Urho kissed his head. “There’s a lot to consider. If I stayed, we’d have to decide how to carry on. I’d get my own place, perhaps. In town. Near the new clinic I could open.”
Xan squirmed. He didn’t want Urho in town. He wanted him here, in his bed, at the breakfast table, laughing with Caleb, making a family. He didn’t want to live his life pretending that Urho was just a friend, or that he wasn’t in love with the man entirely. He wanted everyone to know that the alpha with the big hands and even bigger heart was his, and his alone.
But did he dare such transparency? Could he risk his inheritance? Could he expect Caleb to? He shuddered and burrowed closer to Urho, his stomach twisting into knots and his fingers digging into Urho’s biceps.
“Don’t think about anything else right now,” Urho murmured. “Just tell me if you want me to stay. The rest we can figure out later.”
Xan kissed Urho’s chest and whispered, “Please don’t leave me.”
Urho cradled him closer. “I can’t promise that. Life has taught me there’s no way to be sure on that count. But I promise I’ll never go away on purpose, and if I do, I’ll always come home to you.”
Xan’s eyes pricked with tears. He’d never imagined a declaration like that from an alpha like Urho. He didn’t know what he’d done to earn or deserve it, but he vowed to be the kind of man who did.
He’d learn to be brave and certain. He’d be daring and firm. He would step up his game in all areas of life: as Caleb’s alpha, as Jason’s friend, as a citizen of Virona, and, if he didn’t lose his inheritance entirely due to his choices, as the future head of his father’s company.
His gaze drifted to the print Caleb had made, and he squeezed his eyes closed on the sight. Caleb was a smart man—smarter by far than Xan—and if he was the one to suggest cohabitation to Urho, then he knew the risks. Xan could only hope that he was willing to accept the potential fallout.
Because if Urho was willing to be his alpha for good, and Caleb wanted that, then Xan was determined to become the kind of man who deserved their courageous devotion.
Even if that meant losing everything Xan had always assumed was his by right. Like his family. His inheritance. His home.
“Shh,” Urho breathed. “Rest. There’s no need to decide anything now. We have time.”
Xan relaxed in Urho’s arms. They had time, yes. But how much? He wished he could see the future and know now that eventually everything turned out all right, but all he could know for certain was Urho loved him enough to change his life, to risk prison, to move to Virona. And Caleb loved him enough to want Urho to live here.
That was the present.
It was a massive responsibility—and a beautiful, wonderful, terrifying gift.
PART THREE
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
“Cousin, you looklike death!” Xan exclaimed, bolting up from the dinner table.
Janus had been gone well over a month, and Xan had heard he wasn’t going to be returning to Virona at all, having been given a new assignment elsewhere. It was a shock on multiple levels to see him there in the dining room doorway, gray-faced and slick with sweat. Janus’s eyes glowed with the radiance of sickness, and his frame trembled as if he was having a hard time supporting his own weight.
Silence ruled the table, a stunned expression twisting everyone’s face. Vale and Jason recoiled, and Caleb sat still with an open mouth as Xan rushed to Janus’s side. He took Janus’s hands in his own and gasped at the heat radiating from them. “Wolf-god, you’re hot as hell itself.”
Janus coughed wetly before he collapsed into Xan’s arms.
“Damn it all!” Urho exclaimed from behind them.
A confused and frightened looking Ren hustled in, panting with cheeks flushed. “Sir, your cousin only just arrived. I tried to convince him to go to his room, but he insisted on seeing you. I told I’d get you, but—” Ren gestured helplessly, hanging back from the sweaty man in Xan’s arms. “I’m sorry.”
“Not your fault,” Xan said, struggling under the weight of his bigger cousin. Janus’s hot, clammy body rested heavily against him, and Xan grunted, trying to shore him up. “Run and grab some tea for him.”
Urho was suddenly there, helping him with Janus’s slack body, and Xan breathed a sigh of relief.
“Jason, take Vale upstairs through the kitchen,” Urho commanded. “Keep him far away from Janus. Don’t come back down until I say the coast is clear.”
The shocked table came to life. Jason and Vale hastily left by the kitchen entrance, and Caleb hurried to Xan’s side.
Together, they helped Janus into Urho’s abandoned chair. His arm fell onto Urho’s plate, dragging through the gravy and upsetting his glass of wine. His head lolled forward and his eyes rolled back.
Urho slapped his cheek lightly. “Janus!” he shouted. Janus moaned, but didn’t gain consciousness. “Both of you stay back! I need to get him to a bed.”
“Yes. Somewhere away from the rest of the house,” Xan said, his heart pounding and his palms sweaty.
