Chapter Ten
Ronan thought Noah had handled his first meeting with Griffin pretty well, all things considered. He knew that Griffin was skeptical given what Ronan had told him about Noah’s origins. And he had to agree that the omega didn’t sound promising on paper. But once you got past that and actually saw him, he felt there was more to Noah than met the eye.
He led Noah along a corridor that took them through to the other side of the house where his rooms were. Happy to be home, he was looking forward to a long shower, a good night’s sleep, and spending some time getting to know his omega.
“Where are we going?” Noah asked as Ronan moved him quickly along the corridors.
“To my rooms.”
“Your rooms?”
“The part of the house I live in. Where we just were is Griffin’s wing. I live on the other side of the house.”
It was in part by design, so the two most senior pack members were at either end of the house. If trouble ever came calling, there was a better chance of them surviving it if they weren’t caught unawares together.
They arrived at a door, and Ronan pulled his keys from his pocket, unlocking it and letting it swing open.
“Go ahead,” he said, urging Noah to step inside. The omega stumbled forward, clearly exhausted but still managing to stay on his feet.
Ronan followed after him, closing and bolting the door from the inside. It was more a suggestion that he didn’t want company than a real deterrent. There wasn’t a shifter in the house who wouldn’t have been able to break it down easily. Except maybe Noah. The omega didn’t even seem to notice the bolt sliding into place, too busy leaning tiredly against the wall, one hand clutching Ronan’s jacket closed.
Walking past him, Ronan snagged his arm and tugged him after him, making a beeline for the bedroom. He let go of Noah at the door and stepped inside, his hands moving to his T-shirt, drawing it up and off his head.
His jeans were next, and he kicked the heavy material away, turning to Noah. The omega was huddled in the doorway staring at him with wide-eyes. It wasn’t the lust and desire Ronan had expected, more a glaze of confusion and fear.
“Get undressed.”
The omega let out a sound that might have been a squeak as Ronan pulled off his boxers and socks, gathered his clothes up and dumped them in the laundry basket.
When he glanced over his shoulder, Noah had taken his jacket off, laying it carefully down on the dresser. His hands were on his T-shirt, but he made no move to take it off.
Ronan stepped closer. Noah looked like a deer in headlights, and he didn’t have the faintest clue why.
“You want to… now?” Noah asked suddenly.
“Want to what?”
Ronan grabbed his jacket and tossed it into the basket too. “As a rule, I don’t usually wear a lot of clothes in here. Kind of gets in the way when you’re shifting back and forth. I expect you’ll do the same.”
Noah went pale at that, and Ronan took a half-step toward him, wondering if he was about to pass out. The omega’s hand reached for the back of his neck before he stopped himself. Then, with what looked like a lot of effort, he grasped his T-shirt and drew it over his head. He didn’t look comfortable or excited, just scared. Something Ronan needed to get to the bottom of.
“Noah?”
He waited until the omega was looking at him, taking in how he was holding his T-shirt to his chest like a shield.
“Why do you think I brought you here?”
Bewildered eyes met his. “For sex?”
“If I wanted sex, I’d go out, buy some shifter a few drinks and maybe a nice meal, make a night of it.”
Noah blinked and tried again. “Lots of sex?”
Ronan snorted. “Well, yeah, that comes part and parcel of the whole alpha-omega thing. But that’s not the reason you’re here.”
Stepping closer, he grasped the T-shirt, tugging it free from Noah’s hands and setting it aside. He leaned in, his lips ghosting just above Noah’s ear. “I want a mate.”
Noah shot him a look of betrayal as he stumbled backward until his back was pressed to the door.
“I… I can’t give you that. You know that. You’ve seen my scars. The sex I can give to you, and I will. I like you, and you’re just one alpha and not a dozen different alphas every night. But I can’t be a mate, even if I wanted to.”
Ronan could see they had more than a crossed wire or two.
“Noah-”
“You… you haven’t even seen all of it,” the omega whispered, his hands scrunched into fists by his sides. His words hit Ronan like a punch to the stomach. He was used to dealing with angry people, with crazy people. Not so much with fearful, distressed omegas who’d been put through the wringer.
Before he could get a word in, Noah turned his back to him, crossing his arms and bending his head. The scars ran across the back of his neck, down along his right shoulder and swung left down his back, disappearing under the waistband of his pants. He ached to touch them, to soothe Noah’s fears with the press of his hand, but he knew there was as good a chance that the omega would flinch away or fight him off as there was that he’d accept a gentle touch.
“Sit down, Noah. On the bed.”
The other shifter hurried to obey him, scurrying across the room, and pausing in front of the bed for a moment before he turned and perched right on the edge. He looked like a bird ready to take flight.
Ronan took a breath and let it out, then crossed the room and stood in front of Noah.
“I’m sorry that that happened to you, and I hope, one day, when you’re ready, you’ll tell me about it. But, for right now, there’s something I’d like you to see.”
So saying, he put his back to Noah and knelt on the floor, bending his head forward. He heard a gasp and felt the omega lean forward to look at the back of his neck. The tattoos on his skin blended with his scars, so well that most people didn’t see them unless they got real close. And Ronan didn’t let just anyone get that close to him.
“We all have scars, Noah. Some are just a little easier to see, that’s all.”
He waited, hoping Noah would be brave enough to take the initiative but suspecting he wouldn’t. He was proved wrong a heartbeat later, when soft fingers tentatively settled on his shoulder where his tattoos began, trailing along them until they came to the nape of his neck. Noah went slower over the scars, but Ronan knew he could feel the slight lines and ridges that remained. His scars had a very different cause and held a different meaning to Noah’s. One day soon, he hoped they would trade stories, a shared hurt that might bring them closer.
Noah’s hand slipped away, and Ronan glanced at him over his shoulder. There was still confusion in his eyes but also a thoughtfulness that cut through his earlier panic. When the omega hunched his shoulders and shivered, Ronan got to his feet, crossing the room to his dresser. Anything in there would easily swamp the smaller man, but if staying hidden under clothes helped Noah feel comfortable, then Ronan would go with it, for now at least. One step at a time. Rome wasn’t built in a day and all that jazz.
“Here,” he said, returning with a pair of sweats and a T-shirt. “They won’t exactly fit right but they’ll keep you warm.”
“Thanks,” Noah offered as he took them, pulling the T-shirt quickly over his head.
Ronan stepped through to the bathroom and closed the door. When he returned, Noah had switched his jeans for the sweatpants and was busy trying to roll up the legs so he could walk. He disappeared into the bathroom, returning a few minutes later looking suspiciously cleaner from the neck up.
“We can shower after we get some sleep,” Ronan said, feeling how weary his wolf was beneath his skin. It had been a long week. Chasing a bounty was always like that, and he relished getting home, back to somewhere he could chill out. And now he had someone to chill out with, if he could get him to calm down for long enough to try.
Noah seemed to be looking for somewhere else to sleep, his eyes glancing everywhere except at the bed. Too bad. Ronan picked him up and set him down in the center of the bed before climbing in next to him.
“Sleep,” he insisted before Noah could speak. “I’ve got your back.”
Between them, they pulled the covers up.
“Back or side?” Ronan asked. “Or are you a stomach sleeper?”
“Side,” Noah said with a yawn.
That made it easy. He urged Noah onto his side and settled behind him, close but not crowding him. Noah glanced at him over his shoulder and even managed a shy smile.
“Comfortable?”
The omega nodded.
Ronan reached up a hand to the switch on the wall and flicked the lights off, throwing the room into darkness. There was a hint of daylight peeking through the curtains, but it wasn’t enough to keep either of them up.
Noah fell asleep first, Ronan still wrestling with his thoughts. Getting Noah to Briar House was only half the battle. Now that he had him there, would he be able to hold onto him?