11. Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

Shay

Slowly, I opened my eyes and stared into a pair of identical blue ones. Smiling softly, I whispered, "Hi."

Lucas grinned back, a smile that shone all the way to his eyes, and seeing him so happy, so relaxed, made all of it–running away in the night, the long ass trip, being sick–worth it all.

Not that I was having second thoughts about leaving Edward, I wasn't. It was the absolute right decision. I just wished we'd had a better start to our new life than we seemed to be having. Nothing was going as I had planned in my head, but then, things seldom did.

"Hi, Daddy." Lucas was lying next to me on the bed, his head on the pillow next to mine, and I didn't know how long he had been there.

Sniffing, I realized I could sort of smell something tantalizing drifting down the hallway. A mixture of chicken and herbs, and my stomach let out a rumble. This was the first time I had actually been hungry in days, or that I could smell.

"Bennett said I could wake you because the soup is ready. It smells so good! He said you need to eat whether you want to or not. I wouldn't argue with him, if I was you," he told me matter-of-factly, putting his little arm around my shoulder as far as he could get it. Pulling him close, I snuggled him, feeling his sweet warmth.

This was one of our favorite things to do, snuggle together and just be. He hadn't yet grown too big to want snuggles, and I drank every one of them in, knowing the day would come when he would tell me he was too old for them.

"I wouldn't dream of it," my words ruffled his dark head. I wasn't sure how long I had slept, or when Asher had left. He'd held me while I'd bawled like a baby until exhausted, I had passed out.

Now I could hear the soft murmuring of voices drifting into the room, but I couldn't make out the words or who was talking. Bennett for sure, because I had already come to recognize the sound of his voice, and at least one other person.

"Who's here?" Glancing over my shoulder at the window, I tried to judge what time it was by the light peeking in from the not quite closed curtain. The sun was still up, but it was summer, so it was probably later than I thought it was.

"Uncle Asher," Lucas sat up, brushing his wayward bangs out of his face. He needed a haircut. And clothes. He definitely needed more clothes. We needed a shit ton of stuff, and my mental list seemed to grow longer each time I opened my eyes and allowed myself to think past the here and now. We needed so many things, and all of it cost money I didn't have.

Just breathe, Shay , my tiger whispered, just breathe.

I nearly snorted at his wise advice, considering breathing had been at the top of highly difficult things for me to do the last few days. Though now that I was taking stock, I did feel better than I had. Not great, or even ninety percent, but a hell of a lot better than I had felt earlier today. Maybe I would be on my feet sooner rather than later, and we could get out of Bennett's hair.

The thought of leaving the adorable omega made my chest ache, and it had nothing to do with needing another breathing treatment. Bennett's presence made me feel…safe…calm…like I could handle anything coming down the pipe and make it out on the other side.

"Uncle Asher is still here?"

"He left and came back a little while ago. The babies were cranky, so they took them home. And I think Uncle Asher had been crying before they left." He patted my face, his finger tracing a line down my cheek. "Were you crying too, Daddy? Your face is all streaky."

"Yeah, baby, I was crying." There was no shame in it, and I refused to raise my son to believe there was, even if he was an alpha. My dad had always shown us all his emotions, his tears, his happiness and his sadness. And if anyone had a right to cry, it sure as shit was me.

"Are you sad, Daddy?" The quiet question tugged at my soul.

"A little. But I hadn't seen your Uncle Asher in a long time, so there were just a lot of feelings."

Lucas nodded, his lips pursed, and he had his thinking face on. "Uncle Asher said he was sorry for yelling at you."

"That's good. Did he scare you?"

Lucas shook his head, "A little. I didn't like him yelling at you. It reminded me of Papa Edward."

Well, fuck a damn duck, if that didn't hit me in the gut hard. "I know you don't know this, but your Uncle Asher is nothing like your Papa Edward. Daddy and Uncle Asher have a bunch of stuff we need to talk about, but I promise to not do it in front of you."

"'Cus you're gonna yell?"

"We might. I don't know. Uncle Asher might. It's grown-up stuff, okay?"

Bennett's dark head appeared in the doorway, and he gave me an apologetic half-smile. "Just came to see if you were up. Soup's ready and you should try to eat something."

Nodding, I told him, "I can actually kind of smell it. Which is a pleasant change after the last few days."

"It's an improvement for sure." He looked happy at this small turn of events. "Do you need help?"

I sat up slowly, having learned my lesson about the perils of moving too quickly, but things only tilted a wee bit and then righted themselves. My vision seemed sharper around the edges, colors clearer, and my brain felt less foggy. When I commented on it, Bennet said that meant my oxygen levels were getting better.

"Sure you're not a doctor?" Rummaging in my duffel, I pulled out a wrinkled but somewhat clean T-shirt. It would at least cover the bruises over my ribs. Not that Asher hadn't already seen them all.

"I'll wash your clothes after dinner. I'm going to put a load in the washer. I already have Lucas's dirty things."

"That's very kind of you." He shrugged, a rosy blush coloring his cheeks, and I followed him and Lucas down the short hallway at a snail's pace. I would never take a good set of lungs for granted again. Huffing and sweating by the time we made it to the multi-colored living room, I gratefully sank down onto the cushion of one end of the sofa. Asher sat on the opposite end, and he looked me over with a critical eye.

"Stop doctoring me from over there," I grumbled, wiping the slight sheen of moisture from my brow. Lucas was setting the dining table with dinnerware under Bennett's quiet guidance.

Asher shrugged, though he wasn't apologetic. "I am a doctor, it's what I do. Even if you're way bigger than my usual patients."

"Where's your mate and babies?"

Asher tilted his head in the direction of the large picture window. "That's our house across the street."

Following his gaze, I saw a gigantic monstrosity of a Victorian style house. This was the first time I had been coherent enough to notice the surrounding neighborhood. Bennett–and Asher–lived at the end of what appeared to be a quiet cul-de-sac.

"Tristan has an ear infection, so we took them home while you were sleeping. They needed naps after the trip. We all needed naps, actually. Gabe–my mate–will bring them over in a little bit. I'm going to text Gabe to bring my bag with him. I want to listen to your lungs."

Rolling my eyes, I shook my head at him. "My lungs are better than they were."

It wasn't a lie. I was able to take deeper breaths and I didn't feel the need to cough every five seconds. The tightness that had held my chest in a vice had also eased up. I knew I was nowhere close to being well, but the meds seemed to be doing their job. "I'll take my medicine like a good boy when I eat, do a breathing treatment and probably be back in bed soon. Walking out here feels like I ran a marathon. "

He gave me a look that brought back all kinds of memories. One of his I-don't-really-care-what-you-want-I'm-doing-it-anyway looks. Which meant I was going to be subjected to his mother-henning me. I liked it much more when Bennett did it. Bennett had a way of quietly getting people to do exactly what he wanted, without you thinking it was his idea. Asher had always been too pushy for his own good.

Damn, I had missed him.

"Come eat," Bennett called–ordered–from the dining room. He was placing a steaming bowl in front of Lucas. "Blow on that before you eat it. It's super hot. Do you want crackers?"

"Lots please." Lucas nodded his head, giving Bennett a wide smile.

Asher hovered after me, ready to catch me if I stumbled, while I shuffled like an old man to an empty seat. I wanted to tell him it wasn't necessary for him to walk behind me, hands held up on either side of him, but the truth was my legs still felt like they were made from noodles.

"Start with three crackers and we'll see." At Bennett's questioning look, I explained, "He puts an entire sleeve of saltines in his soup or chili if you're not watching."

Bennett chuckled, but made sure to hide his face from Lucas, so he didn't think that he was laughing at him.

"Well, chili is icky and it takes that many crackers so I can eat it, Daddy." Lucas explained, his tone serious. "Beans. Gross. And they make you fart."

Grinning at him, I nodded in agreement. "That they do."

Bennett handed Lucas his three crackers, then placed a bowl of the most amazing smelling soup in front of me, before taking his seat. Closing my eyes, I leaned my head toward the bowl, so I could feel the steam on my face and breathe in the wonderful aroma.

Beyond the chicken and herbs, a new scent caught my attention. Sugar, cinnamon, and the lovely scent you get when you mix them and fry them up. Donuts. Glancing around, I tried to pinpoint where the smell of my favorite cinnamon-sugar twists donuts was coming from. Had Asher remembered how much I loved them and brought a box over for dessert?

Not glimpsing a bakery box anywhere, a memory tugged at the corners of my mind. I smelled the same scent while in the hospital.

Bennett.

It was Bennett.

He smelled like one of my most favorite things in the world. Because of course he did. The Goddess wasn't cruel enough with her meddling, putting my fated mate in my path at the worst time in my life. She had to make him smell like that on top of everything else.

My body and brain caught up with themselves, and my skin tingled, desire slamming into me like a racing car. My breathing sped up, and all the blood in my body raced south to instantly fill my cock. The urge to sweep all the dishes onto the floor, grab Bennett and lay him out on the table, so I could taste every sweet inch of his skin, burned through me like a wildfire.

Ah, not dead after all , my tiger purred, content. Good to know .

Slamming my eyes shut, I gripped the edge of the table hard, then tried to casually reach down and press a hand to my rock-hard dick.

Go down, go down, go down , I chanted in my head. Why, why, why? Thank fuck, I'm wearing sweats, or I'd probably pop a hole straight through my jeans. Go. Down !

"Shay?" Asher's worried voice drifted into me ordering my wayward cock around.

"I'm okay." Whispering, I opened my eyes and blinked the sexual haze from my sight. "Just got dizzy for a second."

Lust had slammed into me hard enough that the little white lie wasn't that much of a lie. It had left me a bit dizzy and off-center. Mostly because I hadn't felt anything like that in longer than I could remember–if ever–and I had honestly thought my dick getting hard had disappeared along with my tiger. Now they were both back, apparently, and my dead dick was anything but.

When I opened my eyes, Bennett was staring at me with an almost wistful look on his face. Did he know what had happened when I'd caught his scent? Did he feel the same thing?

Catching me staring at him, his cheeks flooded with color again, and he quickly ducked his head, shoving a spoonful of noodles and chicken in his mouth. When he swallowed, he told Lucas, "I don't like chili either, for the same reasons."

Bennett gave me a wink, and a shy smile, and a swarm of butterflies took flight low in my belly. My skin felt hot and feverish–a different kind of fever than had burned in me the last few days, and a shiver of need shook my entire body. At some point–and soon–we were going to have to acknowledge the fated mate sized elephant in the room.

Asher shot me a quizzical look, his eyes darting between me and Bennett, and I ignored him in favor of taking a small sip of the delicious smelling soup. It was as tasty as the aroma had guaranteed, and I was happy I could actually enjoy it. Concentrating on eating got my mind off of what was happening inside my body, and my dick went down to half-mast .

"Is Gabe coming over for dinner?" Bennett addressed my brother, who was still hovering by the table instead of sitting. "I know soup isn't a summer food, but there's plenty."

"He's getting the kids around. Trist has been beyond cranky, so we'll probably just eat and run. And I can eat soup anytime of the year, honestly. After the long drive, we're both just happy to not have to cook tonight."

The front door opened, and the large bear of a man came in, a toddler secured in each of his brawny arms. The one that looked like him the most–Tristan if I was putting the correct name with the correct baby–saw Asher and immediately reached his arms out with a screeched, "DA!"

The baby practically flew into my brother's arms, where he laid his head on Asher's chest with a soft sigh. Asher nuzzled the top of his head, placing a soft kiss on the baby's thick light brown hair. His mate bent down, and my brother turned his face up to meet his lips. They shared a brief kiss that was sweet, yet still full of passion and intimacy, that made me feel like a voyeur just witnessing it.

Happiness for my brother warmed me, along with a tiny bit of jealousy. What would it be like to have that, whatever that was that you could almost see between Asher and his mate? To have someone to share your burdens, and secrets, and the joys and trials of raising your children together? To have someone who kissed you, touched you, because they wanted to and for no other reason than they loved you? Not because they wanted something from you.

What would it be like to kiss Bennett? Were his lips as soft as they looked? Would he taste like cinnamon and sugar? Stop it the fuck right now, Shay !

I had to stop thinking about doing anything with Bennett! Bennett was everything in the world that was good and kind, and I didn't want him anywhere near the mess that was Edward and me.

"He just had his meds," Gabe settled the other baby–Rafe–comfortably on his hip, "but he'll probably be a leech until they kick in. He's been super clingy since he woke from his nap."

Asher nodded, leading them all into the small dining area. "Shay, this is my mate, Gabe Carmichael, since we didn't do proper introductions earlier. Gabe, my little brother, Shay."

The man shook my hand with a steady and firm grip, his light brown eyes looking me over. "I've heard a lot about you."

Ouch. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing and could only imagine what conversations he and my brother had had about me. "It's nice to meet you."

They both sat, each holding a baby, and managed to eat at the same time. It was interesting watching my brother, seeing him with a mate and children. The last time I had seen him I'd been a senior in high school, and he had been twenty, away at college, studying for the MCAT. We had both been so much younger then, neither of us truly grown men. There were a lot of lost years to make up for. A lot of hurt, and no doubt anger on Asher's part, to work through and get past. But I felt like there was hope for us to do that.

"Should I get the kids a bowl of noodles?" Bennett hopped up from his seat, ready to be a gracious host.

"I fed them before we came over," Gabe shook his head. "My step-mom makes an incredible mac and cheese, and now that's all they want to eat. I'm afraid my boxed kind didn't quite measure up, but it worked in a pinch. They should be good. "

Bennett was about to sit back down when his cell phone started ringing. Picking it up from the kitchen counter, he gave Asher a look I couldn't decipher, and said, "It's Alex. I need to take this."