Chapter Nine

These guys had it down to a science. To say I was impressed would be the understatement of the year. There weren't that many of them, not compared to the number of omegas we had brought here, but everything was happening in a timely and effective manner.

They had over fifty omegas coming in, each in various states of health and well-being. Did some have to wait longer than others to have an injury treated or to get a meal? Sure. But they had managed to get everyone set up with places to sleep, medications, bandages, showers, and even clothes in record time. Not to mention full bellies and not bread-and-fake-cheese full—we had hot food and it was delicious.

I was in awe of all they were able to do in such a relatively short period of time. And the wildest thing was that they hadn't planned any of it. Not for today anyway. It wasn't that this was a raid where they knew they were going to get X number of omegas and planned for weeks ahead of time. They were just this organized, just this good, just this super-hero like.

And now that things were settling down and the adrenaline wearing off, I was barely able to keep my eyes open. Mav had asked me to come with him. I did so without question. To be fair, he wasn't so much asking me to come as much as he declared it so. I didn't take it personally. It appeared to be his way. Had it been like back at the trailers, I'd have given him some resistance. But we were both tired and our day needed to be over already. If following him fostered that result, I was there for it.

"We're doing this," he'd said and then started to walk away, looking back to make sure I was following him. I was. As long as I was with him, I didn't care about anything else. It could all wait.

There was a safety that came with just being around him. It had been so long since I'd felt safe or anything that even came close to resembling it. And here I was, standing next to the man who had used his ability to end and save lives, something I'd witnessed firsthand, and I was feeling safer than I had in my entire life.

As we walked, it felt less and less like a warehouse. Although we were still in the same building, the atmosphere was different. It had more of a homey vibe, and there was so much of Mav's essence here. It was where he spent a lot of his time.

"Over here."

"Okay." It wasn't like I wasn't going to follow him the rest of the way.

What I really wanted to do was take his hand and hold it tight, to ask him to hug me, to feel his warmth. Instead, I just trailed behind him, like a little puppy dog.

Mate.

Ours.

Claim.

You really need to stop. I didn't like chastising my wolf, but there was too much going on for me to think about mating crap now.

Mav brought me into a small room. It was pretty much void of personal things, but there was no doubt this was Mav's. Everything had been bathed in his scent, just as I wanted to be.

It took all I could do not to jump into bed and just roll around. I pushed that desire so far back it needed its own area code.

My wolf might call this man mate, and Fate probably did too. There was a big problem with that, and it had nothing to do with the sexy dragon and his deadly ways and everything to do with me. I'd seen him with those babes. He wanted a family. He didn't want to just be here on this planet, working and going through the motions. He wanted more.

The way he looked at those children, his eyes so filled with love. The way their little faces lit up when they saw their uncle Mav—their love for each other was mutual.

There were many things in this world I could give a mate. But a family? I'd never be able to give him that. He needed to know exactly what he was getting before jumping in with both feet.

"I thought you might like a shower," he said.

"You have no idea." I was so ready for a real shower. Not a washing off in the lake or dealing with hot water that didn't actually exist. A. Real. Shower.

Mav led me into his bathroom, gave me some fresh towels, and left to give me privacy while I showered. The water was so luxurious. I couldn't remember the last time I had hot, steamy water cascading down my body.

And there was soap—it wasn't even fancy soap, but I'd never felt this clean. I turned off the shower and stepped out, wrapping myself in a towel that he'd left for me.

When I opened the door, a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt lay on the bed.

"That's for you." He pointed to the sweats. "I'm going to hit the shower now," he said. "Once you climb into bed, try to get some rest."

"Okay," I replied.

And I did. I climbed inside, wrapped myself in the blankets, and pretended it was his arm wrapped around me and not the cloth. I might not be able to jump into a mating with him, but I could surely enough do this.

Sleep took over far quicker than I had wanted, and I woke up with a start probably not much more than an hour later. The shower was no longer going, but moisture still hung in the air. I looked around, eventually finding my mate sleeping on the floor.

Maybe he didn't even scent me back. I was probably worrying for nothing.