Chapter Twenty-One

Taylin

Something had changed between them, and Taylin felt almost like he was holding his breath waiting for that moment when a person trusts another to free fall, hoping like hell they'll catch them.

Hollis had slept on the plane and was now staring out the window as the driver, who'd waited for them, took them to Hollis's place. Indecision was Taylin's best friend and second guessing himself after sharing some of his past wouldn't let him break the silence. It crackled with tension. It was very real judging by the large knot of anxiety weighing heavy in his stomach.

Hollis's profile gave little away in the dim interior of the car. Was he regretting his decision to bite me?

Humans! Why do you fuss?

Taylin chose to block his animal and wordlessly sit and fret until the car pulled up outside a smart townhouse .

They both remained still for a few seconds, then Hollis glanced at him when the driver got out of the car. The light illuminated his beautiful face. One that Taylin could stare at for hours, only that couldn't happen unless he manned up and asked for what he wanted.

The noise from outside the car said he was running out of time when the driver shut the trunk, clearly having retrieved Hollis's bags.

"You must be tired," Taylin muttered when nothing else came to him and, conscious that with the door open, the driver could hear them.

Save me! What are you doing?

Again he blocked out the animal, which was getting on his last nerve, and gave Hollis an overbright smile when Hollis nodded.

"Been… a busy few days."

Busy?

What was that supposed to mean?

"I'm sure you need sleep, too. There'll be a lot to catch up on for work… and the press conference tomorrow. We'll need to prepare… so I'll see you tomorrow." Hollis leaned in and brushed his lips over Taylin's in a kiss that was nowhere near enough to satisfy him. Then he was out of the car, the door shutting behind him before Taylin could say more or figure out how he was now alone and feeling like his heart was walking up to the house.

He watched in utter bewilderment when Hollis not once looked back when he reached the entryway and two seconds later, a light came on and he disappeared inside the house. The door closing felt… final .

Taylin sank back into the leather seat and shut watery eyes, working on breathing past the continued ‘heart ripping out of his chest' feeling.

Yikes a fucking do-do!

The engine purred with life and moved smoothly away. Taylin's eyes darted open. He rubbed at his bristly jaw, cracking a yawn, and searched for something to distract himself.

Work!

Think about work…

He labored to recall exactly what in his calendar he'd missed over the past four days besides the obvious reason for being away.

Seconds bled into minutes before he sighed dejectedly at coming up blank.

His brain was a roller deck where he could flick through it and find the information he needed. Why was none of it there like it would normally be? The man who'd just left him wasn't answer enough, so what had changed?

Why does work matter now? Stop being a dick.

The blocking of his wolf spirit's snippy voice was becoming a full-time job.

His thoughts didn't venture far.

How had Hollis made quick work of rearranging his brain so that nothing made any sense except for him? Taylin rubbed at the center of his chest. At the sensation that came from… Hollis leaving him.

You never asked him to say .

Was this part of the mating bite?

If it was, he royally screwed himself.

Taylin pressed his forehead to the cool glass of the window and stared out at the darkened streets, acknowledging the truth. Hollis was his heart. The throbbing pain hadn't been there while he was in Hollis's presence. The fucker came right after Hollis shut his front door, leaving him .

Work… they both needed it to be a priority after their time together. They should get back to that and some form of normalcy. Then why was being sensible the last thing Taylin wanted to be?

He wanted to blame Hollis, but he wasn't that man. He was equally complicit by not talking about it, which left him now feeling like shit.

Mating… was causing his senses to swim hard against the currents and left him splashing around, unable to see what was important. One small bite changed everything, and he couldn't fool himself that it was just sex.

Taylin stared blindly at the buildings they passed as he failed to convince himself that his world hadn't altered, and he wasn't clueless of where to go from here. Dating followed rules, they were easy to navigate. He ran his fingertips over the ridged flesh, getting prickles—that if he closed his eyes—ran straight to the organ pumping blood around his body.

Was it possible to go back to the way things were before those teeth had sunk into his flesh?

What kind of stupid question is that? What you should ask yourself is why you didn't give him a true bite ?

Do we need to have this conversation again?

His wolf spirit snarled, and Taylin grunted back in frustration.

"Is everything okay, sir?" The driver's voice interrupted him as he was about to continue the fight with his animal.

Taylin met the driver's gaze in the rearview mirror, and he offered a reassuring smile. "Yes, thank you. Just tired." He was. His body ached in unusual places, if he discounted his heart.

He'd possibly had ten hours of sleep in the last five days, and some of those had been on the floor. Was that the real reason he'd not stated his case for staying with Hollis? Was it?

They did both need rest.

Couldn't they have rested—slept together?

Taylin— alone —decided he had made an epic error of judgment. Fucking monumental, truth be told.

Get the driver to go back.

Please, Hollis didn't ask us to stay at his place, did he? Taylin pointed out, only he wasn't sure if it was to his wolf side or himself. Although it wasn't like he could forget he was alone when the seat next to him remained empty.

Had opening up changed how Hollis saw him? It was hard to think differently and it came with the negative that his old family was fucking with his life once more. Was that why Hollis hadn't asked him to stay now the heat was over?

Memories of the sweetness Hollis displayed post heat made his nose burn and disproved the negative thoughts that had no place telling him differently. Taylin held on tight to that and how Hollis had displayed affection both before and after they'd talked. When they lay sated, Hollis had shifted and curled up on Taylin's chest, nestling his face into Taylin's neck, where he'd fallen asleep. The beautiful whistling the pygmy loris had done and Hollis's explanation around how it was to attract their mate increased the ache of loneliness.

His animal had trusted him to keep him safe. Shown their affection. Then why had Hollis insisted that they should part ways?

They were mates—that beautiful man was his— forever.

Fuck! Why didn't I push to stay?

Because you're an ass.

Taylin hated that his wolf side was probably right.

No, I'm most definitely right.

Shut up!

Reaching for his cell phone, he considered his next move. They'd see each other at a very public event, the press conference, the following morning. There would be no privacy to talk about personal stuff with everyone there.

Why couldn't I be more like Jupiter, Rue, or Laken? They didn't appear to shy away from shit like this.

Taylin didn't lie to himself and pretend that the feelings of vulnerability after exposing his weak spot had left him raw. Another groan of frustration came out just as the car came to a smooth halt. Was it foolish to ask the driver to turn around and go back ?

While he hesitated, out the window Taylin witnessed the front door burst open to reveal Booker, who vied to get outside at the same time as Silas, who pushed from behind.

"Fuck it!" he groaned in distress. His shoulders slumped at leaving it too late and the reality of what was coming his way.

Both men wore similar expressions… pissed.

Taylin blew out a breath and tucked his cell phone back into his jacket pocket, reaching for the door with equal measures of guilt and resignation. He had purposely avoided reading the forty odd messages in the Alphahole group chat because he wasn't foolish enough to know his brothers would have had plenty to say about what had gone on.

He stepped out of the car, standing to his full height, meeting his brothers' stares, showing none of his feelings.

"A welcoming committee, how nice," he said sarcastically, going to retrieve his bags from the driver, who had gone to the trunk.

"Where the fuck have you been?" Booker's angry growl added to the overall pissed impression Taylin had.

"You know where I was," Taylin pointed out simply, not rising to the bait to have an argument outside, in front of an audience.

"Do you know how stressful it's been thinking you wouldn't be back for the press conference tomorrow?" Silas's quiet demand impacted hard. "You could have at least answered my messages to let me know you'd be here."

Taylin bristled at the accusation .

He took a deep breath, released it, then took another when he gave the driver a nod of thanks.

He met Silas's angry glare with one of his own, having learned that in this family, backing down was never a good option when he wasn't in the wrong. "When have I ever let you down?"

The lights spilling from the house revealed Silas going pale at his retort, and rightly so. Taylin had aimed his dart with accuracy to deflate the balloon of hot air that was his brother's temper. He could understand Silas's fear about the following day, but taking a pot shot at him would not work for Taylin, not when he was already feeling vulnerable.

Silas's lips firmed into a tight line and Taylin waited his brother out. Silas was a hothead, and it was the reason they'd first met in that dark alley all those years ago.

"You could have given us some clue to when you'd be back," Booker replied, instead of Silas. Booker was always Silas's biggest supporter.

Taylin stepped up to Booker, showing no signs of being intimidated. They'd lived together too long for that. Although Taylin was a few inches shorter, he held Booker's stormy expression. "Are you mated?"

"What?" Booker's brows drew together. "What kind of question is that?"

"The only kind when you have no fucking idea what it feels like to bond irrevocably with someone." Taylin tugged at the neck of his shirt, getting gasps from both brothers. "Hollis is my mate. He claimed me. So give me a fucking moment to enjoy it." Taylin pushed past a stunned-looking Booker and moved around Silas to the open door, only to be met by an audience.

The rest of his brothers stood inside the entryway, each wearing varying degrees of speculation. "Great, another damn welcoming committee. Anyone else wanna have a go?"

Head shakes and muttered negatives gave Taylin no outlet for his frustration, which was growing by the moment. Even Jupiter, who could never resist poking at someone, remained unnaturally quiet.

Taylin had no one to blame, he really should have opened up the messages to see what kind of shit storm he'd created. "Where are Popi and Dad?"

"In the sunroom," Kodi supplied, before he bit his lower lip as if to stop the humor that was dancing in his eyes from morphing into laughter.

Taylin dumped his bags at the bottom of the stairs and stomped down the hallway toward the sunroom, with his brothers right on his heels. He didn't waste any energy sighing, it was pointless. If he was going to have to answer for his actions, then he'd only be doing it once.

Popi glanced up from his newspaper as Taylin stepped into the room. The lamps in the corner of the room cast a warm, welcoming glow that matched the sweet smile Popi gave him. "You're home."

Dad's expression was harder to read as he placed a book, a crime thriller by the dust jacket, down on his lap. He swept his eyes over Taylin and, judging by the narrowing of his eyes when he reached the neck of Taylin's open shirt, missed nothing. "Taylin. "

"Dad." Taylin nodded at the man who he'd always measured his actions against. Then Taylin went to Popi and kissed the cheek he had raised.

"Popi," he murmured shakily as emotions came to the surface so fast he couldn't contain them, "I'm mated."

Taylin promptly burst out crying. He couldn't say exactly why, and he had no control over his reactions when Popi tugged him onto the large comfy sofa next to him and encouraged him to rest his head on his shoulder.

As soon as he had, Popi gently stroked his hair. "It's alright, my beautiful boy. Let it out," he crooned. "Hollis is a lucky man, as are you."

"Shit, if this is what mating does for you, you can keep it," Silas muttered.

To Taylin's blurry eyes, Silas's wide eyes, filled with alarm and disquiet, made him look like he'd rather face a firing squad than find his mate.

"Behave, Silas," Popi rebuked gently but firmly. "Until you experience it, and you will, you cannot judge how special the feeling is. This kind of connection to another is like no other. Your life force becomes strengthened. Everything becomes brighter, bolder, in ways that make the world around you shift and change for the better."

A hushed silence fell as Taylin dragged in a ragged breath while working to stop crying, somehow feeling vindicated for the sudden outburst of emotions.

Popi's comment put Taylin's outburst into perspective and explained why leaving Hollis was so hard. He wasn't a wuss at all.

Releasing a shuddery breath, Taylin swiped at the dampness clinging to his cheeks and looked at Dad. A tension at the back of his neck grew at the apprehension he was stuck feeling, making him so out of sorts.

"How did you cope with being separated from Popi? Leaving him behind for days, weeks, fuck, months at a time?" he asked, uncaring what his brothers thought of his question.

Minutes without Hollis were proving difficult and he needed to know how to deal with it, otherwise moments like this could become a common occurrence. Ugh!

Dad's powerful shoulders rose as he turned his attention to Popi, his gaze softening. "I never did. Your Popi is my world."

The simple answer left Taylin slumping against Popi, pouting before he could stop himself. He'd hate himself for pouting later, when he had spent years training himself to stop that one act, having gotten mercilessly ribbed for it by his brothers.

"You're fucking pouting." Laken was the first to point it out as he lounged against the far wall, his arms crossed over his chest.

"I've every right to pout," Taylin defended himself, jabbing a finger at his chest, "it feels like I've a brick pressing against my damn heart."

"Yep, totally not doing that shit," Silas said, then blushed when Popi gave him a hard stare. "Sorry, but no way do I want to be ruled by some mushy feelings in that way." He glanced at the other men as if seeking assurance he wasn't alone .

Taylin didn't miss how all his brothers agreed with Silas, nodding and looking more than a little uncomfortable at the same time. It was comical, sort of, when Taylin was the one dealing with his raw emotions at being parted from Hollis.

"You won't have a say," Popi announced, sounding pleased at the prospect.

At the following fatalist sounds coming from his brothers and the possibility of not being alone with how he felt, a cheeky grin appeared on Taylin's face.

Dad gave them all a look that Taylin couldn't interpret. "Fate doesn't listen to reason, boys. Mark my words."

The smile he aimed at Popi gave Taylin the impression it was time to change the conversation before things got out of hand and they were all witness to something Taylin, for one, didn't want to see.

"Is there anything I need to know or read before tomorrow?" he asked, to avoid watching his dad's make out.

"Now you want to talk about business when we were just getting to the ribbing part of the evening's entertainment?" Jupiter's smile was pure mischief.

Taylin stuck up his middle finger then looked at Silas when he spoke.

"The press statement is in your inbox, so if you haven't read it, you need to. We've all got our bit to say about supporting me as the figurehead." Silas looked relieved to be talking about something else even when he grimaced at calling himself the ‘figurehead'.

"I can do that." He looked directly at Booker. "Catch me up on what happened last Sunday. "

"If you'd—"

"Booker," Popi said in a tone that suggested he'd be very unhappy if Booker continued with whatever he was planning to say to piss off Taylin.

Taylin shot Booker a ‘fuck you' grin at Popi intervening and got a warning look back.

"The second visit was a ton better than the first, and though the level of detail to the pieces wasn't as exceptional as the first, the quality was excellent…"