Chapter 34 #2
Even though I was about to pass out from shock, I tried to play it cool. “Last night. Did it myself. I can only wear them until my wolf comes out.”
Archer stared at his cousin’s hand—which was busy stroking my pec as if we were old lovers—while working out in his head what game we were playing. Melody nudged Lakota, and when Tak sat down, he folded his arms on the table and silently observed.
Not one person seemed to know how to react or whether it was a joke.
Instead of sitting on his lap like a panicked chicken, I leaned into the idea that this was Krys’s way of coming out to the whole pack at once, so I put my arm around his shoulders, curious if he might get cold feet at the last minute. “Did he mention the part where I threw up in the gas station?”
“That was so gross.” Cleo sat on the other side of Krys and put a straw in her glass.
“You shouldn’t have given my wolf that drink,” I quipped.
Cleo was the only one who knew about us, and she had proved herself to be the queen of secrets.
She flicked her gaze around the table. “Why are you all staring?” Cleo looked up at Krys. “Why’s everyone acting weird?”
“Sorry we’re late.” Eden and Lucian joined our party and sat across from us. “I had to finish writing a report.”
Lucian reached for one of the beers, and his nose twitched. “What’s going on? It smells like surprise.”
“We’re just quietly observing,” Archer replied, his lips resting against the mouth of his bottle.
Cleo looked frustrated. “I don’t get it. What’s going on?”
“It’s us, munchkin,” I told her. “They don’t know about Krys and me.”
Lucian snorted. “That’s what you think.”
I blinked at him in surprise. “Excuse me? I hid my emotions.”
He rocked with laughter and cracked open his bottle. “Whatever. You think I couldn’t scent your desire at the table? Sometimes your smell is all over him.”
Atticus cracked a devilish grin. “A lot of howling goes on in those woods at night.”
“Wait a second!” Melody exclaimed. “Is this for real? I know how everyone loves playing a good joke on me. For your information—”
“Hold on,” I interrupted, stunned that Lucian and Atticus knew all along. “Why didn’t you say anything if you knew?”
Lucian shrugged. “Because we know how to keep a secret?”
Tak launched to his feet and loomed over Krys like a tower. “You know the rule about packmates. Is this casual?”
With his arm still secured around me, Krys twisted his head up to meet his gaze. “No. I want Virgil as my life mate.”
“Are you kidding me?” he boomed.
“Does this look like a joke?”
Tak gripped the back of his neck and leaned in tight. “If this is a joke…”
“It’s not a joke,” Krys fired back. “Did you ask Bear and Mercy if their relationship was casual?”
“Bear announced his devotion in front of an entire room in a manner that left no doubt,” Tak pointed out. “I didn’t have to ask. Virgil has a sense of humor and likes playing jokes. Neither of you have been in a serious relationship since living in my house.”
“We are now.”
After a beat, Tak belted out a laugh. “I should’ve known. The two wolves least likely to settle down are settling with each other.” He laughed harder and gripped our shoulders. “You have no idea how happy this makes me.”
I stood up, nonplussed about this whole situation. “Happy? Not long ago, you were pushing me to get mated.”
Tak straightened up. “Did I ever say with a woman? I didn’t even say a wolf.
You choose who’s good for you. But I have to ask if it’s casual because that leads to problems. I would hate to send anyone away because of a breakup or jealousy, and I love each of you equally.
If you two are serious about being life mates—”
“We’re as serious as peanut butter and jelly.” I curved my arm around Krys’s neck.
Krys looked up at me. “Am I the jelly in this scenario?”
“Then you have my approval,” Tak said.
“I feel like an idiot.” Archer reclined in his chair with a look I couldn’t discern. “Why didn’t you tell me about liking men? I’ve known you forever.”
Krys shrugged. “For some people, it’s easy. But I’ve had a complicated life. I ignored the feelings for a long time, but…”
“That explains you playing hard to get all the time. I thought you were just being picky.” Archer stared at the table as if trying to solve the riddle of why he didn’t know this important detail about his own cousin.
Lakota offered his two cents. “I’m less shocked about his sexuality than these two settling down. Congrats! To the amazing couple.” He held up his beer in a toast, and others did the same.
It would take them a minute to process not only the sudden announcement of our coupling but also Krys’s reveal. Once Krys told them his story—if he chose to do so—they’d have a better understanding of why they couldn’t have known.
When I spotted Cheryl across the bar, staring in our direction, I deliberately stood behind my man and wrapped my arms around him.
He reclined his head, and I gave him an upside-down kiss.
Then I locked eyes with the woman in a silent warning that she wasn’t allowed to tiptoe into his bedroom anymore.
In her tall heels, Eden planted a kiss on my cheek. “They’ll get over the shock soon enough. I was rooting for you two to find your partner, and now you found each other. Ain’t that something? I can’t wait to hear more.”
“How much more?” I waggled my eyebrows.
“Truth be told, you’re a perfect match. Opposites sometimes bring out the best in each other.
Lucian and I are so different, but we relate to each other on a deeper level.
My man knows when I need a break from work, and I push him out of his comfort zone.
” She put her hand over my heart. “You’re sunshine and he’s moonlight.
” Her smile melted my heart and left me with hope that this was a love that could last.
After dinner, Krys searched the bar for his cousin. Cecilia was still around, and he wouldn’t have left without her. He checked the bathrooms and kitchen before stepping outside. Gravel popped beneath the tires of a car driving away, and frogs croaked noisily in the nearby field.
He spotted Archer holding up the wall at the end of the porch. “Smoke break?”
Archer kept staring off at nothing. “You know I don’t smoke.”
Krys stood across from him and let the silence do all the talking.
His cousin sighed. “I thought we were close.”
“We are.”
“Yeah, but… I told you everything about my life. All the shit I went through after the accident—”
“Stop calling it an accident. You didn’t fall off a tractor. Your Packmaster let an insecure, vengeful motherfucker take your arm.”
Archer flicked his gaze up, his brown eyes filled with uncertainty. “Is that how I deserved to find out? With everyone else? What the actual fuck?”
Krys knew this would happen, and it made him feel unexpectedly defensive. “Stop making it about you. Look, I always felt a certain way. I don’t know how to explain it, and fuck… I shouldn’t owe anyone an explanation.” He crossed his arms. “You know how some people are.”
“I’m not some people,” he bit out, his emotions firing up. “I’m your cousin. Hell, we might as well be brothers. Maybe I’m more pissed that I didn’t see the signs.”
Krys rocked with laughter. “What signs? Are you trying to tell me you would’ve figured it out before me? It wasn’t a secret I was keeping; it was a denial I was living.”
“I caught you looking at a guy’s ass once or twice, but we all check out the competition, so I didn’t think anything of it.” Archer’s eyes suddenly lit up. “The kiss! Is that when it happened? Remember in Calvin’s office when—”
“I remember. That’s when I started thinking about it more, but that’s not when it started with Virgil. We’ve always been close, and our bond grew stronger over the years. But I’ve always thought he was hot.”
“Why Virgil?”
Krys narrowed his eyes. “It feels right. My wolf knows.”
“You’re not curious about dating someone else?”
His patience was wearing thin. “What if I asked you that after you met Cici?”
“I’d tell you to fuck off.”
“Exactly. I didn’t plan on falling in love with the first guy, but we were halfway there already.
” Krys shook his head. “I expected everyone to have questions, but I didn’t think it would be about why I chose Virgil.
That man in there is patient. He listens.
He fucking inspires me to be a better person.
Yeah, he says and does funny shit, and that’s what I love about him.
I can tell him things I wouldn’t tell anyone else, and he never judges me.
I can’t imagine a life without him. If anything, people should ask what he’s doing with a guy like me. ”
Archer pulled his shirt collar away from his neck. “We all love Virgil, so it’s not that. I just never imagined you with someone so extroverted and sexual. You wither at the first sign of affection.”
“Did you really think I’d settle down with some prissy wolf?”
Archer snorted. “How long has it been going on?”
“Since the trip. We wanted to do things at our own speed. Cleo had all that shit going on with her mother and trauma. Didn’t seem right to add to the pile.”
“The pile?” Archer stepped forward and clutched his shoulder. “You found love. That kind of thing doesn’t go in a pile. Virgil and I go way back. I just wish you would’ve told me before everyone else. I wouldn’t have said anything.”
“I know. We had an argument about it last night. He wanted me to tell you first. Normally, I don’t give a shit what people think about me, but this wasn’t easy.”
Archer lowered his arm. “It feels like ever since I got mated, you leave me out of things. We don’t talk like we used to.”
Krys pulled his cousin into a tight hug. He rarely did so, but it felt necessary. “Thanks for dragging me down to Texas against my will. I still fucking hate you for making me sell my bike to ride that bus, but this is my home now. I didn’t keep secrets to spite you. I was afraid.”
“Of what?”