Denni had been hooked up to machines in the end. The beeping next to his hospital bed never stopped.
Until it did.
But Assa wasn’t Denni. He would come home. And if Calder had anything to say about it, it would be to a home they shared. Assa’s chest moved up and down. Calder would never take those breaths for granted again.
He sat next to the bed and talked about nothing. Recipes he was experimenting with at Felton’s. How the new cake decorator was doing. Jordie’s plans to visit colleges over the summer. Lachie’s latest attempts to crawl. It wasn’t all new information for Assa, but it filled the air and helped Calder think about something other than the shooting.
They’d been lucky.
They were lucky.
In so many ways.
Back in Wes and Valentin’s room, he found Zinn curled up next to the other alpha, huddled against him on his uninjured side. Both men were fast asleep.
Wes, however, was awake. He glanced over at Valentin’s bed, then at Calder. “Zinn was about to pass out, but of course he won’t go home. I told him to get into bed with Valentin since I need to keep my arm elevated.”
“That’s good,” Calder said. He tapped Zinn on the shoulder. “Do you want to sit with Assa for a while, sunshine?”
Zinn rubbed his eyes. “Absolutely.” He placed a kiss on Valentin’s cheek and hoisted himself to his feet. As he walked by Wes’s bed, he kissed the beta’s forehead as well.
“He’s down the hall, last door on the right,” Calder said.
After Zinn left, Wes looked at Calder. “We’re doing this, then? The kissing and the touching and the…everything.” A line formed above his nose as his face pinched. “That’s what Valentin and Assa and I were talking about right before everything went down at the club. But we never got the chance to have the discussion.”
Calder padded over to Wes’s bed. He leaned down, giving the beta plenty of time to say no before planting a soft kiss on his lips. Their mouths stayed closed, but there was no mistaking that this wasn’t a simple gesture of affection between friends and co-parents.
“The time for talking has passed,” Calder said. “I thought I was willing to wait however long it took. But fuck that. Our life together starts now.”
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Valentin
Valentin and Wes were released within a day, but Assa remained in the hospital for two weeks after the shooting.
Calder had been the one by his side when he came out of his sedation. The big alpha lifted Assa’s knuckles to his lips, saying, “Welcome back, baby. You scared us.”
Assa stared back at him, stunned for a moment before breaking into a wide smile.
Baby. Valentin had watched from the doorway, and the tenderness made him shudder.
While Assa recovered, the men never talked about their future. Nothing needed to be formalized. It was clear from their casual touches and intimate words that a shift had occurred. The details would work themselves out eventually.
Last week, Valentin walked into his den and saw Calder pressing a kiss to the back of Wes’s neck as he cleaned the window. Another night, the four men watched a movie in the Rosens’ living room after Ryde and Lachie went to bed.Zinn rested his head on Wes’s lap while Wes ran his fingers through Zinn’s curls, idly stroking down his side before teasing his fingers into his waistband. In both instances, Valentin had gotten hard. Watching.
Calder was the one who drove Valentin to the hospital to get his wound cleaned and stitches removed, a process that resulted in a surprising amount of pain.
When they returned to Valentin’s house afterward, Calder helped him up the stairs and into bed, making sure his meds were close by. After tucking him in, Calder kissed his forehead and whispered, “Call me if you need me, moonbeam.”
Valentin raised his eyebrows skeptically. “Moonbeam?”
“I wanted something just for you,” Calder explained, shrugging. “Zinn is my sunshine because he brought light back into my life. My attraction to you—” He stopped and shook his head. “No. We’re not doing that anymore. Mylovefor you has been unexpected, but so welcome. I never imagined loving another alpha, having even more light in my life. If you hate it, I can stop.”
“I don’t hate it,” Valentin murmured.
“Good.” Calder cupped his jaw, stroking his cheek with his thumb. “Because I’m looking forward to loving you more.”
But while the increasing intimacy felt natural, the notion that they were working their way toward a physical relationship between all five of them—and, specifically, that it meant Valentin could have Zinn again—was overwhelming.
