Chapter 4

Storm

The moment the bedroom door closed behind us, I turned to Connor.

I didn’t say a word.

I simply wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him.

Hard.

Hungrily.

Like I needed to make up for every second he’d been away.

His arms immediately tightened around my waist, pulling me against him. The familiar warmth of his body sent a rush of desire through me.

I’d missed him.

Goddess, I’d missed him.

Connor lifted me effortlessly, and I wrapped my legs around his waist as he carried me toward the bed.

He reached behind him, locked the door and looked at me.

That look.

The one that told me exactly what was going through his mind.

I smiled.

“Miss me?”

“You have no idea.”

His lips found mine again, and for a moment, the entire world disappeared.

The meeting.

The rogues.

The questions.

The danger.

None of it mattered.

There was only Connor and me.

My mate.

My husband.

The man who could still make my heart race after six years and four children.

He carried me toward the bed, and the distance we’d been forced to endure quickly became nothing more than a memory.

I surrendered to the familiar comfort of him.

Six years.

Four children.

And somehow, he could still make me feel like the young woman who had first discovered what it meant to truly belong to someone.

For those precious moments, there was no pack.

No responsibilities.

No enemies.

No past.

Just us.

And I needed that more than I could ever explain.

⸻

Later, we lay tangled together beneath the covers, both of us exhausted and content.

Connor rolled onto his back and laughed softly.

“You always give me the best welcome homes, my love.”

I turned toward him, smiling.

“Well, I have to make it worth your while, don’t I?”

He raised an eyebrow.

“Is that what this is?”

“Of course.”

I grinned.

“If I give you welcome homes like this, I know you’ll be guaranteed to miss me when you leave.”

His expression immediately softened.

“I always miss you when I leave.”

He rolled onto his side and rested his hand against my abdomen.

My heart warmed.

“I miss you too.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

He smiled before leaning forward and kissing my forehead.

“I’m home now.”

I closed my eyes.

Home.

That single word meant more to me than it ever had before.

I’d spent years running from my past.

Years believing happiness wasn’t meant for someone like me.

And now?

I had Connor Doyle.

And I had our children.

Our family.

A home.

A life.

Everything I’d once been too afraid to dream about having for myself.

I couldn’t imagine wanting anything more.

Eventually, however, hunger won out over exhaustion.

We dragged ourselves from the bed, showered and dressed, and headed downstairs in search of food.

We hadn’t made it very far before my stomach growled loudly.

Connor laughed.

“Don’t say a word.”

“I wasn’t going to.”

“You were.”

“I was thinking it.”

I rolled my eyes.

“Come on.”

He laughed as he slipped his arm around my waist.

Together, we headed downstairs.

Neither of us realised that beneath the laughter and happiness waiting for us downstairs, something had already begun to change.

Something neither of us could see.

Yet.

⸻

Leah

Mike and I were sitting in the kitchen when Dad and Storm walked through the doorway.

They were holding hands.

Smiling.

Looking at each other in that ridiculous way they always did.

I watched them for a moment.

Six years.

Six years together.

Four children.

And they still looked at each other as though they’d only discovered their bond yesterday.

It was almost nauseating.

Almost.

Because beneath my amusement was something else.

Envy.

I wanted that.

The certainty.

The connection.

The feeling that no matter how much time passed, you would still look at your mate and know, without a shadow of a doubt, that they were your person.

Storm had never seemed to hold onto anger or resentment.

She was simply…

Happy.

Completely and utterly happy.

And it showed.

Sometimes I wondered how she managed it.

Mike and I were fated mates too.

So why didn’t our relationship feel like that?

Why did I sometimes look at him and wonder how the man who should be able to make me feel so loved made me want to scream?

Dad and Storm took their seats.

Almost immediately, one of the Omegas brought them food.

Irish stew.

Fresh bread.

Simple.

Comforting.

Dad looked completely content as he dug into his meal.

Storm was already eating enthusiastically.

Mike nudged me.

I glanced at him.

He leaned closer.

“Looks like someone worked up an appetite.”

I stared at him.

Slowly, I raised one eyebrow.

“Are you jealous?”

The corner of his mouth twitched.

“Now that you mention it…”

I waited for him to get to the point.

He grinned.

“I suppose it is a little sad knowing your father is getting more sex than I am.”

I stared at him.

Of all the things he could have said to make a joke about my dad and Storm’s sex life. He had chosen instead to lie about his own sex life.

He laughed at me.

“Lighten up.”

I shook my head and looked away.

“Why can’t you just be like normal girls?” He muttered.

My head snapped toward him.

“What?”

He shrugged.

“I mean, you’re always so serious.”

I stared at him for several seconds.

Then I turned away once more.

Across the table, Dad was saying something to Storm.

She laughed.

He reached across and squeezed her hand.

Such a small gesture.

But it said everything.

Love.

Trust.

Devotion.

Six years, and they still had it.

I looked back at Mike.

Once upon a time, I had believed I was just as lucky.

I’d believed finding my fated mate meant I’d found the one person who would understand me better than anyone else.

Maybe at one point I had.

Maybe the problem was me.

Or maybe something had changed.

Because lately, Mike’s jokes didn’t make me laugh.

His childish behaviour didn’t amuse me.

And his inability to recognise when he’d gone too far was beginning to wear me down.

I felt something twist painfully inside my chest.

I wanted what Dad and Storm had.

I wanted a love that didn’t leave me questioning whether I was happy.

I wanted to look at my mate and feel completely certain.

Instead, I was sitting at the dining table fighting the urge to scream at mine.

I pushed my chair back.

“I need some air.”

Mike’s smile disappeared.

“Leah?”

I ignored him.

I stood and walked out of the kitchen.

I didn’t look back.

Because if I did, I was afraid my family would see something in my eyes that I wasn’t ready to admit even

to myself.

I wasn’t happy.

The thought followed me out of the room like a shadow.

And once it had been spoken inside my head, I couldn’t silence it.

Maybe I was simply having a bad day.

Maybe the pregnancy hormones were making everything feel worse.

Maybe I was being unfair.

But deep down, another thought was beginning to take shape.

A thought I didn’t want to have.

A thought that terrified me.

What if finding your fated mate didn’t guarantee you’d found your forever?

I stopped in the hallway, pressing a hand against my stomach.

My secret was growing inside me.

A baby.

My baby.

And suddenly, the future I’d been so excited about didn’t look quite as simple as it had yesterday.

Because if I wasn’t happy now…

What would happen when the baby arrived?

And worse…

What if the person I was beginning to fear losing wasn’t Mike at all?

What if it was me?