Chapter Twenty-Seven
Dara found Max sitting on the bank of the river early on the morning of their last day in River Den. Seth and Hunter had shifted and gone to patrol the boundary of the den. So they said, anyway. Dara suspected they were doing some training. Seth was still getting used to his new ability to shift and how that fit in with his fighting skills. He’d have liked to join them but knew neither alpha would want to risk it given his condition.
“Mind if I join you?”
Max had a dark look on his face, one that faded on hearing Dara’s voice. But what didn’t fade were the gray circles under his eyes.
“Of course. I could do with a distraction.”
Dara sat down next to him. “What’s on your mind?”
“The arena. Zane.”
He couldn’t quite hide his shudder at the alpha’s name. Even knowing he was gone, the fear was still there.
“I hear he’s been on your mind too,” Max added.
Dara shrugged. “He’s dead. That’s the important thing.”
Max wrapped a hand around his shoulder and Dara shifted closer. “That doesn’t just make it all go away. The memories are there. The feelings.”
Now that they were close, Dara could see the strain on Max’s face. What had happened had taken its toll on them both. But though Dara had had mountains of distraction thanks to Skye, Seth, and the Cove, Max hadn’t had the same. The memories were weighing them both down but it was just easier to see with Max.
“I keep getting flashes of memory. Of the arena. Or the lighthouse. Zane’s face. Angry, furious, enraged.”
“He can’t hurt you anymore,” Max assured him.
“It wasn’t me I was scared for. It was you.”
Max turned so they were face to face and Dara continued.
“I thought he was going to kill you. And I wasn’t sure I could stop him.”
“But you did. You did what you had to do to protect me. And I never stopped fighting for our freedom.”
Max looked away toward the water. “In my sleep, I’m still fighting. Sometimes when I wake up, I think I’m still there.”
“Is that why you’re not sleeping? Ollie said he’d seen you walking around at night.”
Max shrugged. “When I can’t get back to sleep, it’s easier to keep moving.”
Dara took Max’s hand, holding it between two of his. “I’m here for you, Max. Whatever you need. We’ll get through this, together.”
But his brother pulled away. “No, Dara. You have a mate now. A new family. A pack. A baby and a litter on the way. You need them and they need you.”
“Max…”
“I’ll be okay. I have the den and our brothers.”
Max changed the subject and Dara let it rest, though he continued to mull over it. Since getting Max out of the arena, he’d been so distracted with life that they hadn’t had the kind of time they needed. Time to talk, to come to terms with what they’d been through. He knew that was part of why he was struggling so much since the pregnancy and that was why Max was in a downward spiral.
He thought about it all that day and long into the evening. He and Seth were due to return home to the Cove the next morning. But Dara couldn’t leave Max like this.
“Something on your mind?” Seth asked him during dinner.
“Huh?”
“You seem distracted. And not your normal ‘where did I leave my shoes’ distracted. You seem really far away.”
“I’ve been thinking.”
Seth smiled at him across the table. “If you were anyone else, I might worry. But you’re pretty good at this thinking lark.”
“I can’t go back with you to the Cove.”
Seth’s face fell and Dara saw him struggle to manage his emotions. He knew it had hit his mate hard when the alpha struggled to get even a word out.
“Do you need more time with your brothers? I can understand that. Plus, you have to get all the parenting tips from Cade. I’ll call my mom and tell her we’re staying a few more days.” Seth gave him a confused smile.
“No.” He kept his words short. “You should go back as planned. I’m not sure how long I’ll be.”
Seth’s smile became a sad frown. “I don’t understand. Has something happened?”
“The den is my home. I… I need to be here.” For Max. He had to make sure his brother was okay.
“Okay,” Seth nodded. “For how long? Are we talking days or weeks or…”
“I don’t know.”
Seth nodded again, his gaze on the table, his food forgotten. “Where is this coming from, Dara? We were doing okay. I thought we were, anyway.”
Dara felt tears escape, slipping down his cheeks. He wiped them away. “There’s just been so much going on. Skye and your Dad and our mating and the pregnancy. Everything all at once and I can’t…” He pushed away from the table, picking up Skye and clambering to his feet. “I need some air.”
Seth sat at the table, stunned into silence long after Dara left. When he did get up, stumbling outside into the twilight, he wasn’t sure where he was going. Should he follow Dara, even though the omega had made it clear he wanted space?
He chose to make his way to Cade and Hunter’s house instead, knocking and slipping inside at the hushed call of Hunter’s voice.
“Hey,” his cousin greeted. “Cade’s just getting our last holdout settled. Do you want a…” Hunter paused when he caught sight of Seth’s face. “What is it? Has something happened?”
“Hunter, I think I messed up.” His emotions were a jumble and that must have shown on his face.
“Hold on,” his cousin said, popping his head into the nursery and speaking to his mate. He was back seconds later. “Come on, let’s go find somewhere quiet to talk.”
They walked out, Seth following silently as Hunter led them away from the village, across a bridge and through a field knee high with grass. The moon was out, casting them in a ghostly twilight.
They stopped at the edge of the forest, where the stump of a tree and a fallen tree trunk provided seats.
“What happened?”
Seth shook his head and forced out some words. There was only one reason he could think of that his mate would have said what he did.
“I think Dara has come to his senses.”
“What?” Hunter leaned toward him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I think he’s realized that he doesn’t want a mate, doesn’t want to be part of the Cove, doesn’t want me.”
Unable to keep still, he got to his feet and paced.
“I mean, it makes total sense. He’d just given birth, he was terrified for his brother. He latched on to me because I was the closest unattached alpha. He wanted Max safe and I wanted to rescue Lucas. Offering to mate with me makes total sense from that perspective. It gave us the edge we needed. But now… now he’s seeing the reality of the situation. Seeing me for who I am.”
“Seth.” Hunter was suddenly standing in front of him, his hands on Seth’s shoulders. “What happened?”
Seth told him, his words halting.
“And you think this means he doesn’t want to go back with you? That he doesn’t want to be your mate anymore?”
“He told me he wasn’t coming back and he didn’t give me any indication that that decision was going to change anytime soon. He’s been struggling, Hunter. Things seemed better this week. I’d thought it was Zane and the memories, but what if it was me and our mating? What if he felt forced, by the circumstances? What if he only mated with me so that I’d rescue Max?” He turned away. “God, just the thought of it makes me sick.”
“Yeah,” Hunter said. “Because it’s all wrong.”
Seth glanced back at him.
“I think you’ve got this all twisted around, Seth. Cade and Ollie believe Dara is mad about you. Hell, I can see it myself, no omega powers needed.”
“Then why won’t he come home?”
“I think maybe that’s something you need to ask him, don’t you?”