Page 114 of Omega's Secret Guardian
“Storm?”
Storm’s breathing hitched. “Something happened,” he whispered. “The ramps are new.”
Linus breathed out heavily. He rubbed Storm’s back. “Are the cars still the same?”
Storm nodded. Two cars—his dad’s old station wagon, and his mom’s newer sedan. Both looked older than he remembered.
“Do you want to get off the bike and find out what happened?” Linus asked gently.
“I—Yeah. I have to.” Storm blew out a breath, realizing that he couldn’t leave without at least confirming that his family was all still alive. “Fuck, I should’ve been here when it happened.”
Linus squeezed Storm’s arm. “Focus on the now. And the future.”
“Yeah. Okay. You make sense.”
“I sure hope I do,” his omega said lightly, with a touch of humor that helped snap Storm out of his daze.
Storm lowered the kickstand and cut the engine. Then he got off the bike, undid Linus’ safety straps, and helped him onto the ground. Linus took Storm’s helmet and gloves.
Storm frowned. “You don’t have to do that for me.”
“You have bigger fish to fry,” Linus said.
“I’m not frying anyone.”
Linus rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean.”
Storm’s heart thundered as he walked up the familiar steps to the front door, Linus pressed close to his side. Before he could ring the bell, the door opened.
Storm froze.
Mom stood in the doorway, her eyes wide. She had grown older, her hair grayer, the crow’s feet deeper around her eyes. She was thinner, too. And her gaze raked over his face. “Jonathan?”
Stormcringed.“It’s Storm, Mom. Remember?”
Then he tried not to wring his hands; she could still turn him away.
“Storm,” she corrected herself in a whisper, as though she couldn’t believe her eyes. “It’s really you?”
“Yeah.” Storm winced. “Sorry. I—I’m sorry I haven’t been home. A lot of things happened. I wasn’t sure Icouldcome home.”
“Of course you can,” she said immediately. Then she stepped forward and pulled him into a tight hug.
Storm panicked a little. This was too soon. He needed to know if she would turn him away when she found out the truth, beforehe let himself care too deeply again. “I’m seriously not kidding about the things that happened. I did a lot of bad things.”
“You’re home. I don’t care,” she said tearfully into his chest.
Storm exchanged a look with Linus. Linus knew his misgivings by now, and exactly why this might not work out.
Linus gave him a nod anyway.
Storm sighed and carefully wrapped his arms around his mom. Maybe it was better to wait until everyone was in the same place, so he didn’t have to keep repeating himself.
“What’s all that noise—?” Dad said, stepping into the living room. Then he saw Storm, and he dropped the book he was holding. He blinked hard. “Storm?”
“Hey, Dad.” Storm gave a half-hearted wave. “I’m sorry it took me this long to come home.”
Like Mom, Dad had aged, too. His hair had thinned and grayed, and he had lost some weight. Storm hated that he’d been gone long enough to notice these changes; he hated that his parents were growing older.
