4. Chapter 4

Last night had been magical. When I arrived, the last thing I expected to find here was my mate. And having a centaur be that mate? That almost felt like a dream. Sure, I'd heard about them growing up, but it had always been in the context of being a story. And then when rumors that they were real recently emerged, I interpreted those stories a bit differently. When Armand said that I'd be coming here and staying with them—I was right back to being a kid. It was as if he had promised to open one of my old story books and told me to walk inside.

My heart song was humming, like a beautiful score to my love story. I wondered idly if Apollo heard the same melody as I did. Maybe he heard mine and I heard his? I wasn't sure how that worked… how any of this worked. And I didn't need to. Not really. It was my gift from fate to enjoy, and I planned to do exactly that.

Sleeping in my wolf form with my mate had been the perfect cure for the insomnia I had been experiencing lately. No one could blame me for having trouble sleeping lately. I had excellent trackers on my heels with one goal; seeing me dead. Anyone who could have a good night's sleep with that either had a death wish or was oblivious. I was neither.

I'd always felt safer in my fur than my skin. Many a night I slept that way even before everything had gone down. But nothing in my life had ever felt as safe as I did being nestled next to my mate. Between his warmth and our heart song, it was a peace I'd never felt before. Falling asleep had happened so easily.

The sun was already fairly high in the sky when I woke up. It had been eons since I was this incredibly refreshed in the morning. Being curled against my mate's side was so natural for my wolf. If he had his way, we'd stay like that all day.

I soaked in his warmth and comfort knowing our time was coming to an end. Soon the others would rise, and we wouldn't be able to just be, not here and not like this. I inhaled deeply, savoring my mate's scent. It was glorious.

As much as I loved being here like this with him, I couldn't wait to experience all of this in my human form. And I would, but not until I had to. I didn't want to get up just yet. It meant this time with him would be over, and I loved it too much. There would only be one first morning like this, and I wanted to cherish it.

Marcus had other plans. I couldn't even be mad at him, though. He was doing it out of kindness. Still… I wanted five more minutes. Maybe we should have gone back to Apollo's place and had some privacy after all.

At the time, everything was overwhelming, I was extremely exhausted, and it felt like the others might get pushy about me staying here. But all of that aside, my real concern was that I might have been followed, and if that were the case, the more people around us, the safer my mate would be.

I had no idea how they were tracking me so successfully. I'd been beyond cautious, and I wasn't in it alone. Steelwick knew what they were doing. They were in their position for a reason; they were the best.

"Good, you're up," Marcus said. He came out of his home with his baby on his hip. I'd thought if I stayed still he might ignore us, thinking we were sleeping. I was wrong. "You guys want breakfast? We weren't sure what your plan was for today, and we might have to reevaluate where your guard friend is going to stay."

I stood up, hating the loss of my mate's touch, and took my skin. I loved being in my animal form, but it wasn't ideal for this kind of communication.

Apollo hadn't yet said anything, not about plans, not even a good morning. We had both been there soaking in each other, words unneeded. Now that Marcus had questions, that time was over. I caught my mate's eye and smiled. He smiled right back.

"I wouldn't mind having some time with just my mate." I wasn't going to be "opinion-less" when given the opportunity to share. If Marcus had opened with the herd needing to have a meeting, I wouldn't have rocked the boat. But they asked, and I was going to tell them. "If that's possible? I understand that I am in danger, and I should be careful. But if no one knows where Apollo lives, then surely I am safe where Apollo is."

I would never knowingly put my mate at risk.

"I agree," Tomas said. He sipped his coffee as he sat next to the fire. "Eventually I may need to see these accommodations, but given their secrecy, there should be no risk in the two of you going there on your own. Plus, there is no better person to protect someone than their mate."

Apollo let out a rumble which told me he didn't really want anyone to know where he lived, or perhaps he didn't like the idea of me being in danger. I couldn't wait to learn how to decipher all of his sounds, especially the pleasure ones. Gods, I couldn't wait to explore those.

"Have you really lived here in this forest for a thousand years and your brothers have no idea where you live? That's amazing. Do you just like secrecy?" I had so many questions. I needed to reel them in before he thought I should begin a new career as a journalist because I peppered him with them non-stop.

"Sometimes I like to be left alone," Apollo admitted. "But socializing is also really important to me. I have visited my brothers often over the years."

Visited often wasn't the same thing as seeing them daily, but I supposed that when you are alive for thousands of years, a day was but a blip. Would I one day be a blip? Was that how this was going to work? I probably needed to talk to Marcus. He could help guide me on what it meant to be mated to a centaur.

"Back in my pack, there were a lot of us omegas. The year I was born was like one of the biggest booms for omegas that ever happened, so I had a lot of friends. Most of them are mated now. They've moved on to their own new packs. One of them even went to Northbay, which you may have heard of. You met the healers from there. They're pretty cool." I was babbling. I couldn't help it. I had so much to tell him, and while I'd enjoyed our quiet time together, now that words were flowing…were they ever.

Apollo kept his gaze on me, not really following along with me. Meanwhile, Marcus looked at me wide-eyed.

"I'm sorry, I'm rambling," I stammered. I grabbed the plate that Marcus had handed to me, full of scrambled eggs. "Do you guys have chickens? Is that how you get eggs? I think chickens are adorable. Do you have chickens, Apollo? Do you think that we could get some to keep at your house? Our house?" I questioned. "Is that presumptuous of me?"

I'd never even thought about wanting chickens before. I guess I assumed I would finally get mated and then my life would begin. Which wasn't the best way to live, but neither was getting an Alpha asshole wanting to kill you and I did that as well. So there was that.

Apollo shook his head. "Not at all, mate. What is mine is yours. I will build you a chicken coop. You can have as many as you like." He stood up. "I can make you one that looks like a little cottage. I saw that on the communication box I have. It's a popular design."

"That would be cool," I said. I didn't care if it was fancy or not. Just that my mate wanted to make it for me was everything. He didn't need to. There were many much easier options out there. "If you want, we can get those pre-built ones from the store. They're not half bad. I mean, really, chickens just need a little place to have some shelter, and after that they can free-range. And before anyone says anything, I know… I'm a wolf."

Marcus giggled, probably sensing where I was going with all this.

"I promise not to eat them. They would be safe in our yard, wouldn't they?"

Apollo nodded.

"I guess what I am saying is I don't need fancy."

"But I would like to provide fancy." My mate tilted his head to the side slightly. "We can discuss how fancy later."

"Oh, cool," I said excitedly. "I can't wait to get chickens!"