“Let’s not get too upset yet, fluffy. And we’re mates now. At some point, you’ll want to leave regardless, right?”
Eyes darting to the matching mark on my neck, he blushed. “I hadn’t thought that far ahead.”
“And you don’t have to, yet. One step at a time.”
Wyatt nodded, snuggling back down against me. “Justin said to call him after... well, after. And I feel like I need to reassure Craig that I’m all right.”
“Is he the snappy omega who didn’t like me?”
“I don’t think he doesn’t like you... Maybe he just doesn’t like alphas?”
“That’s understandable.”
“I don’t understand him at all... but I think he felt protective of me, and I want him to know I’m okay. Better than okay.”
“Well, if we don’t get moving soon, I don’t know how long it’s going to take me to climb out of this bed. I like lying here with you too much.”
“Me too.” The smile in Wyatt’s voice was evident.
Managing to move took us another hour.
“Of course we’re not going to fire you.” Justin settled behind his desk in a surprisingly simple office. The desk was serviceable and not much more, without the giant “I’m the boss” vibe most managers or owners seemed to favor, even among non-profits.
Chance had joined the meeting, and he looked at least half as relieved as I felt at Justin’s proclamation.
“You can’t manipulate fate. You can’t thwart her forever. Going after Wyatt once you scented him was the most logical thing you could have done, even if it felt like there was no logic at all in the decision. I see you’ve exchanged mating bites. Congratulations.”
I squeezed Wyatt’s hand and we gave each other quiet smiles. “It just sort of happened.”
“It generally does.” Justin’s smile was paternal. “You’re mated now, and I can see you feel comfortable with each other. What are your plans? Do you want to move right in, Wyatt? Or are you planning on taking things a little more slowly?”
“Wyatt has only been here a couple of days,” Chance said.
Justin nodded. “Complications upon complications, but only if we allow them to be so. Wyatt? Jordan? Have you discussed any of this?”
I glanced to Wyatt to answer, but his head was bowed, and he clutched tightly at my hand. “We haven’t. We wanted to see what you had to say before we decided anything.”
“If I can offer a suggestion?” Chance’s shoulders were tight, belying his otherwise open stance. “I know it will be hard to be separated, but I think it would be wise for Wyatt to stay at The Haven Center for at least another month. Now, if that doesn’t work for you two, he can still attend counseling and classes separately even if he’s living off campus, but I do think he’d benefit from the full experience.”
“Well, since I still have a job, I work nights. I don’t know how Wyatt feels about staying at my house alone at night, but I know I’d feel more comfortable having him on campus, particularly if I’m on patrol and know I can keep an eye out for him.”
Justin turned to my mate. Would that phrase ever get old? “Wyatt?”
“I don’t think I’d like being alone at night.”
“That seems like a fairly simple answer, then. On nights when Jordan is working, you’ll stay here on campus. Of course you can sign yourself out when he’s not working. This isn’t a prison. We only track where residents go so that if there is an issue on campus, we don’t freak about them not being here when they’re perfectly safe.”
I really liked this plan. I could watch over Wyatt on my work nights and my nights off. And he could still do... whatever it was he’d come to The Haven Center to do. Heal. Learn. Grow. There was so much we had to talk about. So much about him I didn’t know yet.
But we had time for that.
Chance’s shoulders relaxed. “That settles that, then.”
“I’m sorry I’ve caused so much trouble,” Wyatt said softly.
“You haven’t been any trouble,” Justin said quickly and firmly. “We are here to help you through things like this. You had a natural reaction to a stressful situation and it ended well. There’s nothing to be upset about. Now, I like Chance’s suggestion of committing to a month more here at The Haven Center, but I don’t want either of you to get hung up on that time frame. If Wyatt needs more or less, we’ll adjust as needed. Okay?”
We all nodded in agreement.
“Jordan, I’ve got Eric