His Mute Luna
Chapter 24

June

I didn’t believe my brother for one minute.

I really didn’t want to leave him at all like this but if I pushed, Tom would just become increasingly defensive and shut me out even further. There was no way he was ‘fine’. I had only been with Morgan a few days and I could already feel the mate bond’s hold on me. There was no way I could handle being apart from him for two days, let alone two years.

Climbing back in Morgan’s car, my heart felt so heavy and in turn that was affecting my mate…and I had forgotten my pie dish!

“Hang on a second, I forgot something,” I typed and quickly got out.

I opened the front door quietly, thinking Tom would be heading to bed but froze when I saw him sat with his head buried in his hands. The quiet sniffle I heard was enough to break my heart.

Dammit Tom, why do you always have to hold everything in?

I knelt in front of him and gently pried his hands away to reveal his slightly red rimmed eyes that looked shocked and a little mortified. I had never seen my brother look this distraught before, the most emotion I had ever seen from him was when we were reunited at the hospital. The guy was so frustratingly male, keeping his emotions to himself and trying to deal with things alone. He didn’t need to be alone in this. Even though he could aggravate me more than anyone on the planet sometimes, it would never stop me from helping him in anything he needed; whether that would be a swift punch, burying a body for him or just giving him a supportive hug…and since I couldn’t bury that Alpha…I slipped my arms around his waist and squeezed tight, hoping just this once he would let someone in and stop holding back. He returned the hug instantly, burying his head into my neck.

I didn’t feel any dampness but he sniffled once before whispering, “I don’t know what to do…”

He pulled back, the shamed look in his eyes had been replaced with complete hopelessness. This must have been the first time the reality of his situation had truly sunk in. I now realised why he was always that little bit happier when he returned home from his trips and while I was sure he would have been pining away for his mate, he had probably been lost in the fantasy that he would be seeing her again soon. But actually voicing it out to someone, with no answer as to how this all ended for him had popped that fantasy, aggressively.

I pressed my forehead to his, knowing how much this gesture meant and wanting him to continue. This was the most he had ever opened up emotionally to me.

“…I’ve thought about running away with her…but that would mean leaving you here alone and I know Matías would track us down anyway. If she runs here, he could threaten war to make her return. And I know I could never challenge him, he’d kill me before I even moved. She’s worth so much more than a mate like me…”

Tom didn’t deserve any of this. He didn’t deserve to be made to feel like this. He was rough around the edges but there wasn’t a kinder, sweeter or more patient guy than him.

I cupped his face to bring his eyes up to meet mine, “I don’t know how we’ll solve this, but you’re not on your own. Even if all the help I can offer is to watch Tipper more so you and Beth can sneak round, I’ll do it. But don’t you dare start thinking you’re not good enough! You’re the best and I’m not hearing anything else. Now, where the hell is my pie dish before I forget it again.”

He leant back laughing, his whole torso shaking and his features lighting up from their previous despair.

“Such a f*****g goldfish,” he snorted.

My face morphed into mock rage at his insult.

“Rude b***h,” I grinned.

“Please promise me you’ll actually go to bed and not sit here stewing in a pity party all night?” I signed.

“You’re so bossy,” he chuckled. “But I will, don’t worry. Go home already, before you forget Morgan is waiting for you outside” he winced as I playfully hit him in the arm.

With a final hug, I left, with pie dish in hand this time and hopped back in my mate’s car ready to get my own self to bed.

———-

I laid against Morgan’s bare chest with his arm wrapped around my shoulders and, honestly, the heat that radiated off of him was superior to any blanket ever made. I was a little disappointed that he had opted to wear shorts to bed; I had quite enjoyed ogling his naked human body to my heart’s content this morning as he peacefully slept.

“I don’t want to go behind his back, talk to that d**k Alpha and make things worse. Your brother’s a friend, I don’t want to cost him his mate…and he’s right, our pack can’t risk a war over this” he sighed, as we talked about my brother’s situation.

I don’t know what to do either. I do know that I want to go to that Opal Sun pack and kick that Alpha in the nuts.

I didn’t like violence at all, but sometimes you just needed to slap a b***h.

“Yeah, don’t do that,” he laughed in his deep masculine tone.

“You mates don’t make things easy, do you?” I could already sense the small teasing, smile spreading across his lips.

What can I say? We like to add a dash of chaos, keeps things interesting, I turned to smile down at him.

Did you seriously call me ‘feisty cakes’? I typed, remembering what he called me earlier.

He held an exceptionally proud look on his face as he looked up at me, “I didn’t know what you were about to do, but I could already feel a whole bunch of wolves trembling in your wake!”

Maybe being around a huge buffwuff is just bringing that side out of me, I grinned.

“Buffwuff?! I’ve never heard anyone say that, ever,” I wasn’t quite sure whether he sounded amused or insulted.

Maybe not to your face, and with that I booped him on the nose, loving how his face erupted in astonishment.

Our eyes locked for a split second, his gaze so heated it had that hidden part of myself that only Morgan could wake, churning, wanting his lips everywhere. I wasn’t sure which one of us moved first as our mouths crashed together, his tongue taking control as he set the pace. I gasped as he turned us over, pressing his body’s entire length against my own. He was getting bolder, more confident with himself and I loved it. His lips and teeth moved along my jaw, gently nipping and caressing my skin with each stroke. I froze a little when he reached my neck. I had never let anyone k**s or touch there before, not wanting them to focus any attention on my scars and slightly nervous that they would find them disgusting in some way. My heart pounded at his delicate and innocent featherlight k****s skimming slowly over each scar, lovingly brushing each millimetre of skin. He reached a specific spot where my neck met my shoulder which sent a quivering shiver down my spine straight to my core, making me clench my thighs, hard. The dull ache that accompanied it reminded me of my current predicament and how I needed to put a halt on our actions before we both worked ourselves up to a disappointed finish.

I pulled away, trying to steady my breathing as he did the same, resting our foreheads against each other.

“Sorry,” he heaved. “Kinda got a little carried away.”

He tucked me into his side, burying his nose into the top of my head while I listened to his heart that still hammered slightly.

The sooner this damn period finished the better, not being able to have him how I wanted was driving me insane!

———-

There was a nip to the air this morning, but it was beautiful and clear with only a few clouds dotting the sky. Morgan had decided to take over the training scheduled for the morning that was designed for the reserve warriors and a few of the more advanced Omegas that wanted to know more than just self-defence. It was a class my brother took, so he wanted to make sure Tom was doing ok; whether my brother would actually show was another question.

My population survey along the Rogue River was progressing well and I was feeling particularly self-congratulatory at seeing the little female canvasback duck swimming with her exceptionally late clutch of ducklings. I had had a ridiculous argument with Liam in work about its identification, which ended with him silently cursing me out for the rest of the day; the guy needed to learn that it was ok to be wrong once in a while. I had sent a photo to Bea with the caption, ‘tell Liam to open up a window cos it’s gonna get smug in the office’.

Bea | Please can I tell him? I wanna look him in the eye as it starts twitching

I was about to reply when I felt a set of eyes on me. I looked up to see an incredibly tall man approaching. His appearance was too similar to Morgan’s to be a coincidence, though I hadn’t ever met him personally I knew he had to be my mate’s brother, Michael. Only he didn’t possess the same kind, warm, white eyes Morgan had, his were hard, dark brown and piercing me with their intensity. I didn’t particularly feel scared but I was definitely uneasy by how he looked at me with distrust and anger.

“Wanna tell me exactly why some human like you is throwing yourself at my brother?”