Chapter 69
Chapter
Sixty-Nine
We were getting close. The forest here crossed state lines and into where we wanted to go. Marcus was flying fast, and we would end up there right at the hour mark. It was far from his family, but I hoped it was all right.
I saw Selene’s hut before I saw the house. The smoke coming from her chimney in the very northeast corner of the territory was easy to pick out. There was nothing around her but trees. I leaned over, looking to see if she was out, but I hadn’t texted her I was coming back.
Is that it?
No. Not quite. Head a little more southeast and lower down a little.
He turned and slowly dropped lower. I didn’t know how high the lair went since I couldn’t really feel it in the Alford’s lair. We get down a little more, and the feeling slammed into me. Grabbing onto his spike, I tried to breathe as it felt like the wind had been knocked out of me.
Colton! What is going on? His panic was making him slow, to a hover over the forest.
I’m okay. I’m fine. It just…knocked the wind out of me. I’m okay.
He growled. What did? What is going on?
Do you see the clearing ahead? Can you land there for me?
Marcus said nothing else as he moved quickly toward the ground. I took slow breaths, letting the magic flow through me. It was pulling from my body and wanting to shift and change. The area felt alive, and as I took a breath, so did it. There was no comparison to it.
Landing heavily, I chuckled and slid off his back onto the ground. He shifted and turned on me, anger flaring. He stormed up to me as I pulled my backpack around and pulled out his clothes.
“What was that? What happened?”
“We just entered the lair. I haven’t been here since it was finished, and I didn’t know how it would react to me.”
He pulled his shirt over his head. “What do you mean lair? There isn’t a lair here.”
I smiled. “There is now.”
His hands froze as he was buttoning his pants.
He looked up at me, trying to comprehend what I had just said.
Slowly, the button closed, and he turned around, looking at the area.
It wasn’t as warm as the Alford’s, but it was something I could adjust if I wanted to.
Reaching out myself, it felt like I could feel and move the surrounding air simply by being in the space.
“Colton, this is a dragon’s lair.”
“Kind of.”
Marcus turned back to me. “No, kind of. This is a dragon’s lair. I can feel it.”
“Yes, but it’s not a dragon’s lair technically, because that would imply a dragon made it or had control over it.”
“And they don’t?”
I shook my head and smiled. “No, I do.”
Blinking, Marcus stared at me, waiting. I didn’t know what he was waiting for. Putting my backpack back on, I reached out and held out my hand to him. Hesitantly, he laced his fingers between mine.
“This is your lair.”
Nodding, my shoulders rose. “I found a book, and I thought it would be worth trying it out. Selene helped, and so…we…made a new lair. One I control.”
“Here?”
“Here. This is the land that Mrs. Truman gave me. Though I purchased quite a bit more around it as well. We could have quite a few of our kids live on the territory and never see them. Selene also lives on the territory now. It’s her haven when she wants it.”
Marcus let out a breathy laugh. “Colton, this is unbelievable. You did this? How? Why?”
“The how is very complicated. Lots of magic and crazy magic circles and a few old tomes from the Archive. Plus Selene filling in on the magic side of things, since most the books that were written were well past the time that the last lair had been created.”
“I honestly can’t wrap my head around this.”
I started walking, pulling Marcus along with me. “As for the why, it was easy. What better protection for our farm?”
Marcus stopped and yanked me back into him. His arms wrapped around me, and he buried his face in my hair. I hugged him back, closing my eyes.
“You did this for us. For our protection.”
“Now, our pups have a truly safe place to be. Omega or Alpha. With how many you want, we are going to end up with both. At least now we have space for them and something to pass down to them. It’s not…
the Alford lair, but I have a feeling that Keith and Mason and their line will continue there.
I thought, since we might need to hide a little more, this would be good. ”
Marcus let me go, but dropped to one knee in front of me. His hands held my hips, and I put my hands on his shoulders. We were quiet for a moment while I let Marcus gather his thoughts.
“This is beyond incredible. You, my mate, are beyond incredible. We have a space for us. A cave, as we said. We can stay here, live, and be safe. I have been racking my head about what to do. I knew you didn’t want to stay forever with my parents, but you shot down joining the flight so hard, I didn’t know if I would be enough to protect you and Kayla. ”
“Mar, you are. You are strong enough. You are the only one I trust completely with Kayla’s and my life. With any of our pups. Ebony and Dylan would never stop. Never stopped. They literally created a bond-breaking poison. For us. You and me. There will be no stopping them until they are dead.”
His head fell against my chest. “I love that you have such faith in me, my mate. I just wish I still had that faith in myself. I was scared. I feared that if I took you anywhere, something would happen. Not even with Dylan, but with everyone else. Hiding as an Omega and especially as a level ten. If it got out, I didn’t know… ”
“You would protect me, Mar.” I put my hands under his chin and made him look at me.
“You will protect us; I know you will. I just wanted to take some of the pressure off you and off our kids too.” Chuckling, I nodded around us.
“I really didn’t think it would work. Selene and I were just muddling through it together.
We had to change things and adjust them as we ran into issues, and it felt like we would always just be doing that.
Until the other day, it clicked into place and the whole feeling changed. ”
Marcus let out a scoff. “You are just…see, this is why I don’t like surprises.
You don’t just buy me something small, like gloves, or give me a new poetry book.
You do this.” He motioned to the sky. “You create lairs. Give me a daughter. Tell me to mark you. You do all of this and I don’t…
how can I ever say I deserve you, Colton Alford? ”
“I mean, you get to cook for me all the time now? And maybe deal with my sass a little more?”
He shook his head. “Now you are asking too much of me.”
Wrapping my arms around him, I pulled him into me. His head rested against my chest. I kissed his head.
“This…kind of isn’t the only surprise.”
“What are you talking about?”
I sank my teeth into my bottom lip to keep from smiling. “I built us a house.”
“You what?”
“Well, I didn’t. I paid for it. Someone else built it. Actually, a senior who graduated, he used my dream house as a final for his class. We built my dream house with some alterations.”
When I realized I was rambling, I pulled him up off the ground. “Did you not notice what was behind me?”
Marcus didn’t say anything as we walked down the clearing.
The grassy hill was huge, so I didn’t necessarily blame him.
It was about twice the size of the one at his parents’ house, and it was all cleared before we started anything.
I’d chosen to nestle the house closer into the forest than the middle.
We could use this area as a landing zone, and it also provides plenty of room for activities.
No need to shift too close to the house.
My breath caught for a moment as I saw it closer.
There had been 3D models rendered originally for the project, and I’d seen the photos Mike had given me, but this was my first time in person.
Everything was exactly as I wanted it. Right now, the windows were tinted on all the floors, so it just looked grey.
The porch was huge, wrapping around the entire back end of the house.
Four steps led up to the porch, which used local wood for the planks.
Off to the side, there was a small pond area that I planned on making into a hot spring if I could.
The lair would let me adjust the temperature, and I knew I would need to experiment with it.
Walking up to the back door, I punched in my birthday for the code. It unlocked, and I smiled. Marcus was standing on the porch, looking up at the side of the house.
“Wait!”
I stepped inside and found the remote in its own holder by the light switch. Pressing the button, the entire bottom floor window tint disappeared. Marcus actually gasped, his mouth opening as he looked at me through the open door.
“It’s all windows.”
Smiling, I nodded. “It’s all windows. All of it. They all tint, and sealed wood covers everything that isn’t glass. Both with natural treatments and Selene may have gone through and protected everything too.”
Marcus took a couple of tentative steps into the house. His eyes scanned the entire space. Sabrina had already decorated the space, with lights hanging and an enormous dining table that comprised a single piece of piece of wood.
“Sabrina and I combed through websites and magazines to keep me occupied when I couldn’t do much else.
We picked out everything I thought would be nice, and she filled in the blanks.
” I looked into the living room, happy to see the dark blue furniture with grey accents standing well against the dark wood floor.
“This is my first time seeing it in person, though.”
“This is your first time.”
I nodded. “It is. We were working on it, and then so much was going on. Mike and Sabrina said they finished it a couple of weeks ago, but it was just too much. I didn’t really want to move until after everything with Dylan and you felt comfortable.”
Marcus walked around the room, his hand brushing over the mantle of the fireplace. There were four in total. I knew the layout, and it was weird knowing everything here but seeing it for the first time. He walked back over to me and drew me into a kiss.
“I don’t even know what to say.”
My voice was quiet. “Say you like it. That it’s okay. That you could see yourself living here with me, with all three of us.”
He looked taken aback before his eyes softened. “Colt, this place is incredible. I feel like I can breathe here. Even though it still feels like a home. I always thought that the house I bought was big enough to fit me, but also felt lonely. This fixes that.”
“Come upstairs. There are three floors, and the top one is ours.”
I took his hand and dragged him up the stairs, past the landing, to the second floor, and up to the third.
It could be closed off if you wanted, but right now it was all open.
Marcus stepped up behind me and then into the room.
Watching him walk around, I held my breath.
Grabbing the remote for up here, I turned off the wall tint.
He looked out over the area, and it was like we were walking into the trees.
Looking up, I flipped the tint off the ceiling. A filter reduced the light’s harshness, but it remained bright. Marcus looked up, his mouth open. I walked further into the room.
“I always wanted to look up at the stars. There probably isn’t an Omega in the world who would like this house.
They prefer dens and nests, but I love the idea of being able to sleep under the stars.
I don’t feel like it’s too much.” I looked back at Marcus.
“As long as it’s with you, I don’t need anything else. ”
Marcus sat on the bed and buried his head in his hands. My heart beat fast, and I felt disappointment rush through me. I sat next to him on the bed, lacing my fingers together.
“The bed frame is actually custom-made from some of the wood from the old cabin that was here. There are actually a lot of accents of it or the wood from the area. Selene added her own touch too, but you can’t really tell until it’s dark.
” My rambling was trying to fill the quiet from Marcus.
“I thought this would be a good space for us. Especially since you want so many kids and there is a good chance they will stay here for a while. And…and…”
“Colton.”
I froze, scared to look over at Marcus.
“Look at me.”
Slowly, I turned and saw the tears falling down his face. I didn’t know how to take them. My hand itched to reach out, but I was afraid he was angry. Or maybe I went too far, and this was too much.
“This place, this house, is beautiful. Everything about it has your touch, but then I feel like it’s my home too. Our home. When you moved in with me, I was moving you into my home and fitting you inside my space.”
“I worried I did that here.”
Marcus moved closer, grabbing my hands and pressing his lips to my knuckles.
“This feels so much like home it takes my breath away. I feel safe. I feel like looking in the fridge and I’ll find all our food.
I feel like I could take you over and over again in this bed.
That our hatchlings are going to be running in and out of the door and that they will never be closed.
You’ve built something incredible while making it completely safe. ”
My own tears fell as I laid down, my head in his lap. “I was so scared you wouldn’t like it.”
His hands ran through my hair. “I love it, Colt. It is you, and yet nothing I would expect from you. I’ll admit I feel a little inadequate. I’m your Alpha and yet I couldn’t provide this for you. You had to do it yourself for us.”
“Don’t. All this started before your rescue.
The house project started as a way to take my mind off losing you.
The lair idea started before you got your memories back.
It was never something that was supposed to take your place.
It just…was a way for me to still keep my mind from wandering to darker thoughts. ”
“I’m going to make you so much food in that kitchen. It’s incredible.”
I nuzzled into him. “You are happy, though? It’s okay?”
“I’m more than happy, Colt. I’m going to be excited to move in here. After we deal with Dylan, I think we can break the news to my parents that we are leaving.”
“I am now officially broke.”
Marcus looked down at me and smiled. “You are broke now?”
I nodded. “I am. Empty bank accounts. I paid Selene for the help and then for the house being finished. There are a couple more buildings going up. Those are actually happening over the next couple of months for storage and a guesthouse further north. My funds are all tapped. Almost everything is gone save for a few investment portfolios.”
He looked out over the clearing and the trees beyond it. “I guess that means I need to provide everything for you.”
“I guess it does, Alpha. I don’t think I mind giving you back the reins either.”
Marcus shook his head. “Good. I’m not handing them back for a very long time. I have some making up to do, apparently.”