Page 46 of Free Me

“You are completely forgiven. I will never hold it against you when you share your true feelings with me. I always want you and your brother to know you can come to us when you’re upset or confused, or even if you’re angry at everything and nothing. We’re your parents. We are your first, last and forever champions, Miko.”

Miko’s eyes burned with gratitude and love—so different from all the other tears he’d shed this week. “I know. I’m sorry for being selfish.”

“Goddess, stop.” Dad gently cupped his hand beneath Miko’s chin like he used to when Miko was a child who’d woken the whole house with his nightmare, and who needed his sire’s reassurance before he’d dare sleep again. The gesture was love and protection. “Wanting your thoughts and feelings to be heard isn’t selfish. You are the least selfish person I know, and I can completely see how you thought we loved Peyton more or caredabout his feelings more, but we don’t. I know that as your parents, we aren’t always going to be the first people you want to run to with your problems, especially with you growing up. I just hope you talk to your friends about the things you hold back from us.”

“I do. Well, kind of.”

“Kind of?” Dad dropped his hand and frowned. “What about Linus and Emory? Morgyn?”

“Morgyn and I don’t really have those kinds of talks. And Emory has had way too much going on with his kidnapping and the triplets, and then his omegin’s book tour, and all of Caden’s drama with that drug overdose. He doesn’t need to hear all my crap on top of that.”

“And Linus?”

Linus is everything.“Linus was the one who convinced me to talk to you and Omi about how I’m feeling. We both know what it’s like to be the youngest and to never feel like you measure up to your older siblings.”

Dad frowned, and Miko realized what he’d let slip. “Linus feels that way? That he doesn’t measure up to his siblings?”

“You cannot tell Isa or Liam he feels that way, or his brothers either. I shouldn’t have said it, because Linus told me in confidence.”

“I won’t repeat it, Miko, I promise. But I do hope you encourage Linus to talk to his family about these feelings.”

“I have. He’s just overwhelmed right now, but I think he will when it feels like the right time.”

“Of course. Linus has a lot to navigate in the coming weeks and months, and he’s likely to face a lot of buried feelings head-on. Doesn’t sound like that’s going to be unique to him, though. A lot of things change when we meet our bondmates. Our emotions, our expectations, every step we’ll take going forward.”

Miko grimaced at the word choice. “Yeah.” He considered how to respond and if he should bring up last night’s bus stop fight, but when he opened his mouth a huge yawn came out. “As much as I’d like to stay up and have this conversation with Omi, and to apologize, I’m beat.”

“Go to bed. Omi will be happy you’re home and safe.”

“Thanks, Dad. For everything.”

“Anytime.”

Miko hugged his sire hard before heading down the hall. He stopped in front of his own open door and glanced across the hall to the closed door that used to lead to Peyton’s room. So many nights as kids, one of them would sneak across the hall to the other’s room after bedtime. They’d crawl under the covers together with a flashlight and tell stories to try and scare each other. They were often caught and their parents always pretended to be put out.

Omi had admitted once, about a year ago, that they’d never been annoyed at the shenanigans. Their parents had loved how close Peyton and Miko had been, especially during their teen years when so many of their friends had begun squabbling with their own siblings. Maybe it was the omega in Miko, maybe it was discovering his big brother might die before the age of twenty-five, but Miko couldn’t remember a single real fight he’d ever had with Peyton.

And he was forever grateful for the pep talk Peyton had given him tonight. They no longer shared a home, and Peyton was happily mated with a child, but Miko had never felt closer to his big brother than that night.

Miko hoped to stay awake until he heard the familiar sounds of both his parents moving around in their room, but he was pretty sure he fell asleep before he fully settled beneath the covers. And in the warm embrace of slumber, Miko dreamed of dancing with Linus under a canopy of stars.

ELEVEN

Linus gota half-decent night of sleep after swallowing his pride and asking Gaven for something to help with his pain. After a quick assessment, Gaven gave him a small lecture on being too brave and hiding his pain levels, and then got the okay from Dr. Westin. Sweet relief from the constant burn in his hips helped him nod off, and he woke the next day feeling almost rested.

In pain again, but that was his reality for a while, and he didn’t want to depend on high doses of painkillers to manage this. He’d seen what drug addiction could do over a decade ago when Aeron Danvers struggled with abusing Flax, and then Caden’s most recent secret use of the stuff. Linus didn’t want to start down that slippery slope.

Breakfast was more boring food, but at least this time he got a cup of strawberry yogurt. He was supposed to start getting more solid-ish food today, since his system was adjusting post-coma. When his phone rang at eight-thirty, he answered blandly, expecting it to be Papa checking in like yesterday.

“Hey, you,” Miko’s breathy voice said.

Linus grinned at the blanket covering his stump. “Morning. I thought you’d sleep in today.”

“I tried but woke up anyway. I have class at ten so I couldn’t have slept much longer if I’d been able. How was your night?”

“Not awful. I asked for some extra pain relief and it helped. I also got more with my morning meds, which means Greco is probably going to torture me again soon.”

“I’m sure. Just remember not to push yourself too hard. You don’t have anything to prove to anyone, you just need to recover.”

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