Eventually Xan murmured in Caleb’s ear, “You need to rest. Take a break from looking in on Janus.”
“Ren has taken over for the afternoon. I’ll return to him tonight.” Caleb nuzzled him again, scenting him for a long time. “No one makes me feel as safe as you do, Xan.”
Tears pricked Xan’s eyes, and he squeezed Caleb tight. “You’re my omega. I’m your alpha. Of course I make you feel safe.”
Caleb made Xan feel safe too. Their brand of love and friendship was just as Caleb had claimed—without boundaries.
Caleb turned to go, but he stopped with his pale hand on the doorknob. “Ren tells me you’re leaving for the city this afternoon.”
“I have to leave. Pater and Ray are very sick.”
“Yes, you should go.” Caleb nodded, looking a little lost.
“Urho will be here with you. But if you don’t want me to leave while Janus is so ill, I can stay.”
Caleb shook his head. “Go. I’ll be all right here.” He left solemnly.
Xan was still staring at the wood grain of the door when Urho opened it several minutes later. He pulled Xan up into his strong arms, and Xan sighed as he leaned into Urho’s strength. It was Xan’s duty to Caleb as his alpha and friend to be there for him, but the sensation of being held by his own alpha was comforting andrightin a way Xan relished.
“I wish I could go with you,” Urho said urgently. “I don’t like the idea of you in the city by yourself, with your pater sick, and your father…” he trailed off. “Will you be all right?”
Xan unbuttoned Urho’s shirt and rubbed his cheek against Urho’s chest. “I don’t know. I’m scared. I don’t want to lose my pater or my brother. Or my cousin.” He leaned back and looked into Urho’s eyes. “How bad is Janus? Caleb said some pretty morbid things just now.”
“He’s right to be frightened for Janus. He doesn’t seem to be responding to the prescriptions. Most of the time, the initial dose provides a great deal of relief within just a few hours. That hasn’t been the case. He’s deteriorated even more.”
Xan chewed on his lower lip. “Caleb cares for him. He needs to live.”
“Caleb has feelings for him? Sexual feelings?”
If Xan wasn’t mistaken, he heard a strange thread of jealousy in Urho’s voice. “Not sexual feelings, not attraction—no. Deep friendship feelings. Old ones that he thought long scarred over, but are now broken open again.”
“Wolf-god’s blessings on our Caleb,” Urho murmured, wrapping his arms around Xan. “He has such a strong heart, and he doesn’t deserve to suffer through this.”
“So you agree with him?”
“Doctors have instincts.” Urho kissed Xan’s temple soothingly. “And, unfortunately, my instincts and Caleb’s align. I’ll do what I can for Janus, and the local hospital has agreed to continue to provide drips and medicines. Only time will tell.”
“I hope you’re both wrong.”
“I do too.” Urho ran his fingers into Xan’s damp, tumbled curls. “When you’re in the city, promise me one thing.”
Xan gazed up at him. “Anything.”
“No matter what happens, don’t go to him.”
“Go to who?” Xan’s mind scrambled in confusion. Pater? Ray? Father? He didn’t know to whom Urho was referring with this strange request.
“That monster Monhundy.”
Xan gasped in horror. “No. I’d never. Not now. Not since we…no.” His throat clogged with unexpected tears. It hurt to think Urho believed he would betray him like that.
“I want to be sure you won’t go to him.”
“You think I would? After all you’ve shown me?”
Urho studied his face carefully. Whatever he saw there must have reassured him because he drew Xan even closer, kissing his eyelids and nose, kissing his mouth and his temples, before scenting along his neck and nuzzling him gently. “I’m sorry. Forgive me. I cherish you, and the thought of you in pain, of what he did to you before… It terrifies me.”
“I don’t want that anymore. I never will again. I want you. I want to be your omega. Even if…” Xan sighed.
