21. Chapter Twenty #2
“I’ll say,” I groaned. “The only thing our king talks about is Gus, Gus, Gus… and Lumi, Lumi, Lumi… and Ember, Ember, Ember.”
“We’ll be the same, I’m sure, once we have children.” Briar’s gaze softened, longing evident in his eyes. We both wanted children desperately, but we were going to heed Doctor Aron’s advice to wait.
“Can we at least snuggle?” I pouted like the biggest baby in the kingdom.
“Of course,” Briar beamed at me. “But no—”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. No funny business.”
“Good alpha,” he grinned at me, then snuggled up against me. My dick wasn’t happy that it couldn’t camp inside Briar’s snug hole, but at least my omega was close, and my alpha rejoiced.
It was dark outside when I awoke to an empty bed.
The room was cold, and the fire had gone out.
I shivered, then looked around the room, but there was no sign of Briar.
Perhaps he’d gone to fetch some food, or had to use the bathroom.
I pulled the comforter up around me, but I couldn’t rest. Something was wrong, missing, and when I realized what it was, my heart turned to stone.
The bond. I couldn’t feel it. Throwing the comforter aside, I jumped out of bed, wincing as the incisions pulled at my skin.
My legs nearly gave way underneath me as nausea overtook my body.
I pushed through it, ignoring the bile rising in my throat.
Briar. Why couldn’t I feel him? I had to find him.
I stumbled out into the hallway, but it was devoid of any people.
From a distance, I heard faint crying, and as I followed the sound, it morphed into a desperate wailing.
I walked on unsteady feet, dread filling me.
I was afraid, so afraid, more afraid than I’d ever been before.
I turned a corner, and there was Sin, clad completely in black, tears trailing down his cheeks.
‘Where’s Briar?’ I asked, but he just shook his head.
Why couldn’t I feel the bond? Then I saw my best friend, dressed in black too, Seb shaking in his arms, crying desperately.
‘Where’s Briar?’ I begged Gus, but he wouldn’t meet my eyes.
I stood in front of the closed door to Briar’s old room.
I reached for the handle, and it was freezing cold.
‘Don’t go in there, Hal,’ Gus croaked. ‘You don’t want to see it.
’ But I did. I needed to see it. ‘You can’t unsee it once you do, Hal.
Don’t go in there.’ But I did. The room was cast in darkness, aside from a few candles flickering on the fireplace mantle.
In the middle of the room, on a table, something was covered by a white cloth.
My body froze, ice-cold spreading inside me like an eternal winter.
Walking up to the table, I wrapped my fingers around the cloth, then slowly pulled it aside, my heart beating frantically in my throat.
And there he was, my sweetness, his skin paper white, almost see-through.
His eyes were closed, his dark lashes resting peacefully against his cheeks.
He looked like he was sleeping, and if it hadn’t been for the missing bond, he could’ve been.
‘Sweetness,’ I whispered. ‘My sweetness. What have they done to you?’ I pulled the cloth down further.
I needed to see him, all of him, one last time.
I wish I hadn’t, because there, wrapped in my mate’s arms, was the tiniest, most perfect baby I’d ever seen.
He had my hair and Briar’s nose. His eyes were closed, but somehow I knew they were green.
Green like a spring that would never come.
Green like leaves that would never bloom.
Green like fields of grass I’d never chase my son through, Briar laughing at me, calling out my name.
I screamed then; the sound of my own voice the most heartbreaking sound I’d ever heard.
“Hal! Hal! Wake up!” Someone was shaking me, but I didn’t dare open my eyes.
I didn’t want to live in a world where Briar didn’t exist and where our child was dead.
“Hal, wake up. You’re only dreaming. Come back to me.
” Come back to me. Something was different.
I wasn’t cold, and I felt it then: the bond.
It was there, pulsing in my veins, throbbing with life, beautiful life.
With love. I blinked my eyes open, staring into two pools of green. Very worried green.
“You’re alive,” I croaked, my hands fisting Briar’s shirt.
He frowned at me. “Of course I am. You were dreaming. You were yelling, ‘no, no, no.’”
“I thought I’d lost you.”
Tenderness pooled in Briar’s eyes as he cupped my face. “Never, my silly alpha. You can’t lose me. I am a part of you, remember, just like you are a part of me. We belong together.”
My heart stopped as the love of my life spoke my own words back to me. I nodded, tears pressing behind my lids. “I was so scared,” I admitted.
“I’m here,” Briar smiled. “I just went to get you some food.”
My stomach chose that second to growl angrily, and I realized how hungry I was. I scrunched up my nose. “Please tell me it’s not more of that ghastly porridge.”
Briar chuckled, the sound like a trickling river. “No, it’s broth today. Chicken broth.”
I licked my lips, my mouth watering. “With real chicken in it?” Dare I hope? It felt like I’d lost function of my teeth since I hadn’t actually chewed anything in days.
“Yes, Hal. Tiny pieces of chicken.”
“Oh, thank the gods. My prayers have been answered.” I sat up against the headboard, and Briar placed a tray across my lap.
“Careful. It’s hot.” He pulled out a napkin, then placed it across my chest.
“I can feed myself, you know?” I grumbled as Briar dipped the spoon into the steaming hot broth. It smelled absolutely divine. Stefano was a genius.
Briar lifted an eyebrow at me. “So?”
“I’m not a baby,” I huffed.
“Then don’t act like one,” he shot back, his eyes beaming with challenge. “Let me take care of you.”
“Alright,” I pouted, then opened my mouth as Briar held out the spoon in front of me.
“Like you always take care of me.”
I hummed with delight at the taste of the salty soup exploding on my tongue. My eyes fluttered closed in true bliss as I swallowed, and warmth filled me from the inside.
“Like proper mates do,” he whispered, his voice brimming with affection and love.
Like proper mates. There was a time when I didn’t believe in things like that. When I didn’t think there was someone out there for me. But he was. He was waiting for me the entire time.
I opened my eyes.
“More?” Briar smiled, dipping the spoon back into the broth.
“Yes, please, my love.” More. More of everything and anything. As long as it was with Briar, my mate, my sweetness, I wanted it all.