Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
Emilio
M y eyes flickered open as light blared through the crack in the curtains. I glared at it like that would magically shut them all the way. What the fuck was the point of blackout curtains if they weren’t closed correctly?
Something shifting next to me put me on high alert, until my brain caught up and reminded me that Nico would be there sleeping soundly. I took a second to just take him in. The last three days had been an exhausting whirlwind, and I’d never really had the time to appreciate him.
Nico was completely naked, his legs tangled around the silk sheets. His hair was mussed up, and a little bit of drool pooled on the pillow next to him. I winced at the dry cum and slick on his legs and ass. I needed to be better at cleaning and taking care of him between heat waves.
I sniffed the air. It still smelled like sex and omega, but the sickly sweetness that indicated his heat seemed to finally be dying down. It was over.
I ran my fingers down Nico’s naked spine. It was hard to believe after a year of fighting my feelings that this man was actually mine. There was no stopping it now. I might have managed to restrain my wolf enough not to give him the mating bite, but that was only a formality in my mind. Nico was mine, and if I had to fight my best friend to keep him, I would.
I didn’t think it would come to that though. I’d seen Santino briefly in between one of Nico’s waves. I’d taken advantage of him falling asleep and slid out to check on Santino and find out what had happened.
“The bears are all taken care of,” he told me as he leaned against the balcony of the patio we were standing on and took a drag of his cigarette. I was wearing nothing but a pair of low-hung sweats, no underwear. Santino had taken a long, hard look at me before shrugging and looking the other way. “The Grizzlies’ Boss swears he had no knowledge of the attack and wants to meet up with us to discuss it once Nico’s heat is over.”
I grunted in acknowledgement, the lump in my throat dissolving a little. If he wanted me with him, it was a good sign. “Trying to save his own ass, you mean.”
Santino snorted. “Not sure anything could save it at this point.” He glanced at me. “Did Nico tell you why he was over there?”
Was this Santino’s way of acknowledging he knew what was going on and gave his blessing? We’d obviously have to have a bigger talk later, but I’d take what I could get.
This, however, was a conversation I wasn’t looking forward to. I had no plans on questioning Nico over his actions until after his heat, but in between waves, he’d started crying and had just spilled everything. I could barely get ahold of my feelings as he’d told his story. Part of me was pissed as fuck that he’d gone behind our back, lied to Carter, and risked himself like that. I also felt this nearly uncontrollable jealous rage that my omega had been going to give his virginity to some bear. Which made me mad at myself because if I’d just spoken to him at any point over the last year, that would’ve never fucking happened. Then, there was the deadly impulse to murder every single fucking one of them who dared to try and put their hands on what was mine. I was pissed I hadn’t gotten a chance to kill any of them myself. My wolf demanded blood.
Mostly, though, I’d just wanted to comfort Nico and tell him it would all be okay. He’d been sobbing and kept apologizing and I’d been desperate to fix it. I turned back to Santino, knowing he deserved the truth.
“He was trying to lose his virginity.” I told him the rest of the story with as few details as possible.
Santino winced. “Fuck. That was my fault. He begged me for a chance to date for months and I kept denying him. He wouldn’t have gone behind my back if I wasn’t so fucking overbearing. Wish I didn’t kill Maxim so fucking quickly now.” Same. But there was nothing we could do about it.
I shrugged. We all had a little blame in the situation. Santino was too overprotective, I was a coward and didn’t share my feelings, and Nico made some bad decisions out of desperation and likely a little rebellion. I couldn’t even say we wouldn’t act the same again. Nico was both our weak spots. He had to be protected at all costs.
Santino shook the thought away. “Well, I guess you got that handled now, huh? No more sneaking out to fuck?”
Even the thought of it made me want ravage whole villages but I swallowed that down, and focused on trying to get a read on him. There was no anger in his scent.
I met his eyes. “Nico’s my mate.”
He sighed heavily. “Yeah, I kinda figured.”
My face scrunched in confusion. “You did?”
“Yeah, I saw the way you both reacted to each other in the alley. Not to mention you smell like him, Lio. You two are the only people I care about in this world. You don’t think I’d notice your scents combining?”
I had no idea what to say about that, so I said nothing. “Listen, I wasn’t expecting it. But clearly, I can’t keep avoiding the fact that Nico is a man now. If he’s got to be with someone, there’s no one I trust more in the world than you.”
My breath came out of me in a whoosh. I hadn’t allowed myself to think too much about what would happen if Santino didn’t give his blessing. But I’d known it would’ve hurt . . . a lot. Hearing him give it was everything I hadn’t realized I needed.
“Thank you,” I replied gruffly.
He gave me a sharp nod. “If you hurt him, I will cut off every one of your limbs and feed them to you. Then I’ll gut you and stand there until you bleed out.”
I snorted, the threat exactly what I expected. “If I hurt him, I’ll let you.” Then Santino hugged me, and I started to cry.
By the time I finished my walk down memory lane, Nico started to stir. Someone had left us some electrolyte drinks and protein bars by the door earlier, and I’d brought them to the side of the bed. I reached down and grabbed one of each. He would need a real meal, but hopefully this would hold him over till I could get him in the shower and cleaned up.
Nico smiled sleepily at me, his eyes half open.
“Hey.”
“Hey, little wolf.”
“What time is it? I feel different.”
I ran my fingers through his tangled curls. They were softer than mine, and I loved the feel of them. “Not sure, late. And yeah, you’re heat’s over.”
Nico’s eyes flew up as he took stock of his body. “I guess that’s why I’m so fucking sore.”
I laughed. “Yeah, that would do it.”
“And starving.” I kissed his lips.
“Here, drink and eat this for now. After you shower, I’ll get you a real meal.”
Nico grunted. “That means leaving the room, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah, unfortunately I can’t keep you in here forever.”
Nico sat up and took the drink from me. He twisted the cap open and drank half of it in one gulp. “Fuck, I was thirsty. I’m guessing everyone knows by now?”
There was something about his tone that had me hesitating.
“Yeah, they definitely do. Why? Do you regret this?”
His eyes widened. “What? No! No, of course not. Lio, this is every single one of my fantasies come to life. I feel the bond and want nothing more than to make it official. And you can no longer say my heat is talking.” He took a deep breath. “I’m just— I feel like an asshole about what I did. I owe Carter an apology. Not to mention both you and Santino. I just— A war probably started between us and the Grizzlies and it was my fault.”
I grabbed his chin. “Cut that crap out now. Yeah, you definitely owe Carter an apology. And your brother. You already said yours to me, baby. We’re good. I don’t need anymore. But, Nico, if a war’s about to start, you didn’t cause it. You made a dumb as shit choice, but fuck, we all have at one time or another. You did your research, and you thought you were being careful. You didn’t ask them to ambush you or force your heat. That’s on them. If there’s a war, that’s their doing. A consequence of their actions, not yours.”
Nico shrugged, unsure, but once he talked to Santino and Carter, I was sure he’d start to hear what I was saying.
I gave him a long, lingering kiss. “C’mon, let’s take a shower so we can eat and you can start your apology tour.”
Nico knocked into my shoulder, but he was grinning, and I knew everything would be okay.