Chapter Twelve
“ D on’t make me regret this,” Miguel hisses. “If Sylvia and Brandon realize I gave you their daughter’s address, they might kick me to the curb.”
“I’ll never tell. Don’t worry. Thank you for this. Even if she won’t listen to us, we can at least help her out with her heat if she needs us to.” I sigh. “It’s better than nothing.”
“Don’t fuck this up, Carter.”
“I won’t. Now, get back to your lovers.” I hang up the phone, settling back into my seat as we pull into a long driveway.
Aidan lets out a whistle from the driver’s seat, and I get it. Lila’s new house is much bigger than her last one, and it’s on the beach. I’m not all that surprised after finding out she created an app called Heat Assist. She’s likely doing really well for herself without us .
Clearly, she’s not mated yet, as she was at the meet and greet. Plus, Miguel told me during our conversation. The last he knew, she had found no one for her heat when her mom’s heat started. That’s why we’re currently sitting outside her house. We don’t want her to have to go through her heat alone because of us, and if she’s in there alone, it’s one hundred percent on us.
Ten years.
We were gone for ten fucking years, and the entire time, all we could think about was getting back to Lila. It’s not like we had much of a choice in leaving or staying away. There are so few people in any of the realms who know what we did to save the world—or worlds, I guess. I don’t even care about that, except when it comes to Lila.
There was always going to be a chance she moved on while we were gone, and I almost wish she had. I hate knowing that she was here on her own, and based on how she reacted to us, she’s not over what happened all those years ago.
We hurt her, and I hate it—even if it was out of my control .
“Are we going in or are we going to sit in the car for her heat?” Oliver asks, sticking his head between the seats to glance between me and Aidan.
Shoving his head back, I sigh. “Come on. Let’s get this over with.”
Once I’m out of the car, I realize Ty has made no move to climb out. Of all of us, he’s the one who’s had the hardest time dealing with being away for the last ten years. We’re this close to losing him to a depressive state. If Lila sends us away, I’m afraid it’ll be the last push he needs. But if we don’t at least try, then won’t that be worse?
Fuck.
I just don’t know what to do for him, and it’s driving me crazy. He’s pulled away from all of us over the last few years, and I just don’t know how to bring him back into the fold. I don’t know how to fix him. I don’t know if I can.
He hasn’t been intimate with us for nearly two years. It hurts, but it’s not something we’d ever pressure him about.
Squeezing my eyes shut against the tears threatening to pool in my eyes, I take a deep breath before moving to his door and opening it. “Ty? ”
He blinks up at me, his eyes a little unfocused behind his glasses. “Hmmm?”
“We’re here, Ty. It’s time to get out of the car, baby, so we can see about helping Lila through her heat.”
“Right.” He hums before pushing out of the car. Instead of pausing next to Aidan and Oliver, he passes by them, heads straight up to the door, and rings the bell.
“Fuck,” I curse, slamming the door and rushing after my pod mates as we hurry to follow Ty.
We make it to the front door just as it opens, revealing a very naked, very attractive tattooed man. He’s at least as tall as Oliver, a few inches taller than my six-foot height, lithe, and packing muscles in just the right places with blond hair shaved close to his head on the sides but long and floppy on top and a heavy five o’clock shadow. He practically oozes sex as he glances around at the four of us. It doesn’t help that his cock is huge and erect—and tattooed.
Damn.
“Can I help the four of you?” Even his voice is sexy as sin. Who the hell is this guy?
Ty clears his throat, pushing his glasses up. “We’re looking for Lila. ”
The man hums. “And you are?”
“Ty Williams. These are my pod mates—“
“Aidan, Carter, and Oliver. I know who you are. Now, tell me why the hell you’re at Lila’s house.”
Oliver snorts. “Are we really supposed to have this conversation while your very impressive cock is on display?”
He glances down, shrugging. “Yes.”
“Who the hell are you?” I snarl now that I’ve managed to stop checking out the man before me. Who is he to Lila, and why is he naked in her house? I don’t think he’s a whale shifter. He doesn’t have the right vibe. We’re not like land shifters who can often scent someone’s species. Our whales don’t have a sense of smell, so we’re practically human in that sense.
The man smirks. “Wyatt Dunn. Incubus and Lila’s best friend. Now that you know who I am, how about you answer my question?”
“We weren’t sure that Lila would have anyone to help her through her heat because of what happened when she realized we were there.” Ty’s words are quiet as he refuses to meet Wyatt’s eyes. “It’s our fault she didn’t meet anyone, and we don’t want her to go through it alone. But since you’re here, I guess she doesn’t need us.”
“Does Lila often sleep with her friends?” I snark, hating myself as soon as the words are out of my mouth.
“Considering the fact that her other friend is a female whale shifter—no. Things are different between the two of us. Not that I need to explain myself to the four of you. After all, you were the ones who abandoned her ten years ago.” Wyatt scoffs, shaking his head. “Let’s not get into that right now. As far as her heat goes, I don’t know if I can do it on my own. I’m only one man, after all. We’ve never done a heat with just the two of us. It would be easier on both of us if you joined, but that decision will be up to her.”
The four of us stand there in silence for a moment before Aidan takes a step forward. “Does that mean…”
“That I want you to get your asses inside the house so I can let Lila know you’re here? Yes. That’s exactly what I want.” Wyatt rolls his eyes, stepping back and gesturing for us to come in. “Her heat hasn’t fully hit yet. She’s still coherent enough to make this decision, but I don’t know what she’ll decide. She’s pretty fucked up in the head when it comes to the four of you.”
Oliver nods. “Which is completely understandable, but it wasn’t something we planned—“
“As much as I want to hear the story, now isn’t the time. She’s too close to her heat hitting. I need to let her know you’re here so she can make a decision.” Wyatt closes the door after I step inside. “The kitchen and living room area are to the left. If you’ll head there, please.”
I follow my pod to the kitchen, seeing groceries laid out on the counter. Glancing at Wyatt, he shrugs.
“We were working on getting everything put away when a pre-heat spike hit, so we went to the bedroom to deal with that. She’s asleep right now, exhausted. We were planning to come back out after we finished, but I was letting her sleep. Apparently, she’s been in bed for three days, so nothing is prepared. Make yourselves useful and work on that, yeah?”
Wyatt doesn’t wait for an answer, spinning on his heel and heading back into the hallway that I assume leads to Lila’s room. I can’t help watching him walk around, his ass just as tight as the rest of him. Makes sense that he’s an incubus.
We all stand there in silence before Oliver claps his hands. “You heard the sexy man. We have work to do. Carter and Aidan work on getting everything put away. Ty, you’re with me. We’re going to make some meals and snacks. Even if we’re not here for her heat, we need to make sure she and Wyatt are taken care of.”
“What are the chances that she’ll let us stay for her heat?” Ty asks, his question so full of hope it breaks my heart.
Oliver gives him a sad smile as he shakes his head. “I have no idea, Ty. I’d love to say she’ll welcome us with open arms, but we know that’s not going to happen. All we can do is hope that she’ll accept our help.”
It’s Aidan who asks, “And if she doesn’t?”
“Then we keep trying,” I say as I start to put away the groceries. “What we did hurt her, and how she deals with that—and us—is up to her. We can’t force her to listen to us. We can’t force ourselves on her. But we can keep trying. We knew this was going to be difficult. We need to be ready for this to take as long as it takes if she’s who we want. ”
“She’s who I want,” Ty declares, chin lifted as if daring any of us to argue with him.
Oliver pats him on the shoulder. “She’s who we all want, and I’ll put in as much work as I need to in order for her to forgive us. Now, let’s get to work.”
As I slowly put away the groceries, I point out ingredients to Oliver I think he might be able to use while my mind runs over the last ten years.
If it had been anyone besides Ryder who showed up at our place that night, we would’ve told them to fuck themselves. But we couldn’t say no to him. We swore to him as teenagers that when he needed us, we’d be there—no questions asked. I just wish we’d insisted on letting Lila know what was going on—at least sent her a text or left her a note. Anything to let her know we didn’t want to leave her.
I also hadn’t expected us to be away for ten fucking years. Considering our long lifespans, ten years isn’t all that long. Unless you left the woman of your dreams, the missing piece of your pod, behind, thinking that we didn’t care about her. That would’ve made even a day too long.
I shake my head, knowing I can’t dwell on things I can’t change. It’s done. We spent ten years away from our mate—because that’s what she is, and I intend on making sure she knows it too—saving the realms. I know if she gives us half a chance to explain, she’ll understand, but I also understand her anger.
We probably should’ve chosen another way to find her besides the meet and greet. We shouldn’t have bombarded her all at once. It was just the idea of her sharing her heat with some randos didn’t settle well with me or the other guys—especially Tyler.
Though, I guess she kind of is. He’s not a random stranger to her, but he’s an unknown to us. He says she’s his best friend and they’ve shared heats together before, but what role does he really play in her life? Will he try to squeeze us out of her life? Will he help us?
I’m unsure if he’ll help us, but I don’t think he’ll try to squeeze us out. Not after inviting us in and telling us he’d tell Lila we’re here. If he’d wanted us gone, all he would’ve had to do was slam the door in our faces, but he didn’t.
Who the hell is this Wyatt Dunn, and what does his presence in Lila’s life mean for us?
“What the fuck are you doing here?”
I startle at the angry words, turning to find Lila standing there with her hands on her hips in nothing but a robe, looking beyond pissed with Wyatt at her back. I think the thing I’m most shocked about is that she cussed. I wonder when that started.
Gods, she looks so much like the woman we had to leave behind but somehow different.
Shaking my head, I realize that doesn’t matter in the least. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen her this angry—which makes sense, considering we really only knew her for a week before we disappeared—and I don’t think that’s going to bode well for us.
Fuck. She’s totally going to kick us out, isn’t she?