Chapter Three #3
Of course, he couldn’t know that for sure, either.
He hadn’t seen his siblings in a long time.
He didn’t even know if they were aware of the fact that their mother had died.
He wasn’t looking forward to telling them about it if they weren’t.
Franklin had already done his mourning. They hadn’t, not if they didn’t know.
It would be something else they’d have to live through, and Franklin hated that for them.
But maybe he had no reason to worry about that. He had no idea what they knew or didn’t know, but he couldn’t start planning for things that might never happen. It was a waste of energy, and he had better things to focus that energy on, like finding his siblings and bringing them home.
He felt slightly more awake when he left his house.
The air outside was warm already, but he took a deep breath, which helped clear his head.
He was going to Moore’s place to find out what had happened with Reed, and that was that.
He didn’t need to make plans or decisions. He just needed more information.
He hoped Moore would give that information without him having to ask.
He was pretty sure that Moore would want to know what the fuck was going on, though.
Franklin had told him that Reed was his mate, but that was as far as it went.
He didn’t know anything else. Hell, Moore had spoken with Reed more than Franklin had. He probably knew him better by now.
That made Franklin’s lion unhappy. It wanted them to go out there and find Reed, but Franklin wasn’t going to allow that to happen.
The village was still quiet, but Franklin could see it waking up.
Maybe he should’ve waited to visit Moore.
The man would probably still be in bed with his mate right now, and Franklin didn’t want to bother him, but at the same time, his skin felt like there were ants crawling all over it.
He was itchy. He needed to do something, and right now, the only thing he could think of doing was talking to Moore.
If the man was still asleep, Franklin would leave and come back later, but he knew that Moore was an early riser. Hopefully, today was no different.
When he reached the house, he hesitated. He looked up and down the porch, wondering if the neighbors were awake, too. They weren’t too close to the house, but they might wonder what Franklin was doing here if they saw him. Not that Franklin cared.
The door opened before Franklin could knock. He blinked at Moore, who arched a brow at him. “I expected you to be here sooner,” Moore said.
“It’s barely eight in the morning. I didn’t want to bother you.”
Moore snorted and stepped aside. “Please. We both know you’re dying to know what happened with Reed.”
“I am.”
“I’m not surprised. He’s your mate, and your brother’s life is also in the balance. That’s a lot for someone to wrap their mind around. Did you sleep at all?”
Franklin barked out a laugh and followed Moore to the kitchen after the man closed the door.
The air smelled of coffee and food, which made Franklin’s stomach growl.
He hadn’t eaten anything before leaving the house because he hadn’t thought he could keep anything down, but he was starting to rethink that.
“Sit down,” Moore ordered as he moved to the stove. “We haven’t had breakfast yet. You can eat with us.”
“It’s fine. You don’t have to feed me.”
“Someone clearly does. You don’t look so good.”
“Well, thanks for the compliment. That’s probably because I didn’t sleep, though.”
“You were thinking about Reed.”
It wasn’t a question, and Franklin was pretty sure he didn’t need to answer, but he still did anyway. “Of course I was. Wouldn’t you?”
“It was a shock, wasn’t it? To find out that your mate worked in that lab.”
“It’s not that he worked there. I did, too. It would be hypocritical of me to be angry at him for working for the Glass Research Company when I did the same. It’s the intent behind it that bugs me. I did it to find my siblings. He did it to earn money.”
“You didn’t believe him when he said that he didn’t realize what that would mean until it was too late?”
“I don’t know what to believe. I don’t think he was lying, but is it enough? Besides, I can’t focus on that right now. My main goal is to find Garrett and Leah. Having a mate will make all of that more complicated for me.”
Moore turned to face Franklin and crossed his arms over his chest. His expression was soft, which Franklin wasn’t sure he understood.
“Meeting your mate isn’t complicated. It happens when it does for a reason, and I fully believe that goes for you and Reed, too. You wouldn’t have met now if it wasn’t important.”
“Of course meeting my mate is important. But it’s not more important than Garrett.
It can’t be.” Franklin was terrified of what Garrett would think if he ever found out that Reed was Franklin’s mate.
Would he be angry? It wasn’t like Franklin had a choice in it, but surely Garrett would expect him to stay as far away as possible from the man who’d hurt him.
There was a noise somewhere upstairs, and both Franklin and Moore looked up. Moore smiled, and Franklin thought it was because he’d heard his mate, but Moore’s next words told him that he was wrong.
“The meeting with Reed yesterday went well. He said that he didn’t want to be involved, probably to protect you, but Rikar and I convinced him that he should stick around, at least until we find Garrett.
He knows more about the facility than anyone else, and he could be useful to have on hand as we plan how to infiltrate it.
We can’t afford to lose as many documents and information as we do in every raid, not when we have the owner of the Glass Research Company on our side.
Morin wants to eradicate whoever’s behind those labs completely, and we’re going to help him do that. ”
“I agree,” Franklin said, slightly confused.
Moore nodded. “Good. Because I offered for him to sleep here last night, and he agreed.”
* * * *
REED WASN’T A SHIFTER, but he was on the stairs on his way to the kitchen, and it was close enough to hear what Moore was saying. Apparently, Franklin hadn’t known that Reed was here.
Reed stopped walking. It wasn’t a surprise.
He didn’t think that Franklin would be here if he’d known that Reed was.
He didn’t know what Franklin would do now that he was here, though.
With anyone else, he would’ve expected them to walk out that door, but Franklin was here for his siblings.
He was here for Garrett, and even though Reed didn’t know Franklin that well, he knew enough to be sure that Franklin would never abandon Garrett.
He would fight through any uncomfortable situation to get to his brother, even if that meant having to be in the same room as Reed.
Reed was impressed, but maybe he shouldn’t be. He knew Garrett. He knew how resilient and strong the man was. Clearly, it was a family trait.
He sucked in a breath and finished walking down the stairs. He didn’t know what Franklin’s answer to Moore had been. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know until he was there. In fact, he wasn’t sure he wanted to know at all, but he wouldn’t have a choice.
He took a deep breath before stepping into the kitchen.
Moore had given him a short tour yesterday when they’d arrived, but Reed had been exhausted, and he’d wanted nothing more than to go to bed.
He still wasn’t sure why he’d agreed to stay at Moore’s house.
Probably the exhaustion. He hadn’t felt safe since he’d escaped from the lab six months ago, which made it hard to sleep.
Every time he closed his eyes, he knew there was a chance that he’d be attacked while he was unconscious or that he’d wake up in a cage.
He hadn’t. He’d woken up in a warm bed, safe and sound.
He’d been able to shower without wondering if someone would sneak into his apartment as he did so.
He wouldn’t have to worry about food because he could smell that Moore was cooking.
The situation was incredibly odd, but it also made Reed want to cry.
He didn’t. Instead, he squared his shoulders and stepped into the kitchen.
Moore was standing by the stove and smiled at him when he saw him.
Reed smiled back, but his attention didn’t stay on the mutant for long.
It slid right away to Franklin, who was standing there, watching him with wide eyes.
Since he’d just found out that Reed was here, it made sense for him to be surprised.
Reed wished that Moore had given Franklin a heads-up, if anything so he could avoid coming around if he didn’t want to see Reed.
“Good morning,” Reed murmured.
Moore gave him a kind smile. “Good morning. Breakfast is just about ready.”
“Are we not waiting for Jolyn?” Franklin asked.
Reed had no idea who that person was. Moore shook his head, though. “We’re not. My mate went to visit his brother, so he won’t be here for most of the day. You’ll meet him later tonight, Reed,” Moore added, turning to Reed.