Page 24

TALIUS

“I’m sorry.”

I looked at our surroundings; the dilapidated house, old crumbling paper disintegrating in the windows, dust on all the surfaces. The faint but unmistakable smell of mildew. And I noticed the small brown elliptical balls scattered under the lowest shelves and in the dark corners. Something much smaller than us had made its home here.

The kitchen cupboards were in poor condition, the melamine chipped and two doors swollen and stained from a leak we were going to have to locate and fix. I could see all this from the carpet, and I had plenty of time to take stock of things, because my knot was taking an age to go down.

And the carpet! Oh, my Goddess…I’d taken my mate on the stained and dusty carpet, the same carpet the damn rodents had destroyed with their filth, and I’d probably given him carpet burn at the same time.

It was not a worthy start for an Alpha Mate.

“What for?” Curious brown eyes blinked up at me. The house was already dim, but the light was fading outside now, and without my shifter sight I wouldn’t have seen the flecks of gold in those beautiful eyes, the slightly dreamy expression. My omega. He was still a little turned on if I read them right.

He didn’t look unhappy; a bright pink flush covered his face and body, his hair stained dark with sweat and stuck to his forehead, the longer strands splayed out on the carpet like a halo. A shit-eating grin split his face from ear to ear. No, he didn’t look unhappy. But still. He deserved so much better.

“I’m sorry I didn’t give you a better experience for our union,” I apologized again. “I know the house is a wreck. I should have booked a hotel or something. You’re used to so much better than this and I…”

“No. Talius,” there was a note of urgency in his voice as he shook his head vigorously, interrupting my stream of excuses. “This is real.” He propped himself up on his elbows (because I still had him pinned to the floor) and surveyed the run-down house. “Yes, there’s a shit-ton of work to be done, but that doesn’t matter, it’s ours. It’s more real than any of the life I led before. All the fancy crap my parents are into, with the parties and hotels and Council functions… it’s all just posturing. It’s fake.”

“I shouldn’t have taken you on the carpet though,” I muttered, still ashamed of my lack of finesse.

“Why not?” demanded Irian.

“Well, carpet burn for one thing,” I said, twisting him half-around and grimacing at the patch of reddened and abraded skin on his shoulders. The more I thought about it, I hadn’t looked after my omega very well at all. And it had been our first time.

“Pfft,” scoffed Irian. “I’m not one of those soft omegas who can’t handle a little rough treatment. And besides, it’s memorable. Who else would have an origin story like this?”

He chuckled happily and his chin jutted out as he spoke, as if defying me to contradict him. I studied him for a moment. He was an unusual omega, so it should come as no surprise that he didn’t want a traditional mating.

Groooowwwwwl

A low growl rumbled through the stillness around us. Then a gurgle. I frowned. My mate was hungry. I was too. But there would be nothing edible in the cupboards after all this time, and we hadn’t brought supplies. Sigh . It seemed I still had a bit to learn about leading a pack, even a pack of two.

But I could still provide. When my knot eventually subsided, I gently pulled out.

“Are you okay?”

He blinked at me, and huffed, a soft smile gracing his face before his mischievous eyes met mine.

“Oh, ow, I’m so sore,” he whimpered, still smiling. “I can’t do any work…”

“Of course you can’t. Wait here, I’m going to hunt for you,” I told him, jumping up.

Irian looked at me incredulously, eyes wide and indignant.

“What? Wait! I’m coming with you! I’ll help,” he said, miraculously recovered.

I laughed as I helped him to his feet.

So this was how it was going to be. I saw it now. Irian was going to be pushing all the boundaries. I really was going to have my hands full. He was cheeky and funny, and feisty as hell. I decided I liked that. A half smile curled one side of my mouth. Technically as the alpha, it was my job to hunt, but if he wanted to hunt, he could hunt.

As the alpha, I was bigger and stronger. It was always going to be my job to be the protector, but part of my role as alpha was to satisfy my mate… in Irian’s case, that meant giving him as much independence as he wanted. Although he was well versed in them, my omega did not play by society’s rules. We were in for a hell of a ride… and I looked forward to it.

Smirking, I fixed my gaze on my new mate. Although his words were bold, I could see the uncertainty lurking just beneath the surface.

“Let’s go,” was all I said.