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Two halves of a grilled cheese sandwich were placed in front of him, distracting his attention from his mate to something a bit more immediate and primal. He couldn’t make love to Rory until he was healed. He couldn’t heal if he didn’t eat. This was delicious, so he ate.

Rory scarfed down his sandwich as well, then, once they were done, led them back into a room that was almost totally bed. The blankets and pillows were piled high, and Rory was right. It was a lovely nest for a pair of wolves.

“Come on, let’s snuggle.” Rory took off his shoes and turned on a radio, the tinny sounds of music filling the air and making it even cozier. “Curtains open or shut?”

“Shut? That way it can be dark enough to really nap.” And no curious onlookers could see in.

“I can do that.” The heavy curtains made the room feel cozy and warm, and Rory slipped under the covers and held one side open, welcoming him into this most personal den. “This is gonna be so much more comfortable than the bed in the clinic. This bed is crazy soft, like feathers.”

Fen crawled down into the bed, groaning softly as his bones hit the mattress. Rory didn’t lie. It was like floating on a cloud. The pillows and blankets smelled of his mate, and even better, best of all, Rory was right there, snuggling up close and giving him the contact he so desperately craved.

“This is all right?” Rory asked.

“This is better than all right.” He couldn’t keep his eyes open. “Forgive me, mate. I’m so tired.”

“Don’t worry. I’m not fussed with it. Sleep.”

And sleep he did.

Chapter

Five

Rory slipped away from Fen, who was pretty much eating and sleeping right now, and headed out to corral the kids he was watching today. A bunch of the omegas were making soap, and the kids needed to not be anywhere near the fires and the huge kettles…

“Hey, little monsters!” Rory called. “Here I am!”

“Uncle Rory!” Six little ones came to jump around him as if he were a Maypole.

“Oh, I’ve missed you guys.” He let them dance around him, not bothering to move, just standing until everyone had calmed down. Then he moved and simply sat with them, two cubs crawling into his lap while the others plopped down close.

“Where have you been? Where have you been, Uncle Rory?” little Hannah asked, her eyes as big as saucers.

“Did you hear that a new wolf came into the pack? That he’d been hurt?” Rory asked, and all of the little cubs nodded.

“He’s big!”

“And white.”

“Someone shooted him with a gun!”

“Someone did. It was sad.” Rory offered them all a sympathetic smile. “Well, I’ve been helping him get better. I’mthe one who found him, and so I’ve been taking care of him as best I can, helping the healers, and then he’s come to stay at my house with me.”

“Papa says you have a mate,” Elsa announced.

“Does he now?” Rory wasn’t going to admit or deny it. He wasn’t sure if a human could have a mate.

He didn’t see why not, and it didn’t matter because he wasn’t walking away from Fen. He couldn’t. There was something amazing about the man, and he didn’t understand it all, but the fact was, he didn’t want to.

No matter how much teasing from his brothers he got. He was not pretending to be a wolf. He was making a life here, and he couldn’t deny that.

“What’s wrong?” one of the older cubs asked. “What’s the matter, Uncle Rory? You look sad.”

“I’m not. I’ve never been happier.” And that was not a lie. Fen was home, happy, resting. “What should we do today?” It was absolutely time to change the subject. “Should we go gather leaves or maybe look for interesting flowers?”

“Sticks. We should find all the sticks.” Wolf cubs were fascinated by sticks.

“Okay, but no chewing, huh? Sticks can get…stuck.” He chomped his teeth, and the children all giggled. “Shall we go to the kitchens and see if they have any treats to take with us?”