Chapter Ten
His nerves hit him the moment they got into the bedroom.
“I’ll shower in the guest bathroom,” Connor said, grabbing his bag from where he’d dropped it earlier.
His jeans stuck to his skin in uncomfortable places, and his whole body felt over sensitized, like every nerve ending had woken up for the first time.
“You don’t have to.” Leyden pulled his shirt over his head, revealing all that tanned skin and muscle. “I won’t touch you.”
Connor’s gaze stuck on his mate’s chest, the claiming bite still visible on Leyden’s throat. His mark. The sight sent a flutter through his stomach that had nothing to do with hunger.
“I know you won’t. I just…” Connor shifted his weight, trying to find words that wouldn’t sound insulting. “I need a minute.”
“Take all the time you need.” Leyden smiled, that same patient expression he’d worn since Connor first met him. “Clean towels are in the linen closet at the end of the hall.”
Connor nodded and escaped before his mate could see the flush creeping up his neck.
In the guest bathroom, he stripped and stood under scalding water, letting the heat wash away the sticky evidence of his first orgasm with another person.
His fingers traced the claiming bite on his throat.
The skin around it was tender, hypersensitive, and when he touched it a warm pulse traveled through his chest.
That’s the bond, he realized. He could feel Leyden on the other end of it - not thoughts exactly, but emotions. His mate was happy. Content. Aroused but not desperately so. The feeling was foreign but not unpleasant.
Connor dried off and pulled on sweatpants and an old T-shirt. When he made his way back to Leyden’s bedroom - their bedroom now - his mate was already in bed, covers pulled up to his waist, reading something on his phone.
“Feel better?” Leyden set the phone on the nightstand.
“Yeah.” Connor hovered near the door, his bag clutched in one hand. The bed looked huge. King-sized at least. Plenty of room for two massive wolf shifters. But the idea of climbing into it made his skin prickle with anxiety.
Leyden watched him for a moment, then patted the mattress beside him. “Come here.”
Connor’s feet moved before his brain caught up. He set his bag down and perched on the edge of the bed, as far from Leyden as he could manage while still technically being on the mattress.
“Connor.” Leyden’s voice was gentle. “What are you comfortable with?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, this is new for both of us. Different, anyway.” Leyden shifted so he was facing Connor more directly. “I’ve shared a bed with plenty of people, but not like this. Not with my mate. And I know you haven’t shared a bed with anyone at all.”
Connor’s shoulders tensed. “I’m not going to break.”
“I didn’t say you would.” Leyden reached out, fingers hovering near Connor’s hand. “But I also don’t want to push you into something you’re not ready for. So tell me - what are you comfortable with?”
The question hung in the air between them.
Connor stared at Leyden’s hand, so close to his own.
A week ago, the thought of anyone touching him made his skin crawl.
Even pack mates got a growl if they tried to clap him on the shoulder or pull him into a hug.
But Leyden had held him earlier, and Connor hadn’t wanted to run.
He’d wanted to stay exactly where he was.
“I don’t know,” Connor admitted. “I’ve never wanted to be touched before. But with you…” He broke off, frustrated by his inability to articulate what he felt.
“With me it’s different?”
“Yeah. I guess the mate bond makes it different.”
“Maybe.” Leyden closed the small distance between their hands, fingertips barely brushing Connor’s knuckles. “Or maybe you just need the right person.”
Connor watched their hands, the careful way Leyden touched him. No demands. No expectations. Just contact.
“I can sleep on the floor if you want,” Leyden offered. “Or in the guest room.”
“No.” The word came out sharper than Connor intended. Through the bond, he felt a spike of loneliness from his mate, quickly suppressed. Leyden had spent years surrounded by people, by bodies and heat and sex, but he’d still been alone. “I want to be with you.”
Leyden’s smile was soft, genuine. “Then get under the covers before you freeze.”
Connor slid beneath the blankets, careful to maintain distance between them. The sheets smelled like Leyden - clean and masculine with an underlying scent uniquely his. Connor’s wolf rumbled contentedly at being surrounded by his mate’s scent.
They lay side by side, a foot of mattress between them. Connor stared at the ceiling, every muscle locked tight.
“Breathe,” Leyden murmured.
Connor forced air into his lungs. Out. In. Out.
“Better.” Leyden shifted slightly. “Can I hold your hand?”
Such a simple question. Such a small thing. But Connor’s heart pounded like Leyden had asked for something monumental.
“Yeah.”
Leyden’s fingers threaded through his, palm to palm, warm and solid. Connor waited for the familiar itch, the urgent need to pull away that always hit when someone touched him. But it didn’t come. Instead, warmth spread from their joined hands up his arm, settling into his chest like a banked fire.
Through the bond, Connor felt Leyden’s arousal - a steady hum of desire that never quite faded. But stronger than that was contentment. Peace. And something else Connor couldn’t quite name but recognized instinctively.
Love?
Not the desperate, consuming passion of the romance novels some of Connor’s packmates would sneak off and read. What Connor could feel was quieter, steadier…more intimate.
“This okay?” Leyden asked.
“Yeah.” Connor squeezed his mate’s hand. “This is good.”
His eyes grew heavy, the adrenaline from the fight and claiming finally draining away. For the first time in his life, Connor fell asleep with another person beside him.
/~/~/~/~/
Connor woke to an empty bed.
No panic followed, no confusion about where he was or why. Just the absence of warmth where Leyden had been, and through the bond, a steady pulse of presence from somewhere else in the house.
The clock on the nightstand read 7:47. Connor stretched, working out the stiffness in his muscles from yesterday’s fight. The claiming bite on his neck tingled when he rolled his shoulder.
He found his mate in the kitchen, barefoot in worn jeans and a T-shirt, reheating containers of food in the microwave. Leyden glanced up when Connor appeared in the doorway.
“Coffee’s fresh,” Leyden said, nodding toward the pot.
Connor poured himself a cup, watching Leyden move around the kitchen. His mate hadn’t tried to wake him, hadn’t climbed back into bed to cuddle or push for morning intimacy. Just gave Connor space to wake up on his own terms.
The quiet consideration settled warm in Connor’s chest.
“Hungry?” Leyden pulled a container from the microwave, steam rising from what looked like scrambled eggs and sausage.
“Starving.”
They ate at the kitchen table, forks scraping against plates, comfortable silence broken only by the occasional comment about the food or observation about the weather. Easy conversation. Natural. Like they’d been sharing breakfast for years instead of days.
Connor speared a piece of sausage. “What time do you think people will start showing up?”
“Soon.” Leyden checked his phone. “Walter texted at six. Said he’d be here by eight to give his decision personally.”
“You gave them twenty-four hours. It’s barely been twelve.”
“Yeah, well.” Leyden shrugged. “That’s Walter. Always early, always thorough.”
Right on cue, a knock sounded at the front door.
Leyden rose and headed for the entrance. Connor followed, coffee cup in hand, positioning himself near the doorway where he could observe without being directly in the conversation.
Walter stood on the porch, his mate Sarah beside him. The older wolf’s face was serious, the lines around his eyes deeper than Connor remembered from the restaurant.
“Alpha,” Walter began.
“Just Leyden is fine,” his mate said, but Walter shook his head.
“No. You’re my alpha, and I came to say I’m sorry for questioning that yesterday.” Walter’s voice roughened. “I should have trusted you to know your own business. Your relationship with your mate is yours, and I had no right to doubt your strength because of it.”
Leyden’s expression softened. “I appreciate that, Walter. But I understand where the concern came from. I’ve never been one for restraint before.”
“Maybe that’s the point,” Sarah spoke up. “You’ve found someone worth changing for. That’s not weakness. That’s strength, Alpha.”
Through the bond, Connor felt Leyden’s gratitude, his relief. But also determination. His mate wasn’t going to let the pack off easily just because Walter showed up first.
“I’m glad you see it that way,” Leyden said. “But eight of your pack mates were banished yesterday because they didn’t. Because they thought an alpha who respects his mate’s needs isn’t fit to lead. I need to know that won’t happen again.”
Walter met Leyden’s eyes without flinching for almost a full second before dropping his gaze. “It won’t. Not from me or mine. You have my loyalty, Alpha. And Sarah’s. We should have stood up for you yesterday when the grumbling started. We won’t make that mistake again.”
Leyden clasped Walter’s forearm, the traditional gesture of acceptance. “Thank you.”
Sarah’s gaze shifted to Connor. “And we owe you an apology too, Alpha Mate. We made you feel unwelcome in your new pack from day one and that wasn’t right.”
The title hit Connor strange. Alpha Mate. He’d been beta for so long, second to Davis, that the idea of being someone’s first seemed impossible.
“I’m not…” Connor started, then stopped. Through the bond, Leyden sent a wave of calm reassurance. Connor cleared his throat. “I appreciate that.”
Sarah’s smile was genuine. “We’d be honored if you both came to dinner next week. Once things settle down.”
“We’d like that,” Leyden said.
More pack members arrived throughout the morning.
Some came alone, others in pairs or small groups.
Matthew, the former beta, brought a bottle of expensive whiskey and a gruff declaration of loyalty, although Leyden already trusted the man.
Lonnie showed up with Trixie, both of them pale and nervous, apologies tumbling out before they’d even made it through the door.
Connor watched his mate handle each person with the same patient grace. Leyden listened to their concerns, accepted their apologies, and made it clear that while he’d forgiven the doubt, he wouldn’t tolerate another challenge to his authority or his relationship.
Pride swelled in Connor’s chest. Leyden commanded respect not through fear, but through the genuine care he showed his pack.
When a young enforcer named Marcus approached, his movements were tentative, uncertain. He’d been friends with one of the wolves who’d challenged Leyden, though he hadn’t participated in the attack.
“I didn’t know what Rolf was planning,” Marcus said, voice barely above a whisper. “I swear, Alpha. If I’d known, I would have stopped him, or at least said something.”
“I believe you,” Leyden said. “You weren’t involved in the challenge, and you’ve always been loyal. That hasn’t changed.”
Marcus’s shoulders sagged with relief. Then his gaze shifted to Connor, and his face flushed. “I said some things. About you not wanting the alpha. About him deserving someone who’d…” He broke off, jaw working. “I was wrong. I’m sorry.”
Connor’s spine stiffened. He’d heard variations of this his entire life. Wrong. Different. Not a true wolf… But through the bond, Leyden’s presence steadied him. Not pity. Not awkward reassurance. Just solid, unwavering support.
“Accepted,” Connor managed.
Marcus nodded and backed away, clearly relieved to escape the conversation.
“You okay?” Leyden asked quietly once the young wolf had left.
“Yeah.” Connor took a breath. “Just not used to apologies. Usually people just avoid me after they say shit like that.”
“Well, they can’t avoid you now. You’re their alpha mate.” Leyden’s hand found Connor’s, fingers threading together in a gesture that was becoming familiar. “Which means they answer to you too.”
That was going to take some getting used to. He’d been a second for so long, supporting Davis’s decisions and enforcing his rules. Now he stood beside Leyden as an equal, a partner in leading the pack.
Through the bond, he felt his mate’s confidence in him. Leyden truly believed Connor could handle his new role, and perhaps more importantly, Leyden clearly saw him as more than just the wolf who didn’t want casual sex.
Maybe Leyden was right.
By noon, over three-quarters of the pack had shown up to pledge their loyalty. Only a handful remained unaccounted for, and Leyden made calls to track them down - pack members who worked day shifts or lived farther out in the territory.
Connor helped clean up the kitchen while Leyden handled the phone calls. The domesticity of it felt strange but not unwelcome. Washing dishes in his mate’s kitchen, listening to Leyden’s voice rumble through reassurances and acceptance.
His wolf was content in a way Connor had never experienced. Not the satisfied exhaustion after a good run or a successful hunt, but something deeper. Settled. Like a piece of him had been missing his entire life and finally clicked into place.
“Hey,” Leyden said from the doorway.
Connor turned, dish towel in hand.
“That was the last of them. Everyone’s confirmed their loyalty except the Andersons, and they’re at their daughter’s college for parents’ weekend. They’ll stop by tomorrow.” Leyden crossed the kitchen, movements purposeful. “The pack accepts us. Both of us.”
“I’m glad. I know that means a lot to you.”
Leyden’s arms came around him, careful and slow, giving Connor time to pull away. But Connor didn’t want to pull away. He leaned into the embrace, letting his mate’s warmth surround him.
“Thank you,” Leyden murmured against Connor’s hair. “For coming back. For fighting with me. For giving this a chance.”
Connor’s hands found Leyden’s back, holding on. “You’re my mate. Where else would I be?”