Page 21 of Fractured Fang: Omega

Macs groaned. “Mate. I knew you were mine, but my knot confirms it.”

“Fuck, Macs. If I knew it would feel like this, I would have fucked you on the bridge that first day.”

Macs chuckled and kissed my hair. “I am glad we waited, love.”

“Me too.”

It didn’t take long for his knot to release. I couldn’t wait to experience it again, but for now, I needed to get back outside and talk with my family. They would wonder where I was, and I really didn’t need them to come looking for me.

Regret hit me when I was showering off Macs’s scent. I had so much to tell him. I had started my story, but he knew nothing of Levi or Asilo. I should have shared it all with him before we became lovers, despite his words that it was okay to tell him in my own time.

And now that I had been filled with his knot, there was no going back.

Chapter 11

Macs

IspenteverymealI could outside on the pavilion, enjoying my mate’s mural. It had taken him another two days to complete it, and I loved to watch him work. I enjoyed the view, not only of him but of his process.

There was something about the way he brought our packlands to life that soothed me. Each time I looked at it, I discovered something new, a small detail I’d missed earlier. There were so many layers to the piece. In many ways, it was more magical than our witches, and that was saying something.

He seemed to appreciate my praise but blushed every time I mentioned how much I loved it. And honestly, that only made me want to praise him more. Watching his cheeks pinken like that was rapidly becoming one of my favorite pastimes.

I believed it was a combination of him being here and the new mural that made me miss my old home less and less. It was like suddenly everything was how it was supposed to be here and all because of him. A part of me would always grieve the house we lost. It had been the place I had grown up in; how could I not miss it? But it was as if my mate had captured a piece of it in his art—or maybe made it come alive again was a better description.

“It’s kind of creepy how long you’ve been staring at it,” Gabe said, and he nudged my shoulder.

The two of us were eating outside again. Today it worked out extremely well because in the house, we had visiting members from Steelwick. Armand, the Alpha-Elect, his mate Matty, and a few of his enforcers were here to talk about something—I didn’t know what—and had it been my business, they’d have insisted I join them all as pack Beta.

Steelwick all liked to visit with Franklin since he had been a member of their pack before being mated to Wilder. It was good for him to see his old pack mates and good for them as well. Pack was family, and Franklin coming here had been a loss for them… a happy one, but a loss nonetheless.

A super bonus of them coming was all the sweet treats they brought from Lewis and Rafe’s bakery. Phillip’s desserts were wonderful, but Lewis and Rafe’s desserts were out of this world. They were the things dreams were made of—literally. I’d dreamed of their cookies more than once since first tasting them.

Marcus, a rabbit shifter, was one of the ones visiting with Armand, and the two of them came outside and sat at the table next to us. At first, I was a bit apprehensive that they were coming towards us with a reason, but as soon as they were seated, that vanished. They were just chilling in the nice breeze.

“This is beautiful work,” Armand said. He didn’t just glance at it and then compliment it to be nice. He really looked at it, and took it all in.

“Thank you,” Gabe replied.

“Can I take a picture of it?” Armand pulled out his phone and snapped a photo once Gabe told him it was okay. “Marcus, don’t you think something like this would look awesome on the backside of the hotel where the pool is?”

“Heck yeah,” Marcus agreed. “Make it look like a landscape scenery, so that way, when we’re outside, it looks like we’re surrounded by landscape and forestry.”

“Yeah,” Armand said. “Gabe, could you paint red brick like you did this cinderblock right here?”

Gabe paused for a moment as if he was too stunned to speak. “Yeah. I mean, yeah. I would just have to put a primer down, which I had to do for this one anyway. But yeah.”

Armand nudged Marcus. “You got any pictures of the hotel on your phone that you could show him?” He turned back to Gabe and added, “We’ll pay you, obviously.”

I was sitting here, watching this all unravel, so proud of my mate but also wondering what that would mean.

“Oh, I don’t—”

I put a hand over Gabe’s back. If he wanted his father to see his work as valuable, he had to see it that way as well. You can’t expect others to see the value in your work if you don’t. And while it was nice that he wanted to give this to them, it wasn’t right for him at this moment in time.

“You can send us some measurements of the wall, and Gabe can get an idea of what you’re thinking if you want.” I wasn’t going to make the decision for him. All of this had to be my mate’s choice, but I would give him a few extra seconds to think about it before he made a rash decision.

“Yeah, that’d be great. We can even do a video call to show you the space,” Armand readily agreed. I wasn’t sure if he or Marcus were more excited about the prospect of the mural.

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