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“I wasn’t sure what you would like, so I brought random food.” He was literally the sweetest.

The first container he opened held an omelet with toast and potatoes. The second contained a big stack of pancakes. The third held a bowl of yogurt with granola and fruit. The fourth was filled to the top with strawberry French toast. The fifth included scrambled eggs and sausage. There was enough food for most of the residents. All of them if you only included the ones up before noon.

“Did you buy out an entire diner?” It was sweet and adorable and so kind—but also completely unnecessary.

“No, I went back to Animals and made it for you.”

I hadn’t been expecting that.

“You made it for me at Animals? They just let you do that?”

“I mean, it’s my cousin’s place. What are they gonna do, tell me to get out? ”

“I can’t believe you did all this for me.” I hugged him tight, afraid I was gonna wake up. Admittedly, this place was pretty shitty, but everything between Dimitri and I had more than I could’ve ever hoped for. Waking up to discover it was a dream felt like a very real possibility.

“I did see my cousin, though, and his mate. I talked to them, and they said they have jobs and an apartment for us if we want to stay.”

“Were you not planning on staying?” I hadn’t considered that he might be here for a short time.

He half-shrugged. “Eat.”

I opted for the omelet and picked up the piece of toast, took a bite, “Eating. Don’t think I forgot that I asked you a question.”

He shook his head, eyes closed, obviously amused.

“Fine. I don’t know. I don’t know what I was planning on doing, where I was planning to go, or any of that. My bear was on a mission—one he didn’t quite make clear to me.”

“Is he still on the mission?” And what did that even really mean?

“He was looking for our mate. I didn’t realize it at the time, but there’s no other explanation. He’s calm now. He’s no longer wanting us to…to leave.”

He. Was. Looking. For. Me.

“So, guess what I’m saying is, I don’t really know what I want to do, but I know I want to do it with you. And I know that I do not like you living here.”

“I don’t hate the place,” I confessed. How could I? It brought me to him. “But also, it’s not ideal.”

Just then a blood-curdling scream from Bob came through his window.

“I gotta go.”

I raced around to his front door, banged on it, told him I was coming in, because I assumed he was, you know, dying—but when I opened the door, it wasn’t that. It was that water was spurting everywhere out of his faucet, or what remained of the faucet.

So much for having a nice breakfast with my mate.

Duty called.

Chapter Ten

Dimitri

I needed to feed my mate. And there was nothing in this place worthy of passing his sweet, kiss-swollen lips. So, I’d driven back to Animals to find something better. Watching my Tyler eat made me stand up a little straighter and thrust out my chest. It was the least I could do as a provider, but I vowed I would do better and soon. I had some money in the bank, savings and my severance, but they would not last forever, and I would need to do something more long-term soon. I still didn’t think going back to a big-city job was the answer. Not good for either of our animals, but I needed another solution before I could offer him the support he would need.

And now he couldn’t even eat breakfast because he had to go find out what was going on that had a tenant screaming. Why hadn’t he jumped at the opportunity to move to Animals? They were offering us everything we needed to get started on our own. Jobs, a place to live, three meals a day.

Never having to be responsible for anyone but myself before, I had to think differently about the life I’d been trying to figure out. With the apartment sublet, my expenses were way down, so I’d thought I had some time to consider.

But I wanted to make a home for my omega. Wanted him out of the fleabag he was living in before it broke him. And Animals could at least give us what we needed while we decided if we wanted to be elsewhere or doing other things.