Chapter 6
Chapter
Six
Theo felt so much better when he woke, but Liam wasn’t with him, so he went looking. Someone had left soft sweats for him to wear, and a pair of slippers, which was lovely.
Then he went searching.
Liam was like a beacon, and he simply walked, knowing his mate was at the end of that pull.
He found Liam with a man he’d never seen before, Liam holding Gael, the other man with a baby as well.
“Theo, I was just about to come looking for you. I knew you were awake. Come meet my brother, Rory.”
“Oh, hello.” He went to touch Liam’s shoulder. It was absolutely necessary to have that connection.
“Hi, Theo. It’s nice to meet you.” Rory beamed. “And this is Xander.”
“Oh, hello, Xander! Aren’t you beautiful? He’s lovely.” Not as lovely as Gael, of course…
“Thank you. Theo, would you be willing to meet my husband?”
“We’ll all go to the kitchen and get some food,” Liam added.
“Of course. How’s Gael doing? Well?” Food sounded good to him.
“He’s doing great.” Liam showed him the baby, smiling. “He’s eaten a few times, and his color is so much better.”
He teared up, touching that tiny face. “I tried, little one.”
“You did amazing!” That was Rory. “You kept him safe, and you found this pack. That’s wild.”
“I—I was scared, but I did my best.”
“You did amazing, Theo.” Liam put an arm around him, pulling him close.
He didn’t feel amazing. In fact, he felt like… Well, he felt tired. He looked down at his feet. He was also excited, which was weird. And hungry. He was pretty damn hungry.
“Well then, let’s go get you something to eat.” Liam’s smile warmed up the entire space, and little Gael cooed.
He laughed, nodded. It sounded like a great idea. I love that you can hear me.
I’ve never heard anybody like this before. Not ever. Liam shot him a look. Like, you hear me right now, right?
I do. I absolutely hear you loud and clear. How could he prove it? Tell me something to say, and I’ll say it.
Okay, big red dog.
Theo nodded. That’s going to be challenging to work into a sentence. “Did any of you see a big red dog around here? I thought I might have seen one up near the mountain house, but I might have just been hallucinating. I was very tired.”
Liam beamed at him, eyes wide and sparkling. Okay, one, nicely done. Two, you can hear me, and three, well… nicely done.
He had to laugh. There had been precious little to smile about over the last little while, and he was ready to be in a place where he could smile again.
Rory looked at them both as if they’d lost their minds. “You two are so weird in the same way. It’s cute.”
Theo flushed, his cheeks hot. “Well, that’s good, right?”
“That’s wonderful.” Rory led them back to the kitchen.
Bright and warm, the busy room seemed to be full of food and wolves and children.
It was sweet—and terrifying.
Theo took a deep breath but calmed almost immediately when Liam touched his hand.
“Oh, let me take that baby,” said the woman he’d seen the night before. LuAnn? She took Gael from Liam, who then wrapped Theo in a hug.
“Thank you.”
He got a warm, happy smile. “Of course. Would you like eggs and bacon? Sausage? Both?”
“I don’t want to be greedy.”
The pack alpha huffed softly. “What’s greedy? You’ve been without. We have plenty. It’s only reasonable.”
Theo wasn’t sure that he was feeling particularly reasonable. He didn’t know what he was feeling, but he nodded. Because he was happy to have eggs and bacon and sausage, whatever they could offer him.
“I’ll fix everybody a plate,” Rory said with a smile, then handed his baby off to a wolf that made his eyes go wide. “This is—”
The big wolf stared. “Theo.”
Everyone stopped, expressions shocked.
He nodded, searching the man’s face. “I recognize you. You’re the woodworker from before the pack dissolved.”
The big wolf nodded. “I know you. What happened? I thought you all went north to safety?”
Theo nodded, near tears. “We tried! We tried hard, but we couldn’t make it, and we didn’t know what to do.
So we came back.” He stared at the woodworker, shaking his head.
“We had to come back. There were pregnant omegas, children. We couldn’t get everyone over, so it was decided that we should probably separate up into three and four people.
And then there were hunters just killing.
It was awful.” The tears escaped then as he asked.
“Is there anyone else? Are you by yourself?”
Liam growled softly, arms drawing him close, as the big wolf shook his head and held his baby.
“Not anymore. And neither are you.”
“No,” Rory said. “Fen is my mate. He’s part of our pack. He’s safe.”
“I wanted to believe that everyone had escaped to safety, that it was just us.”
Fen sighed softly. “It’s a sweet hope, but it didn’t happen that way. I think they’re trying to get rid of us all.”
He stood there, stared. “But that’s awful. What about Gael? What happens to him? Is he going to be okay?” Theo looked up at Liam. “Please. Please don’t let them. Don’t let them hurt Gael.”
Liam hummed to him. “You’re safe. The baby is safe. There’s no reason to worry.”
He thought that there was probably a lot of reason to worry. He felt worried. He knew that he should probably trust Fen and Liam, but still… He had worry, lots of worry.
“I have you,” Liam told him. “You and Gael. You’re mine to protect.” Liam’s eyes flashed gold, and he heard Rory gasp.
Niall came in, and the energy of the room eased back, and everyone relaxed.
That was amazing. He blinked at Liam. Mate. I’m yours. You have my vow.
Thank you, love. And you have mine.
Theo had to work hard not to tear up. No one had ever made him feel so cared for. So wanted.
Niall’s presence seemed to ease them, help them all breathe, and the breakfast food was even better. They hadn’t had a seer or a shaman for so long in their old pack.
Maybe if they had, they wouldn’t have had the issues they did.
Are you doing all right, love? Liam’s mental voice came to him as Liam grabbed his hand, squeezing it.
I think so. It was a shock to see Fen, but I suppose it shouldn’t have been.
If I made my way across the mountains, then surely other wolves have.
Theo didn’t want to think about some of them that might have made it, because they weren’t all good.
Still, Theo hadn’t known Fen well, but he knew that he was a good sort, and they wouldn’t have let him mate with Rory if he wasn’t, right?
I can see you’re worried though.
I am. I feel like I worked so hard to keep Gael safe, and what if I’ve brought him to exactly the wrong place? He wasn’t panicky anymore. Niall had seen to that, his spirit calming them all down, but what if he was absolutely in the wrong?
No. No, this is a good pack. Keegan and Jameson and Loyal have worked incredibly hard to make it that way. It used to be that there were cruel alphas and bad enforcers, but now those wolves are gone, and this is really a community. Liam shrugged, his cheeks pink. I’ve known them for a long time.
Theo tilted his head. How long?
I can’t really remember. A long time.
That surprised him, because Liam made all these protestations about being only human, but humans had finite lifespans.
And usually finite memories as well. Or maybe definite memories because their time was short.
It wasn’t as if Liam was saying he didn’t remember meeting them as a child. That was odd.
“Does anyone want seconds?” Rory asked, breaking into their mental conversation.
“I would like some,” Liam said. “I’m still starving.”
Theo ducked his head again, chuckling. “He had to carry me most of the way down the mountain.”
“Hey, Keegan carried the baby,” Loyal teased.
“No big deal.” Liam scoffed at that, but he could tell that his mate was joking. Rory and Liam truly were like family here, which he supposed stood to reason since Rory was pack now too, but he liked how open and willing these wolves were to accept those who were different than they were.
That had become a problem in their own pack toward the end. Anyone who wasn’t born light gray or white had been treated differently. Theo honestly thought the policy had made them a little inbred and hidebound. Maybe more than a little.
Rory made Liam another plate, and everyone murmured in soft conversation to each other, mostly in couples. Rory and Niall rocked the babies, and Theo felt odd not having Gael in his arms, but at the same time, he wanted to sit and hold Liam’s hand just as he was doing now.
He surprised himself with a jaw-cracking yawn maybe half an hour later. All he had done was sleep since he’d gotten here, and eat he supposed, but mostly sleep. How could he still be so tired?
Niall turned to him, those wild-colored eyes staring right into him. “Don’t be so harsh on yourself, Theo. You were running on empty. If you want to go back to sleep, I’m sure that we could be convinced to watch the baby. He’s so dear.”
Theo glanced at Gael who was snoozing away in Loyal’s arms now, perfectly content. “I think maybe I will.”
“Come on, love. I’ll come with you.” Liam stood, reaching out to give his brother a one-armed hug. “You’ll still be here when I get up?”
“We’re going to spend the night, so we’ll be here for a while.”
“Great. Thank you for coming up.”
Theo nodded, smiling at Rory and then inclining his head at Fen. “Yes, thank you so much. It’s good to know you’re here, Fen.”
Fen nodded in return. “I feel the same way. The pack here has accepted me; they’re good people, so try not to worry.”
“I won’t fear them, then.” He took Liam’s hand again after they stood, and led him to the bedroom where they could lie down together.
He wanted to feel Liam’s arms around him and to know he was safe, but he also wanted to cement their bond even more.
Theo could feel it every time they touched.
Every time Liam spoke to him in his head, the threads that pulled them together tightened and twined around them, but it wasn’t suffocating. It was comforting.
I feel the same way, love. Liam undressed him and tucked him under the covers before pulling off his own clothes and crawling in next to him. “Sleep now. I’ll be right here, I promise.”
“I believe you.” He had so many other things he wanted to say to Liam, but they all involved explaining to him that he had to be a wolf.
How could they be mates like this otherwise?
He decided it was better to wait on that for now.
He was so tired, and his belly was full.
He was warm, and he was holding his mate, and all he needed to do in all the world was go back to sleep.
He had a feeling he was going to need his energy.