Page 54 of The Bull's Head

Yes! Byk wanted that. He wanted to cuddle with Teddy again. To be embraced by those big arms, to be held. Damn it, he wanted to love Teddy! To show him he could be a good mate. He would be the best mate ever.

Faggot. Goddamn wimp.

Connor’s voice. Again. Why was he hearing it? Why was this hatred still haunting him?

“I want a family, Byk. With you. I mean, if that’s something you think you want. I don’t know. I understand I’m throwing things at you that you might not be ready for now. Or maybe ever. It might be stupid of me to even bring it up. I never knew I’d have a mate, never realized a family was a possibility, and now it’s all I can think of.”

A family? With Teddy? Oh, that would be so perfect. Byk had often thought he could make a good father. He was patient and kind, and he loved with his whole heart. To be allowed to help raise a child, especially with a man he knew he loved? The Maker was giving Byk a life, one he wanted, especially after losing out on so much of it to start with.

“And I know it’s not fair of me to tell you this, especially now. It’s just… Gwyneth says you might not get better, but I say that’s bullshit. No pun intended.”

Not get better? Never have the chance to be Teddy’s mate? No! That wasn’t happening. Not now, not ever. He wasn’t sure who Gwyneth was, but she was wrong. He was Teddy’s Byk, his mate. And nothing would keep them apart.

“You have to get better, Byk. Now that I’ve tasted you, touched you, I don’t think I can go back to a life without you. And I know I’m putting pressure on you, I do, but I want you to come back so you can tell me to screw off or say that my plans don’t mesh with yours. I don’t care if you tell me you don’t want to be with me, just so you come back to do it. Please, I’m begging you, don’t die on me.”

Teddy’s sadness smacked Byk in the face. Of course he wanted to help Teddy fulfill that dream! Nothing would mean more to him than to show Teddy how much love Byk had in his heart. How the two of them could be together, raise a family, have a life.

“Please, don’t take him from me. I’m not ready to let him go. There are so many things about him I want to spend a lifetime learning. You gave him to me for a reason. I’m begging you not to see if I can survive his death, because I assure you, I can’t. He’s already planted seeds in my heart, and they’re blossoming. If you take him from me, the flowers and my heart will wither and die.”

The fog lifted somewhat. Byk could smell Teddy now, his sweet scent filling Byk, revitalizing him. He wanted desperately to pull Teddy into a hug, to love him like he never thought possible.

He opened his eyes, then blinked against the harsh lights. “Teddy?” When Teddy’s sweet face appeared, Byk smiled. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Teddy whispered, his voice giving out on him. He leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on Byk’s lips. “Welcome back.”

“Back? Was I gone?” He tried to sit up, but Teddy put a hand on his chest.

“Stay still. You’re still hooked up to several machines.” Then he looked to the side. “Can you get Dr. Hamilton and Gwyneth, please? Tell them Byk is awake.”

Footsteps retreated quickly.

“What’s going on?” Byk asked.

“You’re in the infirmary,” Teddy replied. “Do you remember any of what happened?”

He tried to think, but there was nothing. A vague sense that something was missing, but nothing concrete he could point to. “No, not really.”

Teddy leaned in again and brushed their cheeks together. “It’ll be okay. I promise. Just stay still until they come to check on you.”

A moment later, another face appeared. “Dr. Hamilton?”

“Oh, Callum, you had us so worried,” she said, her eyes tired and her lips drawn and thin.

“Why? What’s going on?”

“Hi, Callum, my name is Gwyneth. It’s a pleasure to meet you finally.”

Everyone was calling him Callum, and even though it was what they’d always called him, it sounded so wrong. “My name is Byk.”

Gwyneth smiled. “Then Byk it shall be.”

“Will someone please tell me what’s going on?”

“What’s the last thing you remember?”

His head throbbed as he thought back. “We… were out and looking at a sweatshirt. It was blue, I think. I wanted to get it and… I don’t remember.”

“When was this?”

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