Chapter Seventeen
Jeremy
It seemed Dad was already fond of Cass, maybe even more so after being called a jerk by him. At least he knew my mate wasn’t a pushover.
I smiled at Cass as he sat there eating and talking with my packmates. He’d been nervous at first, but now he smiled and laughed with several of them. It filled me with relief.
Slipping away from the table, I needed to grab some fruit for my mate, a thing we would need to discuss later.
Cass claiming me as his mate couldn’t be taken back.
Even though I knew Marcus would never tell a soul, other than Fillian, what had gone down between Cass and him, I still didn’t want Cass to be called my boyfriend.
He was my mate. I needed to explain what that title meant to a shifter.
Milo caught up to me as I put some sliced watermelon on a plate. “How’s it going?” he nodded in Cass’ direction and grinned. “Maybe I don’t even need to ask. They seem to love him already.”
“As they should,” I replied, my voice serious. “He is, after all, their Alpha’s mate.”
Milo’s eyes flashed with something I’d seen in his eyes several times growing up.
I didn’t like whatever it was, never had, but until Milo talked to me about it, I would ignore it.
My little brother had his issues that now included Darius.
They weren’t my issues. If he needed my help, he would need to man up and ask.
“Yes, he is indeed,” Milo stated, his smile gone now.
“How are things with Darius?” I asked, gentling my voice. No matter what issues they had, I hoped they could work it out. Darius was a good guy, which was why I’d fallen for him in the first place. Milo needed to treat him as such.
He frowned before snapping, “That’s none of your business!”
“Wow.” I held up my free hand. “Didn’t realize it was that bad.”
He scowled at that. “Just focus on your own mate,” he leaned in to whisper the next part. “I’ll focus on mine.” He shot me a smirk and it took all the willpower in me not to start a not so brotherly fight right there. That damn smirk and knowing look said everything.
He’d known I liked Darius, and yet he hadn’t told me Darius was his.
He’d gone out of his way to hurt me it seemed.
With that thought, my anger turned to sadness.
In that moment, I realized my baby brother and I likely wouldn’t come back from this.
I’d always hoped we could get closer as we aged and matured, but Milo kept pushing me away.
He kept trying to hurt me. And looking back at Cass’ smiling face, I realized I needed to protect him from Milo’s games.
It hurt knowing that whatever brotherly bond Milo and I had once shared was long gone now.
I wouldn’t waste my time fixing it. Time and time again, Milo had pushed my buttons, and I was done getting hurt.
Looking back at Milo, I said the last thing I would to him in a good while. “I will.”
After chatting a bit more with everyone, I left with Cass, wanting some time for just the two of us.
“I got a text from Elias,” I informed him as soon as we were inside his house, greeted by Daisy.
“Oh, anything about my floors?” Cass asked with a hopeful smile.
“He wrote that the floor boards should be delivered in the morning, but that you can’t live here while he works on the flooring. Since he needs to sand it down and stain it, there can’t be any furniture or anything.”
“Oh.” His shoulders slumped as he watched Daisy eat her food.
“You two will move into my house,” I declared, not wanting it to sound like an offer, in fear of him refusing.
“We will?” he grinned, seeming all too pleased by the news.
“Yes,” I replied simply, then took his chin in hand and placed a soft kiss on his lips. “I can’t wait.”
“Then let’s get packed,” he giggled, running up the stairs like he couldn’t wait to live with me.
Damn, my heart truly was in his hands.
We packed the essentials, most of which were Daisy’s and filled Cass’ car. The furniture he had left would need to go somewhere so Cass decided to throw it all out. He wanted new furniture and not his granddad’s old stuff. I fully supported that decision.
“How long can we stay at your place?” he asked, sitting down in the driver seat.
I shrugged and answered honestly, “Forever.”
That made him pause, then look over at me with confusion. The only sound in the car was a vocal protest from the Queen herself, who was in her pet cage in the back.
“Are you joking or not? I really can’t tell.”
“Oh, I’m dead serious. You might not know what being my mate means. It means you’re mine fully. And I would love it if you lived with me. Daisy, too, obviously.”
“But isn’t it a bit too soon?” he whispered. It wasn’t an instant no, which I saw as victory.
“Does it feel soon? I don’t care what others might think. What do you want to do?”
“I want to be with you,” he admitted, making my heart soar. “Even if it terrifies me.”
“Terrifies you?”
“You already have the power to break my heart, Jeremy, and we’ve only known each other for a few days. That scares me.”
My poor wonderful mate.
“Anything that involves the heart is scary,” I agreed. “But I’m trusting you with my heart, so can I be trusted with yours in return?”
“You already have it,” he whispered, then broke whatever spell we were under as he turned his attention back on to the car and started the engine.
The mate talk would be happening sooner than later, but for now, just knowing I had his heart, would be enough.
“But what if she scratches your furniture?” Cass asked, biting his bottom lip as he eyed my leather couch with worry.
“Then she scratches the furniture,” I answered, not really caring if she did any damage.
They were only things. Daisy was far more important, that was obvious.
And because she meant so much to Cass, I selfishly wanted her to be happy too.
A happy Cass meant I’d done well as his mate, and nothing was more important than that to me.
Not even my pack. It was a scary thing to acknowledge, but true, nonetheless.
Cass eyed me with confusion, but seemed happy I didn’t mind the dangers of having a cat in my home.
Little did he know that it was already their home, too.
I would make sure it would take Elias enough time to fix the flooring for me to sway Cass to stay here.
Then we could work on Cass’ house together and either sell it, or rent it out.
That would be for Cass to decide, it was his house, after all.
“Daisy can go anywhere she pleases,” I said, pointing to the hallway. “I have a laundry room where her litterbox can go in the corner, and I think we should order her a separate one for upstairs. I have this little nook where it could go.”
“Oh, that sounds perfect, actually.”
“She’s had a lot of moving stress these two days.” I’d just come up with the perfect plan for keeping them even longer. “So, I think it would be best if you stayed here for at least a month for her sake.”
His eyes went big. “I hadn’t even thought about that! My poor baby is likely dying to feel at home somewhere, and here I am, moving her around and causing her stress.”
He seemed truly burdened by this revelation, which hadn’t been my goal. I quickly pulled him into a hug. “She’s home now,” I declared, knowing the words were true.
“Thank you,” he whispered. The comfortable silence was broken by his stomach growling. “Can we order dinner?”
Laughing, I nodded. “Anything for you, my mate.”