Page 34 of What Haunts the Heart
15
Oakley
For the past two days, Eden had been acting strange. He’d withdrawn into himself for some reason and I didn’t understand why. One minute, we were closer than I’d ever been with anyone else in my life, and the next? It felt almost as if he’d slammed the door in my face. His touches didn’t linger like they once had, and whenever I kissed him, he was the first to pull away.
It worried me. Had I done something wrong? Yet no matter how hard I racked my brain, trying to pinpoint the very moment he’d pulled away, I couldn’t figure it out. It planted a tiny seed of doubt inside my heart. I thought we were on the same page. I thought we wanted the same things.
Maybe, all this time, he didn’t really want me to stay? Or maybe I pushed him too far with the mating bite? Was it too soon? Because it sure as hell felt right to me.
But as I laid in bed beside Eden, so close and yet somehow miles away, I tucked those what-ifs away in a little black box inside my mind. No. What we had was real, I knew it was. Something had happened and I was going to figure out what, and I was going to figure it out today.
Slipping out of bed, I walked around to the other side, where Eden slumbered. I ran my fingers through his sweaty bangs and bent to kiss him on the forehead. Even in sleep, he looked lost. Haunted by his dreams. I brushed my lips against his temple and pulled the covers up over him. He let out the softest of whimpers and curled into himself, and it made my chest knot.
I didn’t bother texting my brother to tell him I was on my way. I simply showed up on his doorstep at a quarter till seven and let myself in.
The house was quiet and peaceful in the early morning hours. No TV blaring noisy cartoons, no screeching children running up and down the halls—nothing but the sputtering-hiss of the coffee maker and the heavenly aroma of a freshly brewed pot.
“What’s up, little bro?” Kinsley sat at the kitchen table, flipping through the newspaper. In the other hand, he held a mug that said #1 Dad in big red letters. Smiling, I poured myself a cup of coffee and sat down across from him. I planted my elbows on the tabletop and sighed. Kinsley tipped his head to one side. “You’re up early.”
“Couldn’t sleep,” I murmured. “I’ve got a lot on my mind.”
“What’s up?”
“Eden’s acting weird and I don’t know what the hell I did wrong, but it’s eating at me. I thought things were going good. I thought maybe I’d finally found my happy ending.”
“You doubt his love?” he asked.
I frowned. “No, but—”
“Good. You shouldn’t, because the way he looks at you? It’s proof of his feelings. He loves you, Oakley. So maybe he’s getting cold feet, but you don’t understand. Before you? He warmed the bed of any mildly-attractive bachelor that came his way. He’d sleep with them, then kick them out the next morning. I never once saw him with the same Alpha twice, and hedefinitelydidn’t date.”
My heart sunk. “So he’s having second thoughts?”
“I don’t think so. I think maybe he’s a little uncertain?”
“Of what? I’ve been completely transparent about my feelings this whole time. I never once tried to lead him on, not the first time we hooked up and especially not now. We marked each other and it was beautiful, Kins.” I tried to keep my voice from rising, but pain ricocheted through me. “I thought this was it.”
“Try to look at it from his perspective,” Kinsley said. “He wasn’t raised with a silver spoon in his mouth like we were. Sure, Father’s an asshole, but we got pretty much anything we wanted, let’s be honest. Eden had a rough upbringing, parents who didn’t give a shit about him. That’s why he and Chess get along so well, I think. They share some of the same pains and trust me, Chess wasn’t easy. He was scared and uncertain. Maybe Eden’s still trying to figure things out between you two? Things aren’t always as they appear to be.”
I set my coffee aside. “I just wish he would talk to me, not shut me out. I’m not giving up on him. Not now, not after everything we’ve been through. I love him. He makes me feel whole. It was like a piece of me was missing and I didn’t even know it until I met him.”
Kinsley smiled. “I know. I can tell. That’s exactly how I felt with Chess, but Chess had some walls. Eden probably has a couple too. Think about it. What’s the one thing that would scare him off?”
I thought about it for a moment. “He has this notion that all Alphas are assholes who dump Omegas the minute things get hard. His good-for-nothing mother drilled it into his head that he’d end up pregnant and alone, and—” I recoiled, slapped in the face by my own words. “Shit.”
My brother raised a brow. “Perhaps you’re onto something?”
“He can’t be,” I uttered, shaking my head. “He never went into heat?” But it made sense. Why else would he shy away from me like this? Maybe he hadn’t had a bout of stomach flu at all. Maybe that was morning sickness. Why wouldn’t he tell me? Was he was afraid that I’d ditch him the minute I found out about the pregnancy? “Fuck…”
“When in doubt, use protection. Of course, I didn’t exactly follow my own rules, huh?” He chuckled. “But I’ll tell you one thing. I wouldn’t give my pups up for the world. Give him time, Oak. He’ll come around. In his heart, he knows that you love him, so just keep showing him and everything’ll be okay.”
I exhaled slowly. Holy shit. “I hope you’re right. I don’t think I can stomach saying goodbye to him a second time. He’s burrowed himself so deep in my heart that the idea of living a life without him in it makes me feel ill.”
“And now you know why I stayed in Vale Valley,” he murmured. “Chester is the light in my life and our children are the icing on the cake. Yeah, being a father is hard as hell sometimes and yeah, there are moments where I seriously want to bash my head into the wall, but I love them. I love them so much and if Eden is pregnant? You’ll love that pup so much, it won’t even be funny.”
“Thanks,” I told him, though I still felt a little light-headed.
Me? A daddy? With Eden?
“So now what?” Kinsley asked, taking a long drag of his coffee.
I grinned and stood. “I’m going to go home and pamper the hell out of my possibly-pregnant Omega. Thanks, bro.”
“Anytime, Oak. Glad to have you back—for good, this time.”
“Me too.”
