Ready or Knot (Knotted Paths #1) - Susi Hawke Page 0,16
fully dressed now, muscles straining the ability of his shirt to cover them. Clearly, the shirt had been forgotten in his locker for a while, from a time when he was smaller.
I thumped my tail in agreement. I liked Chance, but he still smelled too alpha for me to feel comfortable.
Jordan was still an alpha… he was all alpha. But he was home. He was mine. And he said I was his mate… but we barely knew each other. I’d heard stories of true mates as a child, but that was all fairy tales. If fairy tales could be true, though, I suspected they’d feel like what I felt right now.
Jordan scooped me up easily. Rather than laying me in the back seat of the golf cart by myself, he sat first, settling me comfortably half on his lap.
Exhaustion settled on me. All I wanted was to be home, in my nice bed, with Jordan as my pillow.
It was a sign of my sleepiness that such a thought didn’t startle me.
“I’ll carry him in,” Jordan insisted. He lifted me and stood beside the cart.
Chance grimaced. “But protocol says…”
“Let the boy carry him in,” said a shorter, older man, an omega, judging by his soft scent. I hadn’t noticed him before, but I’d heard his voice thanking the cops. “Wyatt’s clearly comfortable with him. And do you think I can lift him as easily? Go ahead and warn Craig and Hunter before we come in.”
What would Craig and Hunter think of my nighttime adventure? I curled my tail. Craig would probably think it was a good thing he’d left early. If we’d gone together, he would have been the one chasing after me, not Jordan. Maybe. It was hard to imagine Craig chasing anyone or anything. Either way, he would have been stuck dealing with my disappearance.
“I’m Justin, by the way,” the older omega said with a soft, warming smile. It reminded me of Chance’s gentleness, but with a little less bounce behind it. “Justin Perkins. It’s nice to meet you, Wyatt.”
How was I supposed to greet him in wolf form? Whining, I shook my tail.
Justin laughed. “Don’t worry about the awkwardness, son. In my experience, it’s best to accept situations as they are and walk right through them. Or charge right through them, if you’re my mate. But he’s more of a ‘shoot first, ask questions later’ kind of guy. I prefer the calmer approach, especially around here.”
“Come on in!” Chance called from the townhouse porch.
Justin pulled himself from the cart. “Come on, son. Let’s get you settled. You’ve had a big night.”
Craig’s glare was on full blast as we entered the dining area. Arms crossed. Headphones around his neck.
Crap. I’d really pissed him off, hadn’t I?
“What the fuck happened?”
Hunter sat at the table with a washcloth, wiping the same length over and over as he bit his lip, darting worried glances my way.
Jordan’s chest puffed out and stretched. “The thunderstorm scared him.”
“The thunderstorm’s gone now, and he hasn’t shifted back. Something else is going on.”
Oh… Craig’s glare wasn’t actually pointed at me… it was pointed at Jordan.
“He’s been through a lot.” Jordan kept his voice even and low, but with an edge of defensiveness and anger not present earlier.
“Of course he has. It didn’t help to have an untrained alpha chasing him through the woods at night.”
I whined in protest. Yeah, Jordan pursuing me had been scary, but only because I didn’t know who he was. What he was. If he hadn’t followed me, I didn’t know where I would have ended up.
Justin stepped between us. “Craig, the important thing is Wyatt is home safe, right?”
Craig coughed, looking away from him. Interesting that he had no problem going up against a big alpha like Jordan, but a few words from this older omega had him bowing his head.
“We need to get Wyatt cleaned up and in bed. He’s having trouble shifting, and he’s injured, which is why Jordan is carrying him.”
“Whatever.” Craig kicked his heel against the wall. “We can handle it from here.”
Jordan tightened his fingers and pulled my fur a little too much. “I think it’s best if I stay to help him.”
“We can handle it.”
Before the two could fully lock into a staring match, Justin intervened, turning his back to Craig. “Wyatt, it’s up to you. We can stay and help, or we can go. What would you prefer?”
Why didn’t one of them shift so I could talk to them for real? There was the undressing