”
“Tough decisions?”
“The fated mate bond at this point is more biology than anything else. It would be uncomfortable to walk away from, and the odds of ever finding someone else would be slim, but… I’d do it for you.”
“I can’t ask you to do that,” she says softly, her cheek resting on my shoulder.
“You don’t have to.” I hug her tighter. “At the end of the day, you’re my family, and if other shifters have a problem with that, then fuck them. Shifters as a whole have never done anything for me, so I don’t feel any particular loyalty to them.”
“And how will he feel about that?” she asks, tilting her head toward Wolfie.
“At the moment, that’s not my problem,” I reply.
“Wolfie and I have the potential to be deliriously happy together, but just because we’re fated, that doesn’t mean our relationship would be effortless, that we wouldn’t disagree sometimes.
We’re still two different people, each with our own ideas and values.
Fated does not mean zero obstacles, no matter what your fanfics say. ”
She lets out a tiny laugh, barely a huff. “You mean fanfics aren’t omegaverse cannon?”
“Considering they often have very different rules depending on the story, no.” I gently rock her from side to side.
“Knots might be a thing, but I’ve never seen one.
I’ve also had sex enough times to know I’m not self-lubricating, and I’m pretty sure the shifter thing would be out of the bag if there were cis-guys walking around pregnant. ”
“But then… what’s the point of having male omegas?”
“Honestly? I have no idea. I’ve never even met another omega. Omegas are rare, male ones like me even more so. I’ve heard some vague rumors about omegas being good luck, but how would anyone prove that?”
She shrugs and lets out a small sigh. “I guess it doesn’t really matter, does it?”
“Probably not.”
Pulling away, she blinks rapidly and runs a finger under her eyes to clear away what I’m pretty sure are tears.
She takes a deep breath, then meets my eyes and offers up a watery smile.
“Okay, now that I’ve gotten my meltdown of the day out of the way, I’m going to see if there’s a vending machine somewhere with some ginger ale or crackers to settle my stomach. ”
She drags her hair into a messy bun, slides her shoes on, and heads out the door. Once it closes behind her, I turn my attention to Wolfie. His eyes are still closed, chest slowly rising and falling, but there’s a tension in his body that gives away the act.
“You can stop pretending to sleep now,” I say.
Immediately, his eyes pop open and he stares up at me, a tiny smile curling at the corners of his lips. His eyes, the same deep hazel color that borders on green as in his wolf form, have a sharp awareness in them as his gaze runs over my face.
“How much did you hear?” I ask, raising my brows.
Holding my gaze, he slowly pushes himself up into a sitting position, the blanket pooling in his lap and leaving his rather impressive chest bare.
He tilts his head toward the door and opens his mouth.
No sound comes out and he scowls in frustration, then massages his throat with one hand. After a few seconds, he tries again.
“Sister?” His voice is a deep baritone, rumbling up from his chest.
I guess that means he heard most of it. I hold back a wince. I’m not grateful exactly, but happy enough that fate matched me with him, and I don’t want him to feel like I want to walk away from this.
Because I don’t.
“Uh, yeah.” I approach the bed, my steps slow and unsure, then sit on the edge near his legs. “Not by blood of course, but in every way that matters.”
He nods to himself, continuing to absentmindedly rub at his neck.
“I have… I have…” His voice cracks and he coughs.
“A brother.” He reaches out and takes my hand, wrapping his fingers around mine and squeezing gently.
“I understand family.” He lifts my hand and places it against his chest, the skin warm under my palm. “Blake.”
It takes a second for the last word to process, but I finally get it and a choked half laugh escapes me, the sound rather awkward.
Kind of like this entire situation now that I think about it.
I’m in a dingy roadside motel with a naked man I just met, who is supposed to be my forever, having a “me Tarzan, you Jane” moment.
My expression must show some of my thoughts because Wolfie chuckles and breaks into a wide grin, amusement flickering in his eyes.
“Blake?” I repeat. “That’s your name?”
He nods eagerly, releasing my hand.
“Well, that’s good to know,” I say. “You probably already know my name is Neil, right?”
Another nod.
I gesture toward the door. “And she’s Raquel.”
He frowns and glances down at his hands. “Sorry. For scaring her.”
“It’s… well, not okay, but we understand,” I say, my voice softening. “Like I said earlier, I know you must have been through a lot, so I’m not going to hold your trauma reactions against you.”
“The human…” He rubs at his throat again as if his words are stuck and he has to massage them out. “I didn’t mean to. Kill him.”
I snort. “Danny is no loss to the world, so I’m not going to hold that against you either. In fact, I kind of wish I’d had the nerve to do it myself.”
“Thank you,” he says softly.
“For what?”
He looks up at me from under his brows, jaw tight, and mouth set in a firm line. “Getting me out of there.”
“Well, I don’t think we would have gotten out of there without you, so consider us even on that front,” I say.
“I—” The door swings open, and Blake’s mouth slams shut as his face swings in that direction, his whole body going tense as if preparing to pounce.
Raquel hesitates in the doorway, eyeing Blake and biting at her lower lip. “Um, hi.”
He closes his eyes and takes a slow breath, appearing to force him muscles to relax. “Hello.”
If my friend is surprised by the fact that’s he’s speaking, she hides it well, moving into the room and shutting the door behind her, then sitting down on the edge of other bed. She holds out a folded paper rectangle.
“They had some paper maps in the lobby,” she explains.
“I thought it might be useful to figure out where we’re going.
” One side of her mouth lifts upward, her gaze going to Blake.
“Of course, that was when I thought we’d be limited to yes or no questions and having you point at things with your nose.
Now that you’ve found your voice, maybe you can just tell us where we’re going besides east? ”
“Rockcastle,” he says, eyes hard and a slight chill entering the deep rumble of his voice. “That’s my pack. Or used to be.”
“Why don’t you sound very happy about that destination?” she asks.
Blake’s entire face darkens, brows lowering. “They collared me. Sold me to Doyle.”
“Sold you…?” Raquel blinks, staring at him incredulously.
My mate nods silently, but I can see him swallowing like something is stuck in his throat. His words still aren’t coming like they should I guess. “And my brother. The same day as me, but… escaped. Need to find him.”
I reach down and take his hand. “And you think your brother is with your old pack?”
“Maybe. I don’t know.”
Raquel and I exchange a look. “Why would he go back there?” I ask, hesitantly. “It doesn’t sound like it’d be safe for him.” Or us.
He clears his throat. “Part of their… network has been taken down by the triumvirate. The human middlemen are dead. No more sales.”
“How do you know that?” I ask.
“I overheard,” he says. “They were talking outside my cage, complaining about getting new fighters.” He lets out a frustrated noise and rubs at his neck.
“There’s a back way onto pack territory, where the…
holding area is. There will be records. Of transactions.
If my brother hasn’t returned to Rockcastle, those records could tell me where he was sent.
” Those hazel eyes meet mine. “Please. Help me find him.” He swallows.
“Afterward, if you don’t want… I won’t try to stop you. ”
“If I don’t want what? You?”
His gaze moves to where our fingers are twined together. “Yes.”
Clearly, he heard every damn word of mine and Raquel’s earlier conversation. I sputter, fumbling for words. “When I said…that’s not…I…what?”
Raquel laughs. “What my not-so-eloquent friend is trying to say is that he does want as long as having a human hanging around isn’t going to be an issue. Right, Neil?”
I nod. “The only way I’d walk away from this, from you, is if there was some kind of danger to Raquel.” He winces, and I reach out to cup his cheek. “Not from your wolf, from other shifters, like a pack you wanted to return to that wouldn’t accept her.”
“Really?” The word is soft, hesitant.
“Really. I might not always do the smartest things, but I know how rare fated mates are. I’m not a complete dumbass.
” Raquel snorts, and I shoot her a quick glare.
“Even with the shitty circumstances, I’m glad we found each other, and I’m more than happy to help you find your brother. I understand family too.”
Hope lights his eyes and he blinks a few times before whispering, “Thank you.”
“Of course,” I say, stroking my thumb across his cheek. “You’re not alone anymore.”
Raquel sniffles. “Okay, you guys have got to stop being so cute now. You’re going to make me cry—not that it takes much these days.”
I roll my eyes, letting out an exaggerated sigh, and Blake chuckles. Dropping my hand to my lap, I turn to my friend. “So, what’s next on your agenda then?”
“First, does your new boyfriend have a name besides Wolfie?”
I chuckle. “Yeah. His name is Blake.”
She nods and then holds the map up. “Well, Blake here is going to point out this Rockcastle place because I have no idea where that is. Then, once we figure out where we’re going, we can make a plan for exactly what we’re going to do when we get there.”