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“I doubt the others are going to be happy with this,” he said, apology shining in his gaze. “I have a lot to make up for.”
“I already forgave you, Zeke,” I answered with a soft shrug. “They might need more time to do the same, but the bonds will show them the truth. They love you too, you know.”
He hummed, seeming unconvinced, and I stepped forward to wrap my arms around his waist from behind.
“Please try and drop the guilt,” I murmured, my cheek pressed up against his back. “Leave the blame where it belongs.”
Releasing him, I moved out of the bathroom before he could respond, pulling the door closed and leaving him to his thoughts. He needed to choose to fight for this, to face up to the truth of what happened. His doubts would only dig deep and fester if he didn’t accept that the blame wasn’t on his shoulders.
Dressing quickly, I skipped lightly down the stairs, unable to resist basking in the sense of rightness that thrummed through me. Things were far from perfect, but with the three men I loved now permanently anchored to my soul, I finally felt balanced. Complete. And I was giving myself a moment to appreciate it, no matter what the future held.
Rounding the archway into the kitchen, my gaze clashed with Noah’s from where he stood at the counter, transferring sizzling strips of bacon onto a plate. His eyes roamed over me, taking me in before he gave me a crooked smile and pushed the plate towards me.
“Hate to say it, but this is the last of the bacon,” he said lightly. “All the fighting has stopped us trading with the northern farms.”
My eyes widened when I realised that he wasn’t kidding. “Well that’s just depressing. Gimme.”
Walking over to grab the plate, I set it on the large table before grabbing cutlery and setting places for us all. Liam sat across from me, one foot propped on the chair next to him as he strummed quietly at the strings on his guitar, seeming relaxed for the first time since we’d been reunited. He glanced up as I sat down but kept playing, and relief spiralled through me as he finally showed signs of moving past the weight of grief and guilt that had been plaguing him.
“Good night?” he asked, feigning disinterest as he plucked a seemingly random tune.
His gaze told a different story though, intense and dark as he took in the marks on my skin and the tired smudges under my eyes. I quirked a brow at him as Noah placed slices of toasted bread and a dish of butter next to the bacon and pulled up his own chair.
“Wet,” I answered simply, biting the inside of my cheek to hold back my smile of amusement as I deliberately provoked him.
Noah chuckled softly as Liam smacked a flat palm across the guitar strings, abruptly quieting the music and growling low in his chest.
“Brat,” he retorted, placing the instrument to the side and grabbing his plate.
I held his eye challengingly, but our unspoken game of dominance was cut short as Zeke made it downstairs. Liam visibly stiffened as his brother appeared in the doorway, but it was Noah who spoke.
“So he shows his face,” he called, folding his arms and leaning back in his chair as he glared at Zeke.
I held my breathe in anticipation, waiting to see if Zeke would run or face us, and released a long breath as he moved to my left side and pulled out a chair.
“How’ve you been?” Noah asked, sarcasm laced through his tone as he began to butter some bread.
I frowned slightly as he placed the food onto my plate, unsettled at how harsh he was being. The easy-going man I knew was still in there, but the past few months had clearly hardened him. Grabbing his hand, I forced him to look at me, watching his expression loosen and lighten as he stared into my eyes.
“I’m sorry,” Zeke answered, drawing our attention again. “I know I shouldn’t have been avoiding dealing with this, but the guilt was…”
My heart squeezed as he trailed off and his emotions poured down our bond. I knew the others couldn’t feel it like I could, being bonded to me didn’t mean that they were directly linked to each other, but they knew Zeke well enough to read him clearly.
“Why should you be the only one allowed to run off and nurse their wounds?” Noah asked, gentler now but still clearly pissed. “We were all hurt by this, dude.”
Zeke sighed and ran a palm over his face. “I know.”
“Because you made Cor swear to never run, to trust us and talk to us, and then you go and do it yourself,” Noah continued, making me jump in surprise as he angrily slammed a fist down on the tabletop. “If you ever make decisions that affect us all like that again, I will kick your ass. Ourmatedeserves better.”
I swallowed hard as a thrill ran straight to my centre, unable to deny the effect his protective, alpha asshole behaviour was having on me. Three sets of eyes swung to me, each of them picking up my spike of desire, and I felt my cheeks flush hot as they were suddenly entirely focused on me over their drama.
“What?” I asked, attempting a casual shrug and huffing a breath when they all smirked knowingly at me. “Well if you’re going to fight it out you could at least strip off and oil up. Make it a real show.”
The tension in the room popped as they all started laughing, a grin spreading across my face as I waved a hand at them and dug into my food. They followed suit, the four of us eating in relative calm now the initial conflict was over. I had no doubt that they would talk out their issues in their own time, and I let myself enjoy my breakfast.
“So where did you find him?” Liam asked, and I could tell that he was secretly thrilled for his brother now that we had officially mated. “That was a pretty big storm that you insisted on running off into.”
I rolled my eyes at him as I crunched the last piece of my bacon. “Grown woman. Alpha. Free to go where she pleases, thank you very much.”
