16. Chapter 16 #2
Cyrus chuckled weakly. “Ah, yeah well…thank you,” he mumbled, his gaze looking into Gabe’s for a few moments longer than intended. He opted to sit at the island counter after taking his wallet out of his back pocket. Gabe slid the plate over to him.
“What about the others?” Cyrus asked.
“They’ll get breakfast when they’re awake in a few hours, I’ll wash the dishes so whoever decides to make it can,” Gabe told him. “I wanted to do this for you.”
Cyrus felt his ears and the back of his neck grow hot. He started to dig into the food even as it was steaming with heat, and hummed quietly in appreciation. Gabe didn’t sit and instead stood across from him eating on the other side of the island counter.
Cyrus didn’t say much, frankly he shoveled the food into his mouth a lot more aggressively than he might normally, but he was in no mood to take things slow.
“Thanks for taking me to Lokk to meet some people,” Gabe said. “I’d know who no one was if it weren’t for you.”
Cyrus licked his lips as he got up to take his plate to the sink and rinse it off. “Ah, you’d figure it out,” he replied.
Gabe got up to do the same and stood beside him close once it was done.
“I don’t know about that.” Gabe sighed.
Cyrus brow furrowed. “Look…I…shouldn’t have been so hard on you in the beginning,” he said slowly. “I was upset because I planned on challenging Liam but, who knows how things could’ve gone if I had let go a little bit and tried to help you sooner and had some hope I guess.”
Gabe shook his head. “No you were right, I didn’t think clearly about what I was getting myself into, you had every right to be upset or not trust I’m what’s…best for the pack, Cyrus.”
Cyrus swallowed hard. “You’re doing great right now, handling all this. Certainly better than Liam ever did, given he got us into this,” he said. “I should’ve…” He sighed.
Gabe removed the short distance between them and put his hand on Cyrus’s shoulder. “Nothing, okay, it wasn’t like I was really honest with you, and I wouldn’t be doing so well if it weren’t for you. Helping me and encouraging me.”
“I just should’ve encouraged you sooner, that’s my job as second,” Cyrus insisted.
“Your job is also to question me and make sure we’re on the same page, and…you did that,” Gabe reminded him. “Don’t stop doing that.”
Cyrus nodded slowly, and his fingers moved up to brush at Gabe’s jaw line for a moment but didn’t quite make it before he decided to step back and take a breath.
“Goodnight Gabe,” Cyrus said quietly.
Gabe replied, “Goodnight.”
Cyrus just looked at him for a long moment before he finally turned around and headed upstairs. There was still a lot going on in his head and he needed some sleep before he was going to be able to figure it out.
When Cyrus finally woke up, thanks to having gone to bed after eating, it was a solid nine and a half hours after his mind had finally relented and let him get some sleep.
Compared to the day before, it was heaven.
He woke up groggy, thirsty and warm, which was how he knew he had been sleeping well.
It took him at least thirty minutes to be self-aware enough to get out of bed and pull on some silk pajama pants instead of his usual sweats—deciding to be extra comfortable—and head to the bathroom and then the kitchen to get some water.
It was around four in the afternoon, which meant he didn’t need to get ready to head into work again for another four hours.
When he got downstairs not much was going on surprisingly.
The kitchen was empty, the main hallway and room were empty.
Some were still at work, some outside, in the entertainment room he assumed or in their bedrooms. So after grabbing some water and downing it, he headed up to Gabe’s room, and knocked on the door to see if he was in there.
“Come in,” a slightly groggy voice said.
Cyrus opened the door and looked in to see Gabe lying in his sweats on his back in bed, an arm underneath his head.
“Hey,” Cyrus said and folded his arms, looking around the room.
He hadn’t been in the room since Gabe had headed off to grab whatever shit he needed from wherever he’d been staying.
Most of it was still packed up. “So, the usual Alpha’s room had been cleared out of Liam’s stuff by now, wouldn’t be a bad idea to get set up in there today,” Cyrus suggested.
Gabe had his eyes closed. “Yeah okay,” he said quietly.
Cyrus continued to stand there, arms folded and looking at Gabe until Gabe opened his eyes and looked around before finally getting back around to Cyrus.
“Oh you meant now. Uh okay,” He groaned as he sat up in bed and then stood.
Cyrus watched him stretch for a moment. The way his pants slid slightly further down his hips as he stretched his arms and his torso up.
“Just let me get dressed, okay?” Gabe asked.
Cyrus tore his eyes away from Gabe’s bare shoulders. Broad but, nowhere near as broad as his own. Gabe was more lean, lanky muscle, while Cyrus was a little fluffier stocky muscle.
“Sure,” Cyrus said and headed down the hallway to his own room that was across from where the Alpha’s room was. None of the other rooms were set up in a hierarchical way, only the Alpha and seconds room, everyone had to fight for what rooms they wanted, or first come first serve.
Cyrus pulled on some jeans and a T-shirt quickly before heading back to Gabe’s room As Gabe was opening the door again. Wearing the same jeans and black Henley that he had been wearing the night before.
“Alright point me at something and I’ll take it,” Cyrus told him.
The next second they were both carrying boxes of god knows what from Gabe’s temporary room to his hopefully more permanent room.
“So, why were you in such a hurry to get this stuff?” Cyrus asked. “When you had to go get it to bring it here.”
Gabe scratched at the back of his head.
“I was kind of…living in a hotel room for a few days before the ritual, didn’t have in cash on hand, and they only take cash,” Gabe said.
Cyrus blinked. “Ah, so…you just went to pick all this up after the ritual?” he asked, remembering that Gabe had gone to get it at some point, but not being certain when. It had to have been while he was at work or sleeping.
“Yeah, Ryan came with me,” Gabe told him.
Cyrus nodded.
His gaze shifted around the room. The room was bigger than his own, and most of the others in the house, not by a crazy amount, but twice as much, with a sheetless queen sized bed centered in the room, an old mahogany dresser, desk and leather desk chair that had seen some better days but was still kicking.
There was a door leading to the bathroom from the bedroom as well.
Cyrus helped Gabe drag what stuff he had in boxes and get it put into drawers, on the desk or a spare two-foot bookshelf he dragged down from the attic.