16. Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Sixteen
Darius
“They’re gonna see it!” Milo hissed, throwing yet another shirt my way.
“Relax,” I grinned. “We can wear hoodies, no one cares.”
“I care!” he snapped, but still chose a hoodie from my closet.
Jeremy and Cass’ ceremony was today, they’d apparently mated on the same day Milo and I had according to Paul at least. Seemed that Nic had been right when he left us.
“I just don’t want to hear my dad complaining about me not looking the part of Jeremy’s second.”
“I know, baby,” I soothed, tucking him into my side. “But I agree that we need to keep our marks hidden for now.”
Milo feared it would take focus away from Jeremy and Cass if we showed up being mated on their day.
It was also in our best interest to wait, knowing Paul would one hundred percent blame Milo for the timing, thinking it was planned for some nefarious reason.
It had been a miracle that when Paul showed up unannounced to tell us the news, that we’d both been in sweats and hoodies.
Another miracle was that we’d just finished showering and smelled freshly clean instead of freshly fucked.
“I guess wearing hoodies isn’t the worst thing,” he conceded, snuggling into me. “And besides, I love wearing your clothes.”
Gods, how I loved it, too. It quelled the need to fuck him every damn minute.
I still needed to feel him around my dick.
But it pacified the need to claim him over and over again.
I truly was a possessive bastard, but I didn’t care.
My Milo loved every part of me, and I loved every part of him. He was simply perfect for me.
“It makes it much easier for me to get you naked later,” I whispered, licking my mark on his neck.
“That too,” he breathed, baring his neck for me.
“We don’t have the time for a second round, baby,” I reminded him. “Besides, your dad is likely expecting us there already.”
Milo groaned. “Fine, but please don’t make me stay there for too long.”
“I won’t,” I promised.
Milo still had a strained relationship with his family and I finally got the reason why.
I also knew just talking to Jeremy would fix most of it.
It was just Milo’s decision when to do it.
With Paul things were different. I truly had no idea what Paul’s issue with Milo was, but I was determined to figure it out.
My priorities in life were all Milo. His happiness.
His heart. His wellbeing. Paul was a threat to all three things, and we couldn’t have that.
“Besides,” I continued. “Jeremy will want Cass all to himself. They likely won’t stay long either.”
That earned me a soft chuckle. “You’re likely right. Had we not been expected to be there, we’d still be in bed having much more fun.”
Grinning at my perfect mate, I kissed him long and deep.
The mutual blowjobs this morning hadn’t been nearly enough.
Neither had the shower handjobs. We seemed to be unable to stop touching each other.
Not that I complained at all. A part of me hoped this would never change, that we would keep hungering for each other, for another touch, kiss, caress.
“Let’s get this over with,” Milo muttered, leaving my lips aching for his.
Sighing, I took his hand in mine and together we walked out the door towards the packhouse where the ceremony would be held. I prayed that Jeremy was as insatiable towards Cass as I was to Milo. I really didn’t want to spend hours before I could be inside my mate again.
“You’re practically glowing,” I remarked with a grin.
Jeremy truly did glow, his happiness of finally claiming Cass obvious to everyone in the room.
He bumped into me, grinning wide as his answer. I was helping him carry out dishes to the big serving table, making sure everything was perfect before we would begin eating.
I felt like prying him for some information and as his best friend, I also couldn’t help teasing him a little, so I asked, “Was it good then? The mating bite?”
I knew for a fact it was.
He just nodded as his only answer.
That made me whine. “Oh, come on, man. I want to know these things.”
“What happens between my mate and I, stays between us,” he replied, his tone firm.
I could respect that, hell, he wouldn’t get any juicy info on me and Milo, not that I ever thought he would want to know those things about his little brother, but still. Some things were just between mated couples.
“Fine. I just love seeing you happy, is all.”
He beamed. “I am happy.”
“Good,” I grinned. “Now, tell me why we have ten different muffins?”
Jeremy laughed and pointed towards the back of the room where even more muffins were placed.
“Greg and Cass have a thing for muffins and couldn’t decide which to make. When they began making every recipe Greg had, they somehow came up with three new ones together. And that is how we ran out of flour.”
I could only shake my head as I laughed and picked up a blueberry muffin.
“That one is a cupcake,” Jeremy informed me.
“What makes it not a muffin?” I asked, eyeing the cute thing in my hand.
“The frosting makes it a cupcake.”
“Oh, so the muffins are naked cupcakes?” I asked, laughing at my own joke.
Jeremy only shook his head at me and smiled.
Silas had sought Milo out almost as soon as he arrived and I tried not to act like a possessive mate, but I was.
The low growls I kept letting out involuntarily had several of my packmates eyeing me with curiosity and a touch of amusement.
They knew I wouldn’t hurt them, but I doubted most knew Milo was mine. They would soon.
I kept myself busy, trying to help out as much as possible.
I’d told Jeremy I was confused over my path in life, career wise, and I still felt like I was bouncing around not truly doing what I was supposed to do.
Working on cars had been an effort to feel closer to Dad, but it wasn’t me.
Never had been. It was time I found something that was for me.
Milo was Jeremy’s second, basically an assistant or co-alpha.
It meant he would take over Jeremy’s duties when Jeremy couldn’t.
I had to find my place in the pack and to contribute where I could.
“Here,” Cass said, startling me out of my thoughts. He’d handed me a naked cupcake. “You look like you need it.”
“Thank you,” I said, accepting the treat.
“Want to talk about it?”
Cass truly was the perfect Alpha Mate.
“I was just deep in thought,” I admitted. “I want to change up my career but I have no idea what to do.”
“Ah,” he nodded, his brows furrowing as if in deep thought.
“I felt like that when I moved here. Finding Jeremy had been my solution so I never had to truly think on it too hard, you know? But maybe try different things out? Jeremy mentioned that he sometimes wished that someone would be happy to switch between jobs where it’s needed. ”
“So, Jeremy needs someone to step in and take over when people are sick?” I clarified, loving where this was headed. If I could help out where I was most needed, I likely wouldn’t get bored doing the same thing over and over again like I’d feared.
“Exactly! And we’ve got at least five pregnancies currently where the parents will need time to focus on their little ones. Makes perfect sense if you could help them out.”
I could kiss Cass. Not that I was going to, but still, he’d fixed my issues within mere minutes of talking to me.
“You were born for this,” I said softly, smiling proudly at him. “The perfect Alpha Mate.”
Cass blushed and waved my compliment off. “Enough about work.” He cleared his throat before narrowing his gaze back on me. “How are things between you and Milo?”
A grin took over my face just by hearing the mention of my mate’s name. “It’s going perfectly fine,” I assured him with a wink.
He visibly relaxed. “I’m so glad to hear that. Milo even apologized to me about an hour ago for his behavior. I’ve got to say I was surprised, but I think you two figuring things out has helped him. Just look at how happy he is.”
We both turned our attention to Milo where he stood and laughed with Greg and Rowan, Silas and Jeremy no longer standing with them.
“I can’t speak for Milo, but most of his behavior is surprisingly understandable.
Paul is the main reason for his anger.” I could trust Cass, but I still felt it would be best for Milo to talk things over with Jeremy himself.
Still, I had to defend Milo to Cass, he needed to know my Milo wasn’t the bad guy.
Cass nodded. “I know Jeremy would love to mend things with Milo. If Paul is to blame for some of their issues, maybe we should do it without him there.”
“I agree.” Not to mention that Paul and I weren’t exactly on good terms at the moment.
Silas and Jeremy strode back into the room with purpose, pausing my talk with Cass as all eyes turned to them.
“Everyone,” Jeremy said, using his Alpha voice to carry through the whole room. “Alpha Silas and I have come to an agreement. We believe our packs and territories would flourish better as a united pack, and therefore, I agreed to become the Alpha of both packs, combining them into a brand new one.”
Holy… Jeremy seemed to have done what our ancestors couldn’t and finally made peace with our long-time rivals.
There were some excited murmurings between both packs and I found myself surrounded by Milo, Greg, Rowan, and Cass. Greg bumped into Cass’ side, sharing a secretive smile with him.
“Are there any objections to this?” Jeremy asked, eyeing the room and daring every single one of us to object.
After a few seconds of silence, Jeremy broke into a huge grin, his pride in both packs obvious. No one wanted to keep the animosity going. We were all ready to move on, now as one big pack.
“Then allow me to introduce the new pack going forward. Welcome everyone to the Groove Vale Pack!” Jeremy declared.
I held Milo to my side, feeling proud of my best friend.
I suddenly felt much lighter. I now had an idea of what to do with my life, other than making Milo the happiest man in the world, and I felt relieved.
Placing a soft kiss on top of Milo’s head, I shared a gentle smile with him, both of us glad to finally be together in front of our packmates.
Everyone cheered around us, celebrating not only our Alpha having found his fated mate, but also the union of two packs now becoming one. Silas seemed beyond relieved where he stood next to Jeremy, and I felt happy for him. He could finally live his life the way he wanted to.