When he reached the house, he hesitated.He looked up and down the porch, wondering if the neighbors were awake, too.They weren’t too close to the house, but they might wonder what Franklin was doing here if they saw him.Not that Franklin cared.
The door opened before Franklin could knock.He blinked at Moore, who arched a brow at him.“I expected you to be here sooner,” Moore said.
“It’s barely eight in the morning.I didn’t want to bother you.”
Moore snorted and stepped aside.“Please.We both know you’re dying to know what happened with Reed.”
“I am.”
“I’m not surprised.He’s your mate, and your brother’s life is also in the balance.That’s a lot for someone to wrap their mind around.Did you sleep at all?”
Franklin barked out a laugh and followed Moore to the kitchen after the man closed the door.The air smelled of coffee and food, which made Franklin’s stomach growl.He hadn’t eaten anything before leaving the house because he hadn’t thought he could keep anything down, but he was starting to rethink that.
“Sit down,” Moore ordered as he moved to the stove.“We haven’t had breakfast yet.You can eat with us.”
“It’s fine.You don’t have to feed me.”
“Someone clearly does.You don’t look so good.”
“Well, thanks for the compliment.That’s probably because I didn’t sleep, though.”
“You were thinking about Reed.”
It wasn’t a question, and Franklin was pretty sure he didn’t need to answer, but he still did anyway.“Of course I was.Wouldn’t you?”
“It was a shock, wasn’t it?To find out that your mate worked in that lab.”
“It’s not that he worked there.I did, too.It would be hypocritical of me to be angry at him for working for the Glass Research Company when I did the same.It’s the intent behind it that bugs me.I did it to find my siblings.He did it to earn money.”
“You didn’t believe him when he said that he didn’t realize what that would mean until it was too late?”
“I don’t know what to believe.I don’t think he was lying, but is it enough?Besides, I can’t focus on that right now.My main goal is to find Garrett and Leah.Having a mate will make all of that more complicated for me.”
Moore turned to face Franklin and crossed his arms over his chest.His expression was soft, which Franklin wasn’t sure he understood.
“Meeting your mate isn’t complicated.It happens when it does for a reason, and I fully believe that goes for you and Reed, too.You wouldn’t have met now if it wasn’t important.”
“Of course meeting my mate is important.But it’s not more important than Garrett.It can’t be.”Franklin was terrified of what Garrett would think if he ever found out that Reed was Franklin’s mate.Would he be angry?It wasn’t like Franklin had a choice in it, but surely Garrett would expect him to stay as far away as possible from the man who’d hurt him.
There was a noise somewhere upstairs, and both Franklin and Moore looked up.Moore smiled, and Franklin thought it was because he’d heard his mate, but Moore’s next words told him that he was wrong.
“The meeting with Reed yesterday went well.He said that he didn’t want to be involved, probably to protect you, but Rikar and I convinced him that he should stick around, at least until we find Garrett.He knows more about the facility than anyone else, and he could be useful to have on hand as we plan how to infiltrate it.We can’t afford to lose as many documents and information as we do in every raid, not when we have the owner of the Glass Research Company on our side.Morin wants to eradicate whoever’s behind those labs completely, and we’re going to help him do that.”
“I agree,” Franklin said, slightly confused.
Moore nodded.“Good.Because I offered for him to sleep here last night, and he agreed.”
* * * *
REED WASN’T A SHIFTER, but he was on the stairs on his way to the kitchen, and it was close enough to hear what Moore was saying.Apparently, Franklin hadn’t known that Reed was here.
Reed stopped walking.It wasn’t a surprise.He didn’t think that Franklin would be here if he’d known that Reed was.He didn’t know what Franklin would do now that he was here, though.With anyone else, he would’ve expected them to walk out that door, but Franklin was here for his siblings.He was here for Garrett, and even though Reed didn’t know Franklin that well, he knew enough to be sure that Franklin would never abandon Garrett.He would fight through any uncomfortable situation to get to his brother, even if that meant having to be in the same room as Reed.
Reed was impressed, but maybe he shouldn’t be.He knew Garrett.He knew how resilient and strong the man was.Clearly, it was a family trait.
He sucked in a breath and finished walking down the stairs.He didn’t know what Franklin’s answer to Moore had been.He wasn’t sure he wanted to know until he was there.In fact, he wasn’t sure he wanted to know at all, but he wouldn’t have a choice.
He took a deep breath before stepping into the kitchen.Moore had given him a short tour yesterday when they’d arrived, but Reed had been exhausted, and he’d wanted nothing more than to go to bed.He still wasn’t sure why he’d agreed to stay at Moore’s house.Probably the exhaustion.He hadn’t felt safe since he’d escaped from the lab six months ago, which made it hard to sleep.Every time he closed his eyes, he knew there was a chance that he’d be attacked while he was unconscious or that he’d wake up in a cage.
