CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO - Balthazar #2
“We’re going to need more than five minutes, man.
” I nuzzled the top of Mariska’s head. His appearance made me grit my teeth.
We’d discussed not rushing things emotionally with our Omega.
Jasper was sure that any major declarations would send her running for the west coast. I’d agreed with him, but my heart was aching to share with her.
To let her know that she was loved so much already.
“I can barely move.” Mariska laughed lightly, the sound reverberating all the way up my dick and tickling my guts.
“Fifteen minutes. Then I’m coming up here and snatching you out of bed whether you’re cleaned and dressed or not.” Jasper clapped his hands as if that would motivate us.
“I’d like to see you try.” I smirked and laughed quietly.
“Not you, asshole. I don’t care if you’re at the dinner table.” Jasper huffed. “I want our beautiful guest down there, and seriously, I would love it if you made me yank you out of bed nearly naked, Mariska.”
“And here Balthazar just told me he doesn’t want me buying any more clothes so I would be naked all the time too.” She shook her head but she was smiling.
“At least we’re on the same page there.” Jasper chuckled and walked back toward the stairs, calling over his shoulder, “Fifteen minutes!”
It took twice that amount of time for my knot to go down and to get cleaned up, but we went down to the dining room where the guys had laid out a feast. Roast beef, mashed potatoes, mixed veggies, and warm rolls.
I’d never witnessed Lucian and Jasper make anything this elaborate, and I would have said my mom had cooked it, but she was at Justine’s for the weekend taking care of the boys while my sister and her mate had a date night and time to do some Christmas shopping.
Not that they probably weren’t stuck in their house with the storm too.
Artemis came out of the kitchen and rushed to Mariska to get some love. She then came to say hello to me, but her gaze kept going to the meat in the center of the table.
“Everything looks fantastic!” Mariska exclaimed as she sat in the chair Lucian pulled out for her. He gave her a tender kiss and Jasper snuck in for one as well. All of us were so casual, so natural.
“Looks delicious.” I agreed and fetched a beer from the fridge as Jasper poured wine for the rest of them. We all fit together. My pack was complete with her here.
The meal was every bit as good as it looked.
We talked about our days, nothing heavy, just warm and comfortable.
I wanted to do this every night for the rest of my life.
Maybe telling a couple of rowdy Alpha sons to sit still and feeding a pretty baby girl with big amber eyes like her mommy her purerated carrots.
As we finished and Jasper brought out coffee cake, the conversation turned to the weather.
“We’re not only going to get inches of snow tonight, but feet.” Jasper shook his head. “I can’t remember the last time we had this much snow in December.”
“I have the plow sitting in the barn, ready to go in the morning, but even if we clear out the parking lot and drive, I don’t think anyone is hitting the road tomorrow.
We should put out on our social media that we’re declaring tomorrow a snow day and the farm will be closed.
” Lucian took out his phone and looked at me and Jasper.
When we both nodded, he typed up the posts to go out.
It sucked that we had to close the farm on the Saturday of one of the busiest weekends of the year, but I wasn’t feeling pissed about it. That gave us the whole day with Mariska.
“That means we won’t be able to get to town tomorrow?” Mariska nipped her lower lip. Her eyes shimmered with worry.
“Highly unlikely. Sorry.” Lucian reached over and squeezed her hand.
She hung her head and poked at her cake. I almost expected tears again like earlier, but she took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “So… I have something I need to tell you guys.”
All of us leaned forward, ready to listen. Each of us fully tuned into our Omega.
“I decided I’m going to stay at Primrose House and take care of Miss Eloise until she’s fully recovered.
She’s done so much for me, and I can’t just go away when she needs me most.” Mariska nodded as if saying it aloud had finalized her decision.
“It’s so hard right now to be there with her, but I know she’s well taken care of in the hospital.
But after? Emberlee has college classes and Lyla works.
I can be there all day with Miss Eloise. ”
“That means you’ll be in Wisconsin indefinitely?” I could tell Jasper was barely keeping his calm. The light behind his eyes said he was ready to celebrate.
She nodded, and I pumped my fist into the air. “Fuck, yeah!”
That time limit on how many days we had to convince her she was ours was blown out of the water. Now we didn’t have to follow a plan or any sort of shit. She was going to be here where she belonged.
“No.” Lucian. I turned to glare at him. What the fuck? The guy looked like he’d been stabbed in the gut. “No, Mariska. You can’t do that. Your dream job is waiting for you in California. If you don’t go, you’ll lose it, and we both know how rare those opportunities are.”
I wanted to punch him in the face, but I gripped the edge of the table instead.
“I know,” Mariska sighed and blinked rapidly at the tears in her eyes. “But it’s tearing me up inside to leave Miss Eloise when she’s unwell. I don’t know if I’d ever forgive myself if something happened to her and I wasn’t here.”
Lucian moved his chair closer to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
“We know you love her, and she loves you. Yet she isn’t your responsibility.
She has plenty of people willing to help her, and you can count us in that number.
Liz was a part-time nurse when she was younger, and she’s already volunteered time to help Eloise. ”
“Really?” Mariska gazed at him, still managing to hold back her tears.
“Yeah, my mom’s a nurse, but she can’t be there all the time.
She can help Mariska and split their duties.
It will work out for all of them.” There was no way I was going to talk Mariska out of this, and I wanted to strangle Lucian for whatever the fuck he was doing.
He was lost to Mariska as much as I was.
The bastard couldn’t deny it. So why this now?
Lucian ignored me and kept his gaze solely on Mariska. “Your California position is a once in a lifetime dream job. Eloise wouldn’t want you to give it up for her. I know you’re sad now and want to be with her, but I don’t want your heart to break later when you realize what you’ve lost.”
Fury boiled in my veins. She was going to stay. There was no way we were going to fuck that up.
“Shut the fuck up, Lucian.” I snarled and pushed back my chair. If he said another fucking word, I was going to flatten him.
Mariska startled at my outburst and jumped up from the table. “I don’t know. I don’t know what to do now.”
The tears finally broke free and she took off out of the dining room and upstairs. Artemis was right on her heels.
“Fucking hell, you two.” Jasper slammed a fist on the table and ran after her.
With no one left between us, I flew across the room and slammed Lucian against the wall. Anger vibrated in every muscle. “What the fuck are you doing? She’s staying. She’s ours.”
Lucian didn’t fight back. He let me pin him there, but he held up his chin. “She’s not staying for Eloise.”
I knocked him back by the shoulders again. “I don’t care what the reason, she’s fucking staying, and we’re not going to convince her otherwise. If you say one more word about California to her, I’ll fucking smash your head in.”
“I care for her as much as you do,” he said in a quieter tone.
“I love her.” I’d wanted to tell her, but saying it out loud to someone still felt good.
“I love her too, man.” Lucian sighed and glanced up to the ceiling. The pack room was just above the dining room. “But Eloise doesn’t want Mariska staying because of her.”
“What?” I eased my grip on him.
“Eloise told me not to let Mariska stay because of her.”
“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” Letting him go, I marched back to my seat and grabbed my beer. I downed the rest of it. If Eloise didn’t want Mariska to miss out on the new job, then I couldn’t push it. I really wanted to push it, but dammit.
“Mariska has to choose us. There can’t be any other factors in it. To know she really wants to be our mate, she has to make that choice herself.” Lucian ran his hands over his face and through his pale hair. Few things ever affected his cool, but I could see he was as messed up about it as I was.
I went over and pulled my packmate into a hug, patting him on the back. “I’m sorry. I just don’t know what I’ll do without her if she leaves.”
Lucian gave me a squeeze back. “I can’t imagine life without her now. She’s only been with us for not even a week, and she’s so much a part of our pack.”
I sighed and turned to start cleaning off the table. Lucian automatically did the same. I gathered the dishes, no longer hungry for even my barely touched cake. The weight of the world crushed my shoulders and made it hard for me to breathe.
I couldn’t lose her. That wasn’t an option.
“All we can do is love her.” I would give her a lifetime of love in the few days we had left. “And that has to be enough.”