Chapter Twelve

Dakota

When Cardian and I crawled back into bed, I hadn't planned on falling asleep. If it was still mid-morning for my mate I wanted to stay up with him for at least a little while longer. Only, wrapped up in his arms and surrounded by his scent, I was warm and safe, and sleep lulled me under.

I woke up with Cardian still wrapped around me and my omegahole gushing for his attention. His breathing was slow, but not slow enough to be asleep. I twisted in his arms to face him.

"Shhh…" he cooed to me. "You can go back to sleep. It's only been a few hours."

"No, I can't," I shook my head.

"Yes, you can," he laughed.

"What have you been doing this whole time?" I yawned.

"Watching over you."

"I think our sleep schedules are opposites," I frowned.

"I don't need that much sleep. They'll line up soon enough."

"Will you miss the night?" I asked, nuzzling into his chest, my eyelids heavy despite how slick and hard I was.

"The night isn't going anywhere," he whispered back.

I wiggled my hips trying to find a position that let me touch as much of him as possible without squishing my dick.

"Okay, but then you're going back to sleep. You're not staying up all night and then running in circles to help my brother and his mate all day," Cardian whispered as his fingers found my dick and wrapped around it.

His fist moved slow and steady, but as hard as I was, it only took a few minutes of his attention to make me curl my toes and bite my lip, as I came into a towel that escaped the bathroom with us after our shower earlier. When I was flaccid again, he kissed the top of my head.

"Now, get some sleep, mate. You're gonna need it."

Cardian didn't have to tell me twice. Sleep pulled me back under and when I woke to the morning light peeking through the blind slats, he was out cold like most vampires who lived on a night schedule would've been. I wiggled out from under his arm or at least I tried to. As I wiggled and squirmed, his grip around me tightened as if someone were trying to pull me away from him.

I paused for a second. My wolf wagged his tail. Even in his sleep, Cardian didn't want to let us go. I smiled and stayed there for a little bit longer. My ears strained to hear the rest of the house. Scott and Terrick were already up. The coffee pot percolated in the kitchen, a fork moved against a plate, and the shower ran.

I hugged Cardian's arm close to my chest and let my mind wander for a moment. What would our lives together look like? How did he take his coffee? Did he even drink it? Would he drink from me? I didn't think I'd mind. Though, I'd been friends with enough vampires to know blood drinking usually happened the other way around omegas from their Alphas. Though, I didn't have to drink blood at all. So, what would it hurt? The thought of his fangs grazing over the back of my neck sent a chill shimmying down my back. The chill reminded me that I had to pee.

On my second attempt, I managed to twist around and face Cardian. His face was relaxed in sleep, mouth slightly open, the tips of his fangs visible. He slept hard. I didn't want to wake him up. I wiggled slower, trying to work my way out of his grasp. He pulled me closer in his sleep, nearly knocking my head into his chin.

"Alpha," I broke down and said.

"Huh?" he muttered without opening his eyes.

"I need to pee," I whispered.

He nodded but didn't budge up.

"Alpha," I whispered again.

"Mine. Shhhhh…." he murmured.

"Cardian," I tried.

"Mine," he hugged me closer and kissed the top of my head. "Light out. Sleep."

"Cardian," I laughed, despite how much it shook up my bladder.

"Mine."

"Yes, I'm yours, but I have to pee. Cardian. Alpha."

"Huh?" he blinked his eyes opened and smiled as his gaze focused on me.

"I need to get up for a second," I told him.

"Oh," he looked sad for a second and glanced over at the window. "It's time to get up already?"

"Morning comes early when you stay up all night watching me sleep," I said and stole a quick good morning kiss before wiggling out from under his arm before he fell back to sleep.

Cardian

I frowned at the sunlight coming through the blinds. How the hell did morning get here so soon? I yawned and considered sitting up. The switch from night to day living wasn't going to be as easy as I thought. My eyes drifted shut as the water turned on at the sink and I imagined Dakota washing his hands and brushing his teeth. Later, I'd run my hands all over his body again. Later today, I'd claim him as mine now and forever. The longer my mate took in the bathroom, the heavier my eyelids grew.

When I opened them again the scent of ground beef frying wafted into the bedroom. Who the hell had burgers from breakfast? I knew wolves loved their protein, but this was overkill. I rolled over patting around for Dakota, but he wasn't in the bed. The sun had changed position outside the blinds. Noon? Noon-ish? Not morning or evening at least. I yawned and pushed myself upright.

I glanced around for my bag. I wasn't about to walk out naked and give Scott a shock and Terrick something to joke about. My duffle bag lay empty across the dresser. Had someone come in and taken my clothes? I yawned again and sniffed the air. It didn't smell like coffee anymore as it had when I passed out for the last time.

Midafternoon sun or not, I didn't actually want to get out of bed. I took a breath, ready to call Dakota back to bed, but stopped myself. I had to make the switch if I was going to live in Heartville. Were we going to live in Heartville? Would Dakota come back with me once the pups were old enough? Did I want to take him back there? Did he want to take me back to Mage Street with him? I shook my head and forced myself to sit up. My mate and I had plenty to talk about, but first I had to find out where my pants were.

None of the clothes we discarded the night before lingered on the floor. Of course, Dakota had taken it upon himself to clean up. Then it only made sense that he'd put our clothes away too. The closet door was ajar. So, I started there. He'd color coded my shirts alongside his. A quick glance said he owned more colors than I did and I favored blacks, dark reds, and greys. Shrugging, I grabbed a pair of slacks and one of the black t-shirts. I tossed them on the bed and turned my attention to the dresser.

The first drawer was full of underwear. Not socks and underwear, just underwear. Dakota had a collection ranging from boxer briefs to thongs and G-strings. I ran my fingers over the material, imagining how he might look in each pair. My dick was more awake than my brain and rose to the thoughts that crossed my mind. I brought a black G-string up to sniff. The fabric was soft and smelled like lavender laundry detergent. Whatever Dakota used to do laundry didn't leave a trace of his scent behind.

The door opened and I dropped the underwear as I turned to see Dakota. Well, this was going to be awkward.

"Morning," he blinked at me, holding a tray with two plates of burgers and fries.

A bloodshake and a can of some soda I didn't recognize sat between the plates.

"I don't think those will fit you, Alpha," he smirked. "You can try them on, though."

"Sorry, I was looking for my clothes," I said and somehow managed not to stammer over the words flooding out of my mouth.

"It's okay. Yours are in there. The left corner. You didn't bring much with you, did you?" Dakota asked, setting the food down on the nightstand.

"I'm not a collector like you," I grinned, ignoring his underwear and grabbing a pair of my own black boxer shorts.

"I'm not a collector, per say. I just buy a few pairs every time I have the occasion to clothes shop. They add up after a while," Dakota said, crossing the room to scoop down and rescue his black G-string.

"I'm not complaining, mate," I said, stepping into my underwear.

"I hope not. They're not going anywhere," he laughed, shutting the drawer. "Socks are in the next one down along with your undershirts If you need them."

"Thanks," I said.

Now that my mate was back in the room, I couldn't stop grinning. His scent wrapped around me and the fabric hugging my dick reminded me of just how hard I already was. I pulled on a shirt, but didn't bother with the slacks as we sat down, with our backs against the headboards to eat.

"Thank you for putting everything away," I said.

"Not a problem. Scott's slept most of the day so far. So he didn't really need much help. Oh, but I did put on a pot of coffee before coming in here. I wasn't sure if you drank it. Terrick said you probably didn't."

"He would say that," I chuckled.

"Was it a lie?" Dakota asked.

"No, I do drink it, but he'd have no way of knowing that. I haven't lived in Mother's house since before he was born. I don't drink coffee there, because whichever one of her mates or maids or whoever makes it doesn't use enough coffee. It's like dirty water."

"I have an espresso machine when my stuff gets here," Dakota offered up. "We'll have to set it up in here as not to tempt Scott since he can't drink that right now."

"You probably won't be able to soon either," I said and kicked myself as soon as the words were out of my mouth. "Shit, sorry. We haven't had the kids discussion yet. I jumped the gun on that one."

Dakota didn't say anything. When I glanced over at him, all the blood had rushed to his face, causing him to blush. His heart skipped a beat when our gazes met.

"Sorry," I said again.

"No, don't be," he shook his head and averted his gaze to his plate.

"I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

His scent wasn't mad or sad. He smelled flustered, but also confused and ---

"How do you have so many emotions at once, mate? Your brain is going to explode," I said, setting my plate aside and reaching for his hand.

"I always have," he chuckled. "Most people don't try to sniff them all out at once."

"You're my mate. I want to know how you're feeling and that was a jackass thing for me to say."

"Not really," he shook his head.

"You smell otherwise."

"I'm not upset," he said.

"Then what are you?" I asked.

"Horny. Trying to think in a straight line which is a nigh impossible task around you. Trying to imagine what our children might look like. Trying to figure out the timeline so I won't be too pregnant while Scott is still pregnant. Counting days since my last birth control shot – it's hit or miss right now. My next shot would've been three days from now. Thinking of how many bloodshakes I should make in advance if we're going to spend the rest of the day in bed. Wondering if I could learn to live on a night schedule if we went back to your coven. Wondering if you want to. Horny again because I know you're still hard. Wondering if your mother is going to send a totally different guard now that I'm distracting you. Wondering if Scott will be okay with that. Will Terrick? Will you?"

"We're okay," I said. "I don't think she'll send anyone else. All the omegas here in Heartville keep stealing us. She can't afford to lose all her guards to the wolves."

Dakota laughed and some of the tension left his shoulders.

"I'm here to help too. If you and Scott are both too pregnant to handle something, Terrick and I are capable. As to where we should live, I don't know."

"I don't have a living family," Dakota blurted out. "You do."

"And if we live away from them there is such a thing as holidays and vacations. You came all the way here to help Scott. You may not have living blood family, but you do have a family here," I said.

Dakota nodded, but his scent hid something he worried about.

"What is it?" I asked, taking his hand and entwining our fingers.

"You like being awake at night," he said.

"I'm not sure if I like it or if it's what I'm used to," I admitted. "Am I still a bit tired? Yes. Is my body fighting against changing schedules? Yes. Will I ever be a morning person? Probably not unless there's danger. Does that mean I'm not going to switch? Absolutely not. It might take a while but I'll get there."

"It's my job to worry about you. I don't want you sleep deprived. I went through a few months of that while I attended the academy. It's not fun."

"I'm not sleep deprived. I slept, just not when I was used to sleeping," I said, squeezing his hand. "Do you want to say here in Heartville?"

"Yes," he said, without skipping a beat. "That's why I brought everything with me. Scott's here. Blithe is here. Blithe is his older brother and he used to be my neighbor. A lot of big names in the study of magic are here and you'll soon find out magic is my baby."

"I look forward to learning more about you and your magic, mate," I brought his hand up to kiss. "Now, finish your lunch before I'm worried about you."

"Drink your blood," Dakota teased as our hands slipped apart.