Eventually Simon got his breathing under control, but he was cold bone deep and couldn’t stop trembling. He looked away, simultaneously mortified at showing vulnerability to a person who would use it against him and aching to fall into the big Alpha’s arms, certain his body heat would warm him like nothing else could.
“Eat now,” the Alpha said. “Then I’ll take you to bed.”
Simon jerked his gaze up. “Why?”
“For sleep.” The man frowned. “You’re tired and hungry.” He held a forkful of steak in front of Simon’s mouth.
Though he would have liked to refuse whatever the Alpha offered, including food, the sharp pains in Simon’s belly wouldn’t let him say no. He opened his mouth and accepted the steak. No matter how much he hated following orders, he was likely facing a stretch of torture and he’d need to keep up his strength if he wanted to escape.
Chapter 3
“What’s going on?” Frederick said as soon as he crossed into the clearing in front of Mitch’s cabin and shifted into his human form. “You usually come to my place.”
When they’d taken over the Blue Mountain pack, Frederick had moved into the Alpha compound and assumed Mitch would do the same. He and Frederick had always lived together, there was plenty of room in the large house, and historically, one or more of the pack Betas lived with the Alpha. He loved Frederick’s family, but there remained a lonely space inside him that longed for someone just for himself. And though he cared for the pack with the devotion of an Alpha, despite not being their Alpha, he didn’t have his brother’s skill with people or desire to surround himself with them.
Mitch needed space and time alone. He wanted his own home. And he’d found the perfect one when he’d come across an abandoned cabin on the edge of the Blue Mountain territory. He was close to the pack, close to Frederick, but still far enough away to be on his own. Plus, the location allowed him to patrol and keep intruders away before they reached the heart of the territory, where most of the families lived. And most importantly, from the first moment he’d seen the cabin, it had felt right, felt like his. But he didn’t want people in his space so he had never invited anyone, his brother included, to come over. Until that day.
“I can’t leave,” Mitch explained in answer to Frederick’s question.
Furrowing his brow, Frederick said, “Because of the Omega?” He inhaled deeply and darted his gaze around the forestland surrounding the cabin. “I smell him. Where is he? Were we right?”
“He’s inside,” Mitch said, not rising from the old rocking chair he had found in the cabin and refinished. It was his favorite place to sit.
He had also restored the other few pieces of salvageable furniture and the house itself, refusing his brother’s offer to help because he didn’t want anybody else’s hands or scent on his home. Four and a half years later, the wood and stone structure was no longer falling in on itself, the roof didn’t leak, the paint wasn’t peeling, the kitchen and bathroom were functional and modernized, and there was indoor laundry and plenty of lighting everywhere. And until the previous night, nobody but Mitch had been inside.
“Well?” Frederick said expectantly. “Aren’t you bringing him out to meet me?” He approached the porch slowly and waited at the bottom of the stairs in deference to Mitch’s desire to keep everyone out of his den.
“Doesn’t look that way, no.” Mitch swallowed hard.
“I don’t understand. The scent of his blood. I was sure…”
A shifter recognized his own mate by scent and sight, the connection cell-deep. Normally, other shifters couldn’t do the same, but Mitch and Frederick’s bond was uniquely close so Mitch had known who Donia was almost at the same moment as Frederick. And in the same way, Frederick had been able to identify who the Omega was to Mitch based on the scent of his blood.
“You were right.” Mitch looked away, unable to meet his brother’s gaze. “He’s my mate.”
“That’s great!” Frederick said happily. When Mitch didn’t respond, he worriedly said, “Mitch? It’s great, isn’t it? We both hoped for mates for so long and now—”
“He doesn’t want me.” Mitch’s voice cracked, the words painful to say.
“He doesn’t… How is that possible? He’s your mate. Of course he wants you.”
Mitch shook his head but couldn’t speak.
“I’m coming up there,” Frederick warned and then took the steps two at time and hurried over to Mitch. “Tell me,” he said, kneeling next to his brother. “Explain.”
“There’s nothing to explain.” Mitch licked his lips. “He doesn’t want me.”
“Damn it, Mitch.” Frederick threw his arms in the air. “Sometimes there is something to say, even for you. This is one of those times. Mates always want each other. It’s predestined by Mother Earth or fate or the moon or something.”