Chapter Twenty-Five Erick

T he last thing I wanted to be doing was folding my shirts and putting them in my suitcase. But Calum was right. There was a very good chance that the man downstairs was important to Sam. He had to be. People didn’t kiss like that when it meant nothing. There was love in that kiss. And so, there was a very good chance that Sam was going to show up at some point and tell us that he wanted nothing to do with us anymore. After all, after just a couple of weeks together, how could I ask him to commit to forever?

I just didn’t think he’d show up so soon.

A knock at the door startled us both. I turned around, glancing at the door before I shot a fearful look in Calum’s direction. He, knowing I was already emotionally compromised, took point. Abandoning his packing, he took a deep breath and headed for the door. I knew who would be standing on the other side before he opened it. Nonetheless, when the door swung open and Sam’s face came into view, I felt my stomach twist into a tight knot.

“Hi,” he said, sounding a little out of breath. There was a big smile on his face, and I felt myself wince. How could he be happy when everything was about to fall apart? “Can I come in?”

Calum stepped to the side, gesturing for him to enter. He shut the door behind him and walked back over to me, taking my hand. Both of us stood there, waiting for the bad news to drop. Sam looked at us, drawing a deep breath as if he were about to launch into a big speech. But then his gaze fell on the half packed suitcases and that breath whooshed out of him.

“You two going somewhere?” he asked, a tinge of irritation in his voice.

“Just say what you need to say,” I choked, holding tight to Calum’s hand. “And then we’ll get out of here.”

“Get out of here?” Sam shrugged, furrowing his brows. “Why do you have to leave?”

“That man downstairs was your mate, wasn’t he?” Calum asked, his tone flat. Despite that, the words felt like a knife in my gut.

But Sam didn’t flinch. “A long time ago yes, he was.”

“So we should keep on packing then,” Calum added, both of us knowing it was over.

“I don’t understand why you’re packing at all,” Sam shot back. “Unless you want to leave.”

“Of course we don’t want to leave!” I sobbed, practically yelling at him for being so thick headed. “But how can you expect us to stay here? We just have to eat dinner with you and see you every fucking day knowing you don’t want anything to do with us? Now that you’ve got your mate back, we should have to suffer from a distance?” I shook my head. “No. I won’t do that. We can find somewhere else to stay. Shifter Grove isn’t big enough for all of us.”

“Wow,” Sam sighed, putting his hands on his hips. He glanced up at Calum. “And is this how you feel too?”

“I don’t know what else to think,” he answered. “Now that we know you have your mate back, what other choice do we have?”

Sam slowly transitioned from upset to furious in the span of a few seconds. His jaw clenched and worked as he tried to speak, but nothing came out. He kept biting back his words, only making little noises here and there until he blew out an exasperated sigh and walked over to the bed. There he began to take our clothes out of the suitcases and placed them back in the dresser.

“What are you doing?” I cried, furious he was undoing all the work I’d just done. Why was he making this harder?

“I’m putting your clothes where they belong,” he said, slamming the dresser drawer open. “Here. In the dresser. In this hotel. In Shifter Grove. With me .”

“I… I don’t understand…”

“I’ll tell you what I understand,” he snapped, stopping and pointing a finger at the both of us. “I understand that you two like to make a lot of fucking assumptions and we’re gonna put an end to that right now.”

“Assumptions?”

“Yeah. Assumptions. And fucking stupid ones at that.”

Calum and I exchanged a confused glance.

“What do you mean?” Calum asked.

“I mean that you two saw something downstairs and instead of asking me what happened or hearing my side of the story, you just decided to start packing your fucking bags and move out of the hotel.” He threw a shirt into the dresser with gusto. “And all that not twelve hours after you both made me your mate.”

“But… he’s your mate.”

“ Was , Calum. WAS.”

“But–”

“I saw you kissing him,” I blurted out, unable to contain my anger and betrayal any longer. “I saw you two and the way he was holding you… I know what love looks like. I’m not stupid.”

“Maybe you’re not stupid, but you should get your eyes checked,” Sam shot back. “Because I wasn’t holding Roger at all . I wasn’t even kissing him. He was kissing me and holding me. And if you two had stuck around for another ten seconds instead of running away, you would’ve heard me call him every terrible name in the book for forcing himself on me.”

The betrayal I felt turned immediately to fury as Sam’s words fell on my ears.

“He forced himself on you?” I growled. I let go of Calum’s hand, heading for the door. “What fucking room is he in? I’m gonna kill him.”

Sam just rolled his eyes at me. “Oh, now you want to be my protector?” He slammed the dresser shut and walked up between Calum and I. “So, which is it gonna be, huh? Are you my mates and my protectors or are you a couple of guys who fucked me for fun and are moving out?”

“We care about you,” Calum began.

“Then fucking prove it !” Sam cried, throwing his arms up in the air. “Listen to me and what I have to tell you instead of jumping to wild conclusions and running away at the first sign of conflict! This isn’t a fucking romance novel, and I’ve read too many of them to deal with this miscommunication trope bullshit.”

He grabbed Calum and I by the back of the neck and pulled us into a tight hug.

“I love you two idiots and I want you to stay! You’re my mates! What else do I have to say to get you two to believe me?”

Shame crawled over my skin, making me shiver as I tightened my hold on Sam. I looked over at Calum on his other shoulder and it looked like he felt the same. My heart was in my throat. Had Sam just told us he loved us? I mean, obviously he did, but did he really mean it? We hadn’t known each other that long, but Calum and I were just talking that morning about how we were falling for him. Could such a thing have happened already? And for all of us at the same time?

I took a moment to breathe in Sam’s scent, catching hints of Calum’s and my own mixed in. He was our mate, that was for sure. Scents didn’t mix when there wasn’t a bond to be made. Sam belonged to us, but I was still having a hard time wrapping my brain around it.

“What about Roger?” I whispered.

“What about him?” Sam asked, leaning back so he could look at us both. “He was my mate more than ten years ago. But when he kissed me this morning… there was nothing. Not even a thought of a spark. There’s too much time and animosity between us to bring that flame back to life.” He shook his head, tears forming in his eyes. “And I don’t want it anyway. I want you two . I love you both and I know it’s stupid to say something like that so early in our relationship, but I can’t help it. It’s how I feel, and I’ve been trapped in my heart of ice for too long to resist it anymore. I want to be with you two. I want you to stay with me . You are my home .”

“I’m… I’m sorry,” I stammered, shaking my head.

“Me too,” Calum added. “We were just so scared, and it brought up a lot of emotions and–”

“It’s okay,” Sam said, wiping his eyes. “I get it. I’ve seen hundreds of wolves like you come through this hotel. And I know what it’s like for it to feel like the entire world is out to get you.” He pulled us close once more. “But I need you two to know I’m on your side. Permanently .”

“I love you too,” Calum whispered, kissing his neck. “I think that’s why I was so scared.”

“I’m terrified how much I feel for you already,” I said, leaning back to look Sam in the eye. I reached up, cupping his cheek. “But I love you too.”

Calum leaned back as well, all three of us staring at one another. There were tears on every cheek and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“God,” I said, wiping my face with the back of my sleeve. “Why are we all crying?”

“It’s your fault,” Calum shot back. “You know I almost always cry when you do.”

“I think it’s both your faults for getting carried away and packing your damn bags.” Sam smiled, showing us there were no hurt feelings despite his sarcasm. “Now are you going to help me put your clothes back where they belong?”

“Yeah,” I nodded.

“Good,” Sam said. “Because there’s something I need to ask you and I’m not very good at asking for it.”

“Anything you need.”

“Calum is working for Ace now and will be for quite a while if not permanently,” he said. “And I need… help running this hotel.” He reached out, pulling me in for a quick kiss. “Will you help me make this place even better?” He grabbed Calum’s hand. “Both of you. But mostly you Erick.” He let out a long sigh. I’ve been doing this for so long and I just… I need help. I can’t keep working that desk constantly and running everything at the same time.”

“Of course I’ll help you,” I said, pulling him into a hug. “I’ll help you in any way that I can!”

“Me too,” Calum said, wrapping his arms around us both. “We’ll make this place the best it's ever been and then some.”

Sam smiled, tears coming to his eyes once more. “God I love you two.”

“I love you too, Sammy.”

“I love you so much.”

He squeezed us tight, kissing us both on the neck as we held on to him. “How about we skip the unpacking and just fuck?”

“Hell yeah,” Calum growled, holding us tighter.

“Who’s gonna watch the front desk?” I asked.

“It can watch itself for a half hour,” Sam grinned. “You two are more important.”

My heart began to race as he pulled me into a passionate kiss. I never would’ve guessed our lives could change so much for the better when we came to Shifter Grove. But now that we were here and we’d found Sam, we were never going to leave.