Chapter Forty-Three
Gwyn
M y stomach twisted, threatening to empty what little was left in it on the floor of the church. Having the bond and feeling the waves of anger was almost worse than not knowing what was going on, the sudden calm through the bond raising the hairs along the back of my neck.
Was it over?
Was everyone okay?
I watched Brooke pace across the space in front of the pews, the far off look in her eyes telling me she was paying attention to what she was getting through her bond as well. Her expression was calm, but her quick steps made it obvious she was just as worried.
Charity had come to sit next to me, while Blake leaned against the closed door our mates had disappeared through, and Patch kept his spot behind us. None of us had spoken, and I finally broke.
“I’m so sorry for causing all this.”
Brooke paused in her pacing while Charity reached over and took my hand.
“It’s not your fault. The Purists are the problem.”
I lifted one shoulder, not sure I could accept her assurance.
“Even if my son wasn’t involved with them, he’d have been causing problems.”
She patted the back of my hand.
“And the guys still would have done the same. They don’t let those weaker than them be taken advantage of. It does hurt more when it’s someone in your family though.”
She grimaced as if she had personal experience of being hurt by family, and I wondered what the story behind that was. It seemed like everyone associated with the Hell’s Knights had their own story and trauma, yet they’d still come together and supported each other.
My heart ached, wishing the same could have been said of my actual family. My first mate had been abusive, controlling, and was thankfully dead. My eldest son was following in his father’s footsteps despite seeing the pain it caused. My youngest wanted nothing more than to escape and move on with his life without us. Instead of pulling together, we’d fallen apart, and I couldn’t see a way to fix it.
“Even without us, the Purists and the Knights would be clashing. We might have been catalysts, but we aren’t the reason they’re fighting,” Brooke added.
I wasn’t sure what to say to these two women who were younger than me but seemed wise beyond their years. It was sad when the world we lived in meant the young didn’t have a chance to be wild and carefree anymore. I wasn’t sure there had ever been a time when omegas could be carefree.
Falling back into silence, we waited until we spotted Patch rise from where he’d been sitting and move towards the door. He said something to Blake, who stepped aside and let him out before I thought to ask where he was going, or if he’d gotten a message about what was going on. Knowing he was their medic didn’t help my anxiety.
I sat with my hands clenched in my lap until I couldn’t take it anymore, standing just as I heard a fainty rumble. Freezing, I held my breath and strained to hear until I was sure the only thing it could be was approaching motorcycles.
When I walked toward the door, Brooke and Charity fell into step behind me, all three of us confronting the alpha blocking the exit.
“Let us out.”
He eyed me as if he wanted to argue, but if we could hear the motorcycles, his enhanced shifter senses were strong enough for him to be sure of what caused the noise.
Sighing, he shook his head but moved aside and held the door open for us.
“They just might kill me for this if it’s not them.”
I wasn’t sure if he was serious, but I couldn’t find it in me to care enough to stay. If Carl was outside, I needed to see him.
The dim hallway that led outside felt longer than I remembered, but we finally emerged into the night just as the rumble cut off. It was too dark for me to see far, but the bond in my chest pulled me toward the hulking shape on the far left of the three motorcycles.
“Carl?”
I wasn’t sure where the other two women had gone or how I’d crossed the distance between the door and the looming figure. None of it mattered except making sure my mate was okay.
“Yeah, I’m here. I’m okay.”
A sob caught in my throat as I threw myself into his arms.
“Hush, Beautiful. Everything is alright. Adam and the others are gone, and I don’t think they’ll be targeting you anymore.”
While it was a relief to know I didn’t need to worry about my business being damaged, or that someone was going to kidnap me, there was still a stab of pain. I doubted there was anything that could heal the rift between me and my eldest, and while I realized it wasn’t my fault, it still hurt.
“What happened?”
Carl was reluctant, but he finally told me what they’d faced when they had arrived at The Hangout, my heart stumbling at the scene he described. He assured me David and the two Knights were okay, but it broke my heart to know my son had been involved in the situation. He truly wasn’t the man I’d dreamed he would be. I could only hope maybe time would bring sense.
“I hope you’ll forgive me.”
I’d been lost in thought after Carl had stopped speaking, so I looked in question. The darkness in the lot behind the church left his face in shadows, but I didn’t need to see to know he was looking down at me with a worried expression.
“For what?”
“I told him I better not see him again. That he couldn’t come back to Hell. I know he’s your son, but we—”
I tugged on the back of his neck, pulling him down to silence him with a soft kiss.
“I know. It wouldn’t be safe. It’s okay.”
I could still feel his unease through the bond, but I wasn’t angry with him. Carl was trying to protect all of us, and I knew it wouldn’t be safe to allow Adam to come around. It was part of the reason I hadn’t told him where I was going in the first place, because some part of me knew he would ruin what I was trying to build.
Pressing my forehead to Carl’s, I stood there, soaking up his presence and trying to release my worries and guilt. Logic had no say over emotions, and I knew it would take a long time to accept this was how things had to be, but the weight of everything was crippling.
“I love you.”
The quiet confession stole my breath, and I lifted my head to search for his eyes. I hated that I couldn’t see through the dark and all I could do was pull him in for another kiss.
“I love you too, Carl. Even if I didn’t want to.”
His little huff had my lips ticking up, warm spreading inside me. No matter what happened, I knew he would be by my side for the rest of my time, steady and supportive as we both battled our demons to make a place for ourselves and the happiness we found together.
***
“I’m going to puke.”
“That would be a lovely smell for your customers when they come in. I’m not sure you have time to mop again.”
My hand flew to the side without conscious direction, smacking into Carl’s belly. A little over a month ago I’d have been horrified at committing such a thoughtless action to an alpha, but Carl had changed my life in more ways than one.
“I’m serious!”
Chuckling, he caught my hand and brought it to his mouth, kissing my knuckles.
“Everything is going to be okay. You have everything ready, it looks wonderful, it smells wonderful, and they’re going to love it.”
I was hiding in the kitchen, scared to even peek out at the line that could be seen through the windows. I knew half of the people waiting were Knights, here to show their support, but there were other, new faces amidst the crowd.
Strangers.
People who would judge me and my café.
“This was a terrible idea. Why did I do this? Is it too late to reschedule?”
Carl laughed again, running a hand down my back.
“Maybe I should bend you over the counter and put my face between your legs. A few orgasms would help you relax.”
“Carl!”
My eyes flew up to his, my cheeks burning with the blush I knew graced them. I couldn’t deny we’d had some fun in the kitchen while we’d finished remodeling, but now there was food waiting, as well as Blake’s teen daughter and another girl I’d hired to help.
The snickers behind me told me the girls were no strangers to being around crude alphas and their mates, but there was still too much mom in me.
“You can’t say that in front of them!” I hissed. “Gah, now I need to clean again. What if they say something that makes people think we’re doing that where their food was made!”
There was a chance I was going to hyperventilate. The room was growing fuzzy around the edges, my heart fluttering like it had wings. Only Carl’s touch was keeping me grounded, and as much as I wanted to really smack him, I also appreciated him keeping me distracted from staring at the clock.
“But it’s time to open the doors.”
Attention darting to the clock I’d hung on the bright yellow walls, I was sure I was going to have a heart attack. While I had planned to open at five on a normal day, I’d held off the grand opening until eight today, mostly at Carl’s encouragement so he didn’t have to wake up so early, and the clock said he was right.
It was time.
Sucking in a deep breath, I pulled on the constant flow of calm through our bond, glad again that I had Carl to lean on. Where he was reckless, I was caution, and where I was anxious, he was steady. He was everything I’d always wanted, and I knew he’d support me, even if I decided to turn and run out the back instead of opening the front doors.
A cheer went up outside as I pushed through into the dining room, so loud it echoed in the empty building. My cheeks burned hotter, but a smile broke across my face at the show of support. It hadn’t taken long for Hell’s Knights to pull me into their fold, and I knew each man out there wearing their vest.
Carl walked next to me until the final few steps, and when I looked back with a raised brow, he nodded toward the door.
“This place is yours. It was your dream, and you put in the work for it. Open the doors.”
If my heart swelled any more it was going to burst.
“I wouldn’t have it without you. You did most of the hard labor, and you defended it when I couldn’t. You gave me a reason not to give up.”
Love poured through the bond, his smile making my breath catch.
“It’s still yours. You deserve this.”
Biting my lip, I nodded. I could argue till I was blue in the face that I wouldn’t still have the café if it wasn’t for him, but he’d never accept it belonged to him just as much as me. I wouldn’t be the person I was now if I hadn’t had him.
Blinking back tears, I faced the crowd again and fumbled the key into the lock, pausing to take another steadying breath before opening the doors.
The cheers grew louder, familiar and new faces all mixed together as they stared back at me, and I choked up when I noticed every one of them held a book. I even spotted Logan behind the crush of Knights at the door, and I almost lost control at the sight of my youngest son.
I’d talked with Adam a couple times since the night he’d come with other Purists and attacked David and two of the Knights, but things were still bad between us, and I’d accepted it would likely never get better. The vile things he called me showed how little he thought of me, and for my own mental health, I’d decided not to contact him again. But I was overjoyed that Logan had come to help celebrate this special moment with me.
It took a few tries to swallow the lump in my throat so I could speak. I’d come so far since Anthony had died, my entire life morphing into something I couldn’t have dreamed of before, and I looked forward to every minute of the future. Being with Carl kept a target on us since the Purists hated him and the Knights, and thought I’d betrayed them, but nothing could have convinced me to regret choosing him. He was mine, and I was his.
Holding my joy tight and smiling so hard my cheeks hurt, I stepped aside and held open the door to my dream.
“Welcome to The Cozy Cookie! Please, come in.”