Chapter 30
CHAPTER THIRTY
SILAS
Outside germs and all, according to Noa.
I place my towel over my shoulders as my cropped hair drips water down my neck. God, I hate that feeling.
Cherry scents in the air as I enter the kitchen. Thorne is such a damn early bird, no matter how tired he is. He’s at the stovetop making what smells like pancakes. Again.
I think they’re my omega’s favorite, though, so I’ll eat pancakes as many times as she pleases.
“Where’s my dog?” I ask him, sliding my arms around his waist. He tries to shake me off, but I kiss under his ear, nipping him a bit, and he relaxes into me.
He’s got a tablet set up in the corner on the counter, currently relaying the weather, as he cooks.
All the curtains are open, so the room is lit by daylight.
Everything feels so light, and right, now that our bond is complete.
I feel all three of them in the bonds on my neck.
Havoc, Noa, and Thorne, all with me, just as they should be.
“With Timber and his Pack,” he murmurs. Stepping back, I let my mate do his thing. Flipping pancake after pancake.
“I’m glad they could watch him,” I mutter, thinking how neglected he would have been during Noa’s heat. That’s something we’ll have to plan better for next time.
“Are we gonna talk?” Thorne asks, turning around to face me in his “kiss the chef” apron I got him last year. I smile at the memory of how embarrassed he was when he opened it.
“About what?” I ask. Distracted by his shirtlessness. I have beautifully sexy mates.
I’ll have to remain appreciating through my eyes, cause my stomach—
“About Havoc, about us.” His words make me snap my undivided attention to him. His green eyes hold worry. A worry I need to soothe as Pack Lead.
“About… the Fallons,” I ask, wondering where the worry comes from.
“Yeah, I know Havoc isn’t a bad guy— “
“Right.” I say, cutting him off. “Havoc isn’t normal, and we love that about him.”
“I agree.” He says. His gaze holds mine, and I believe him. He’s my mate just as much as Havoc is, even if Havoc is… different.
I’m not playing God, but the world is a better place without the Fallons.
“I’m glad that we are Pack, though,” I laugh, trying to lighten the mood before our other two mates get here. “He’s scary.” Fucking understatement of the year, but I can’t pretend I don’t love that about him.
“We’re finally complete,” Thorne mutters, a smile gracing his perfect pink lips. “But there’s one more thing.”
“Now what?” I try to laugh, but he’s laying it on thick this morning.
“Hockey.” The word makes me more surprised than Havoc’s murder spree. “What’s going on there?”
“What do you mean?” I ask, playing dumb. It’s not a conversation I thought we would have so soon.
“Last game, shooting when the goalie is down. You know better than that. And when you were on the bench, you looked like you’d rather be anywhere else.”
“Not just anywhere. I want to be here. With my Pack.”
“Maybe in the stands instead of on the ice.” His voice sends a chill down my back. “You’ve been disconnected from the game for a while.”
“But we worked so hard–”
“And accomplished so much, Silas, I love you whether you’re on the ice with me or not.” Thorne slides the pancake he’s finished on top of the stack and stops as he faces me. “I’ll say it for you, if you need me to. Retire.”
“I’m twenty-six.”
“And you’re tired.”
“It’s still early in my career.”
“But you don’t need a career. At least not on the ice. You can follow your dreams now instead of mine.” His words ring in my head like a ping-pong. I loved hockey. I started playing hockey because of him. How many mates go pro together? Hockey was our love.
Hockey was always our dream. But now–I sigh, looking around the kitchen, avoiding eye contact, but those damn green eyes compel me. I don’t need hockey to have Thorne. I fear I never did. “What would I do?” I say. Who am I without hockey? I… hockey and my Pack is all I have.
“You’ll figure it out; you always do.”
“Good morning,” Noa says, her voice all low and soft as she and Havoc enter the kitchen. She’s dressed in one of my shirts and, hot damn, she’s all ours.
“Good morning, hotcakes,” I say, grabbing her arm and slamming her into me. I need a hug more than anything right now. She’s already tilting her head to meet my lips, and I graciously accept her lips against mine.
Breaking away, Havoc tries to slide past me, but I grab him, too. He’s too much of a mountain to slam into me, so I go to him. Kissing him, hoping he can tell through my kiss where we stand with everything that went down.
He’s mine just as much as Thorne and Noa are. I need him to know that. His brown eyes peer down into mine, freaking giant, and I see the tiniest smile known to man grace his lips. It’s enough for me to let him sit on the other side of Noa’s seat.
He should know that, through the bond, we don’t think any differently of him.
“Feeling better?” I ask Noa, who slides onto the island stool next to me.
“Exhausted, but so happy to have spent my heat with you guys,” she says, a light blush taking over her face that I just want to bite off. She’s just so damn cute.
“I loved spending your heat with you. I’d do it all again right now, if I could,” I say, kissing the tip of her nose.
Thorne slides a pancake onto Noa’s plate first, then gives us each one. Stacking them high, and I laugh.
“How much do you think we need?” I ask after he sets the third pancake on our plates.
“Heats require a lot of energy,” he says, not explaining any further as he adds a fourth.
Our first heat together as a Pack lasted 4 days, and it was more strenuous than any hockey game I’ve ever played. No amount of stamina preparation could have prepared me for that.
I laugh a bit to myself as the conversations in the room flow. Everything is so natural with us, almost like we’d always been a part of each other’s lives. I couldn’t have asked for anything more perfect than this.
“Breaking news: a Pack suicide has been reported in Ohio. Three alphas, also known as the Fallon Pack, were found dead at 2pm today when the eldest’s mother couldn’t reach him-” The new anchor’s voice catches all of our attention. The chances of them finding the Fallon Pack so quickly is chilling.
My eyes jump to Noa, who remains frozen in her chair, her curly hair up in a bun and her brown eyes attached to the tablet.
Her head slowly moves to Havoc, who looks worried, but the slight scrunch in his eyebrow is barely noticeable. It’s as if they have some sort of silent communication. Something reassuring, powerful, and after a moment, Noa nods.
Cutting a piece of her pancake, she lifts her fork, not to her lips but his. Havoc smiles a bit, leaning down to accept the pancake from his omega, and she giggles as her fork gets caught in his lips, but she pulls it back. Grabbing another pancake slice, she turns towards me.
She raises her eyebrows, and I smile, much broader than the other two could probably pull off. My omega wants to feed me?
I open my mouth, awaiting the pancake, and she giggles as she brings it to my lips. The soft pancake tasted much better coming from her fork, and I lean back in my chair, satisfied with how this had turned out.
The Fallons won’t be an issue ever again. My Pack is here, safe and bonded. There isn’t anything in the world I could ask for more.
She does the same for Thorne, and then she eats her own pancakes, each of us cutting a slice and feeding her as well.
The Gray Pack is gonna be okay, that I know for sure.