Page 17 of Monochrome (ORCA #4)

CHAPTER

SEVENTEEN

JULIUS

A giggle from the other side of the wall made Ethan jerk awake in my arms.

“Shit. What time is it?”

I groaned and rolled over, my sore body protesting the movement.

Shifter healing meant the injuries Ethan and I sustained in the crash yesterday wouldn’t last long, but I had a feeling we were both going to be feeling it—and our vigorous nighttime activities—today.

I grabbed my phone from the nightstand and peeked at the screen.

“It’s eight thirty.”

Ethan sat up, winced in pain, and looked over his shoulder at me.

“In the morning?”

“Yes.”

He blinked rapidly like he was trying to remember something.

“Did you get up with the twins last night?”

“No. I passed out after round two and didn’t wake up until just now.”

He looked at the wall, then back at me.

“We would have heard them if they’d woken up, right?”

Another peal of laughter came through the wall.

“Definitely. Why?”

“I think they slept through the night.” He rubbed a hand over his face, wincing again when the cut on his head pulled with the movement.

“I can’t believe they slept through the night.”

“That’s good, though.”

Ethan sighed and lay back down, snuggling into my side.

I wrapped him up in my arms, loving the feel of his warm skin against mine.

“It is. One or both of them usually wakes up with a bad dream at least once a night. This is the first time that hasn’t happened since Tessa died.”

I wasn’t sure why, but Ethan’s declaration made me feel like some sort of hero, like maybe he hadn’t been the only one who’d needed me, and maybe now that I was in their lives, the twins had found something they’d needed too.

I knew for sure I hadn’t known I needed four-year-old twins in my life, but after only a short time, I was starting to think life would be incredibly boring without them.

Another giggle came from their room, and Ethan groaned.

“We’d better go see what they’re up to. I don’t trust them not to be getting into something they shouldn’t.”

He rolled away, and without his heat, I didn’t want to stay in bed.

I did shamelessly watch him walk naked around the room, collecting his discarded clothes from the night before, though.

And by the time he came out of the en suite bathroom, sliding his T-shirt on over his head, I was half-hard, remembering the way it had felt to be buried deep inside him.

There was no denying something had changed between us last night, and while we hadn’t talked about it, it felt like we had crossed some sort of invisible boundary, and there was no going back now.

I knew without a shadow of a doubt that Ethan was mine, not because fate had made it so, but because I wanted him.

I needed him. And I would do anything to make him mine forever.

Which meant telling him one more truth.

He had his hand on the doorknob, but I called out to him, stopping him in his tracks.

“Ethan, I have to tell you something.” His expression was wary as he looked back at me, and given the harsh revelations from the meeting with my family the night before, I didn’t blame him, so I rushed to reassure him instead.

“It’s not bad. Or, well, I don’t think it’s bad. You might.”

I was babbling, which I guess made sense since I’d never had a conversation like this before, and I didn’t know what to expect.

He took a step away from the door, back toward the bed where I was sitting up against the headboard, the sheets pooled around my waist. “What is it?”

I turned my head to the side, trying not to flinch at the stab of pain as I exposed my saddle patch to Ethan’s gaze.

“Do you know what this is?”

He raised an eyebrow like I’d asked him a trick question.

“Your saddle patch. I already know you’re an orca shifter.”

“No, it’s not that.”

“Then what am I supposed to be seeing, Jules? I think I’m confused.”

“Orca shifters believe in fated mates. This right here”—I indicated the swirled edge of my saddle patch that had changed the day I’d met Ethan—“means you’re mine.”

Ethan’s mouth fell open, then he stared at me with wide eyes.

“I don’t understand.”

“When an orca shifter meets their fated mate, their saddle patch changes so in either our human or orca forms, everyone can see we’re taken.”

“How do you know I’m your fated mate?”

I stood from the bed, letting the sheet fall away from my body as I crossed the room to where Ethan was standing.

“My saddle patch changed the day I met you, but even if it hadn’t, I know you are meant to be mine.” I reached out and took his hand, placing it over my heart, then I covered his heart with my hand.

“I know you’re mine because I feel it here.”

Ethan’s eyes closed, and a small, hopeful smile pulled up the corners of his lips.

“I feel it too.” He opened his eyes and looked deep into mine, and it felt as if another piece clicked into place.

“Last night, when you were inside me, I felt more whole than I’ve ever felt before. I know you’re mine too, Julius. I think I’ve known since the moment you walked into my office.”

I couldn’t keep myself from kissing him, and I was moments away from pulling him back into bed when a thud and a muffled “Uh-oh,” came from the twins’ room.

“Rain check?” Ethan asked, looking up at me with heat and hope in his eyes.

It settled something inside me to see those emotions instead of the fear and despair that had looked back at me yesterday.

We weren’t out of the woods when it came to the threat against our families yet, but the hope in Ethan’s eyes reminded me we were closing in.

We were going to fit the last pieces of the puzzle together, and then we were going to start living our future, and knowing mine included Ethan made me want to wrap up all this other shit that much more.

“For sure.” With one last quick kiss, Ethan left to see what the twins were up to.

It was Sunday, and everyone had decided to stay close to home for the day.

While Marcus, Hadrian, and their mates didn’t live at the estate, they’d been staying over more and more frequently, and I wasn’t surprised to see Ben working on his lecture notes at the kitchen table when I finally made my way downstairs.

“Good morning.” He looked up from his laptop and gave me a knowing smile that I promptly ignored.

He was the only one in the kitchen, and I didn’t see anyone else around, not even Ethan or the twins.

“Where is everyone?”

Ben went back to his laptop while he rattled off everyone’s locations.

“Felix and Marcus are in the basement, digging through the global Grove Core accounts. Eli went into the station, something about wanting to look at an old case file. Nero is at the grocery store because we ran out of coffee. Ethan went to make a phone call. I’m pretty sure he’s downstairs. Athina took Lily and Jude outside. Dimitri and Quin are in the studio. And Cal, Jack, and Hade are in the garage, doing god only knows what. Cal said something about needing to clean Betty, whatever that means.”

“And you’re taking advantage of the silence.”

He glanced up at me again.

“I was.” But his smile said he wasn’t really upset about the interruption.

“You might as well sit since there’s no coffee.”

I hadn’t spent all that much time with Ben because he was usually at the university, and he didn’t come all the way out here after his classes since it doubled his commute.

Hadrian had come to Amsterdam with us, but Ben had stayed behind, holding down the fort with Marcus and Eli.

Ben was a beaver shifter who had moved to Seattle from Vancouver to take a job as an art history professor at the University of Seattle.

He and Hadrian had met when Ben had been out kayaking where Hadrian was doing a salvage dive.

They’d realized they were mates, claimed each other that first day, and had been together ever since.

Their story made it feel like the time between when I’d met Ethan and that morning when I’d told him I knew we were fated mates had been an eternity, and we hadn’t even claimed each other yet.

Ben and Hadrian had known each other for something ridiculous, like an hour, before they’d traded claiming bites.

Though, I shouldn’t have been surprised.

In some ways, Hadrian was as impulsive as Cal.

The fact that Ben had jumped in with both feet was a little more surprising, since he didn’t seem like the impetuous type.

Ben closed his laptop and studied me.

“What are you thinking about so hard?”

I shrugged.

“Ethan is my fated mate. I told him this morning.”

The laugh Ben let out echoed around the empty kitchen, then he pulled out his phone and tapped at the screen.

“Damn. Looks like Dimitri wins.”

“Wins what exactly?”

Ben had the good grace to look slightly abashed.

“We might have had a little bit of a betting pool going on as to when you were going to crack and tell him.”

I held out my hand, and Ben passed me his phone, where someone, probably Felix, had created an interactive calendar where everyone had added their predictions.

“You all knew?”

“I’m surprised you thought Felix would be able to keep that a secret.”

I couldn’t hold back the growl that rumbled through my chest.

“He’s just excited for you. We all are.”

“Thanks.”

Ben cocked his head.

“Why aren’t you excited?”

“It’s not that.”

“Then what’s wrong?”

“I’m scared.”

“Why? Did Ethan take it badly? I can’t imagine he did. We’ve all seen the way he looks at you. He’s in love with you, Julius. There’s no way he’s not.”

I shook my head.

“No. He took it fine, like he knew all along too. I’m scared that I can’t keep him safe. I’m terrified we’re not going to be able to get ahead of this, and I’m going to lose him right after I found him.”

It felt freeing to voice my fear out loud.

I’d been holding it in since we’d learned Tessa’s accident and our accident weren’t accidents at all.

It had been why I’d needed to feel Ethan under me last night, why I’d needed him so badly.

It had been bad enough when I thought it was only his reputation that was being threatened, but now that I knew it was his life, the stakes were even higher.

“I get it, and I’m so sorry, but I also know yesterday’s close call isn’t one any of us is anxious to repeat. Felix hasn’t slept, and I heard Eli giving Marcus shit for the same thing before he left. They are doing everything they can, looking at every possible angle. Felix has pulled in favors from several hacker friends, and Marcus has contacted a friend he has at the FBI. Nero is working all your grandmother’s old contacts, and Quin is working his contacts too. Jack has Reuben’s spy network watching the dark web, and I’m pretty sure Cal has an arsenal in the garage he’s prepping as if we are going to war. We’ve all got your back and Ethan’s.”

I couldn’t sit still anymore, and I got up to pace the kitchen.

“It just feels like we are missing something obvious. But what is it?”

“I don’t know, but we’re going to figure this out. The pressure is on. Cal and Jack are going to the body shop that made the mods to the Hellcat tomorrow. Hopefully that will turn up another lead.”

“Hopefully.”

“And in the meantime, Ethan and the twins are safe here.”

“But what about when Ethan has to go back to work tomorrow?”

“You’re going to go with him. He’s not going to be alone.”

I knew Ben was right, but unease still churned in my gut.

Before I could respond, Nero trudged into the kitchen from the garage, his arms weighed down with reusable grocery bags, and I tried to distract myself by helping him put away the groceries.

Athina and the twins emerged from the pool area looking for breakfast, and in minutes, it felt like everyone who was still at the house had gathered in the kitchen.

Coffee was made, and for a while, I just enjoyed the chaos of my family.

Until I realized Ethan was missing.

I snuck out of the kitchen and went to find him.

As Ben had suspected, he was in the basement.

He was perched on the edge of the pool table in the bar area, his back to me and his phone held to his ear as he spoke in Mandarin to whoever was on the other end of the line, his father most likely.

From the tension in his shoulders, I could tell the conversation wasn’t going well, and I moved to his side, leaning against the pool table and placing my hand on his thigh.

Ethan smiled when he turned and saw it was me, but his expression shuttered again as he listened to whoever was on the other end of the call.

They spoke for another few minutes before Ethan ended the call and tossed his phone down next to him.

“Your dad?” I asked, nodding to his discarded phone.

Ethan nodded. “I told him everything. He’s pissed as hell that I let you look at the company’s finances without consulting him first, but he mellowed a little when I told him that we don’t think Tessa’s death was an accident, that someone is skimming money from the accounts and trying to make it look like it’s me, and that someone tried to kill me yesterday. He’s worried about the company, and I think he’s in shock about Tessa. He thinks we should get the authorities involved, but I convinced him not to call anyone in yet, so he’s leaving it to me to handle, but he warned me that this better not end in a scandal.” He blew out a breath and scrubbed a hand over his face.

“Goddamnit. This feels like a fucking test.”

I gave his thigh a squeeze.

“You’re not in this alone. You were here last night. You’ve got my entire family at your back, E. We aren’t going to let anything happen to you.” I moved my hand from his thigh and grabbed his hand, bringing it to my lips.

“I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

“I know.” He leaned his head on my shoulder, and I placed a kiss on his temple.

The cut from yesterday was already almost healed and he’d taken the butterfly bandages off.

By tomorrow morning it would be nothing more than a pink scar.

I rested my head against his, and for a while, we just stared out the wall of windows overlooking the sound.

When Ethan’s stomach growled, I suggested we head upstairs for food and coffee, and he reluctantly agreed.

The twins were at the kitchen table with Ben, Athina, and Cal, who kept shooting whipped cream from the can into his mouth and making them laugh.

They had plates of pancakes in front of them, and another plate piled high with more pancakes was in the middle of the table.

Ethan settled next to Ben, and they started chatting while Ethan kept one eye on the twins, groaning a little when Cal started spraying whipped cream into their mouths.

Quin was teaching Dimitri, who was a helpless cook, how to make scrambled eggs at the stove, and Jack and Nero were talking near the sink while keeping an eye on Cal as he goofed around with the twins.

Ethan took it all in stride, fitting in among my people like he belonged there.

Because he did.

He belonged with me. Forever.