by Athena Blaez
Wyatt looked horrible in the picture. His hair was standing up and he had bags under his eyes. The way Gage stared at the baby, a mix of fascination and awe on his face? It was so cute to see the Alpha of the Weston pack looking so gooey-eyed over a small child.
“Phillip,” Gage said. “After Wyatt’s grandfather.”
Wyatt’s mouth fell open. He cut his gaze over at Aaron who gave him a cheeky wink. “You are thorough.”
“Very,” Aaron agreed. “But don’t you think Wyatt should have a say in what to name his son?”
Gage looked up guiltily at Wyatt. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be,” Wyatt said. He leaned forward to place a gentle kiss on Gage’s lips. “My Alpha has very good sense about these things.”
“I’m not sure which Alpha you’re referring to,” Aaron said dryly.
Gage glanced over his shoulder and growled at him.
Wyatt lifted his chin to Kevin so he could take Phillip. “I think I need a nap again.”
Gage waited for Kevin to leave before rounding on the milling pack who had taken up camp at the door. “Everyone out,” he bellowed.
Once the room cleared, Wyatt snuggled comfortably on the bed again. Gage joined him, stretching out at his side. “You don’t have to be here,” he said.
“I know.” Gage scooted close to share the pillow with Wyatt. “I won’t keep you up. I just want to stay with you until you’re asleep.”
“That’s not very much fun.”
Gage snuffled shortly against Wyatt’s ear. “Not up to you to decide what your Alpha finds fun.”
The soft breath on Wyatt’s ear tickled and he laughed. “I’m not up for that kind of fun, either.”
“Fine.” Gage’s lips lingered on Wyatt’s cheek. “I was thinking, you missed your vacation during this time. Let me make it up to you.”
“Gage—”
“I know, I know. You have missed so much time at the shop. Doesn’t Jason have it under control now?”
“With Aaron’s help, yeah, he does. But I’m ready to go back to work.”
Gage fell quiet. Wyatt was worried that he’d made Gage angry. “Do you understand, Gage?”
“Yeah, I’m just thinking. Aaron said I need to learn to be more willing to compromise. So I’m trying to think of a compromise.”
Wyatt chuckled. “Aaron is a good influence on you.”
Gage’s eyebrow rose in disbelief. “If you say so.”
“I do.”
“How about this.” Gage rose to brace on an elbow. “When Dr. Madison gives you the all clear, you go back to work for a few months. By then, Phillip will be big enough to travel, and I take you on a honeymoon vacation. We’ll go wherever you want to go. Since you’ll be with me, the idiotic omega travel advisory board won’t have any objections.”
Wyatt considered that. Even though he’d been gone from the shop for over a month already, it really hadn’t been the vacation he planned. “Okay. Let me get back to the shop to see what Aaron’s done, and to see if I need to hire Jason more permanent help. Then we’ll decide on when and where.”
Gage stretched out again, gathering Wyatt into his arms. They lapsed into a comfortable silence. Wyatt felt his body slowly start to relax again. His eyes blinked heavily as he grew drowsier with each breath.
Safe in his Alpha’s arms, Wyatt knew his dreams of a quiet life were long gone. In its place was the roller coaster life that made up being part of a pack, as well as the mate of the pack’s Alpha. Gage was already a handful; now Wyatt had two to contend with.
There was no denying that Wyatt knew he was right where he belonged. For all the challenges coming his way, he was curiously okay with that.
Another snuffle tickled his ear as Gage nuzzled down his neck. “Gage—” he warned.
“Not even a quickie?”
“Oh my God, what? No. Go…bother Aaron. Please.”
Epilogue – Wyatt
6 months later
Aaron met Gage at the door. Trying to get luggage and baby inside the mansion required more than a few trips, or more hands. Gage had no problems co-opting his second into doing.
“If you have time to lean, you have time to clean, Aaron,” Gage said, shoving a suitcase at him as he continued to unload the car.
“I’m not cleaning, unless you consider handling the affairs of the pack ‘cleaning’ while you’re off in the wilds of Oregon getting in touch with your inner wolf.” Aaron shifted the bag to one hand, and then extended his free hand for another bag.
“You can call it what it is, Aaron. Attempting to knock up his omega again,” Wyatt teased as he pulled Phillip from his car seat. He had the strength typical six month old grip, grabbing at Wyatt’s shirt collar while sucking on his fist.
Gage may be right. Phillip was certainly exhibiting the attributes of a strong-willed Alpha at only six months.
“I wouldn’t dream of it, Wyatt, even if it were true. I have noticed our Alpha’s mood hasn’t improved much. Does he still get cranky at the least provocation?”
Wyatt beamed at Gage, and then rose on his tiptoes to place a simple kiss on Gage’s chin. “He’s just hangry, like his son. They didn’t have enough for him to eat on the flight.”
“Then to save everyone’s sanity, next time he’ll take the private jet.”
“Are you here to give me shit, Aaron, or is there actually a reason for your harassment?” Gage growled.
Wyatt lifted his eyebrows as if to say see?
Aaron didn’t acknowledge Gage’s snarling. He headed up the stairs, trailed by several of the pack betas who had rushed out of the house to help with the luggage.
A huge mound of bags and suitcases collected in the foyer. Gage stood with his hands on hips to supervise their placement. “I don’t remember taking this many.”
“You didn’t,” Aaron said. “You spend money like it’s going out of style. I don’t see how you deal with him, Wyatt. Maybe you should be his second.”
Aaron smiled smugly when Gage turned a withering look at him.
Wyatt laughed at their exchange. “Not on your life. I have to sleep with him.”
“You don’t have an ounce of fucking shame, do you?” Gage demanded.
Aaron turned and motioned for Gage to follow him into the office. “None. But if you have time, mighty Alpha, we need to go over the notes from the last board meeting. There are some items you need to sign off on, like, yesterday.”
Gage huffed in annoyance. He turned to Wyatt and wrapped a tender arm around his waist. “Can you handle unpacking?” he asked softly.
Wyatt beamed brightly up at Gage. It was amazingly hot how Gage could go from hard ass Alpha to mushy mate in the blink of an eye. “I can handle it. Go be Alpha for Aaron. I’ll get Phillip settled in and ask Germaine to scrounge up a decent lunch for you.”
He watched Gage follow Aaron into the office. Phillip wiggled in Wyatt’s arms to be put down who then immediately crawled for the curved staircase to take him to the second floor.
“Take these on up, Wyatt?” Peter asked.
“Yes, put them next to the bed. I’ll sort through them in a moment. And have someone bring Phillip a bottle, please.” Wyatt waited as the betas swept in, grabbed suitcases and in a line, headed up the stairs. Each one was careful not to step on the baby doing an admirable job of getting up the stairs himself.
Wyatt followed behind Phillip and endured the ear-bleeding screech of protest as he fought to keep the baby still in his arms. “Easy there, kiddo. It’s time for your nap. You have a bottle coming and we’ll get you right to sleep.”
The hardest adjustment for Wyatt being mated to Gage was getting used to having so many at his beck and call. At first, Wyatt didn’t think they were doing it for him specifically. He believed they were doing it because Wyatt was the pack Alpha’s mate and the parent of the center of Gage’s world, Phillip Walter Weston.
Yet the longer he was around this pack, the more it was evident if functioned like a very large famil
y. Wyatt wasn’t used to large families but it was growing on him. The pack was growing on him, and apparently he was growing on them.
It made dinner interesting to have so many around the table.
Even the elders would speak to him on occasion, something Peter said they rarely did these days.
The squirming toddler thrashed and wailed in his arms until they got to the master bedroom and Wyatt could set him down in the floor. “Come on, baby, help daddy unpack.”
There were gifts purchased for the pack, set aside for presentation at dinner, more clothes than one person should rightly own which belonged to Gage, and a veritable toy store when Gage went crazy in Toys R Us.
Phillip found the bag that contained some of his toys and proceeded to decorate the floor with them. Wyatt stepped around them as he continued to unpack.
Gage stopped at the door, bottle in hand. “Peter handed this to me,” he said. “Someone hungry?”
Phillip sat back on his butt and held his hands out.
“Want me to get this?” Gage asked, “or do you want to do it?”
“Go ahead.” Wyatt stepped back and propped his hands on his hips. “I’m trying to figure the logistics on where to put all this stuff you bought.”
“I had to have it.”
“Really, Gage? A barbeque grill light and fan?”
“I needed it!” Gage crawled on the bed to recline against the headboard. Soon the noisy sounds of Phillip sucking hungrily on his bottle filled the room.
“He even eats like his father,” Wyatt teased. “And we don’t even own an outdoor grill.”
“He’ll need his strength to keep the pack in line. Isn’t that right,” he cooed. “Besides, getting an outdoor grill was next on my list of pack purchases. True story. Ask Aaron.”
There were some hills Wyatt wasn’t willing to die on. A barbeque grill light and fan wasn’t one of them. Wyatt gave up sorting through the bags as a lost cause and crawled to the middle of the bed to join his mate and their baby.
Gage leaned heavily against him to kiss the top of his head. “Glad to be home?”
“Yeah. I don’t know why I thought I needed a vacation. I find them more stressful than working.” Wyatt closed his eyes and leaned against Gage, absorbing his warmth and strength. Phillips eyes were growing heavy as he fed. Watching his son grow drowsy triggered the same response in him. “I’m kind of glad to be going back to work.”
“I’ll miss having you around the house,” Gage said.
“Good Lord, Gage, it’s not like I’m moving out. I’ll just be gone during working hours.”
“I know,” Gage whined. “And Aaron’s going to actually make me work. I won’t have you as an excuse to dodge it.”
Wyatt chuckled and snuggled close. “Poor little Alpha, having to take control of things again.”
“Just wait until I put the baby to bed,” Gage whispered against the top of Wyatt’s head. “Then you’ll learn just how much your Alpha likes to take control.”
If anyone had told Wyatt six months ago that he’d be living in domestic bliss with the Alpha of the most powerful sect of wolves in the state, he would have laughed in their face.
Now? It was oddly normal.
Wyatt liked this turn of events. Even though things had started off awkwardly, he’d settled down, as had Gage and his life was taking a new direction that excited him.
“Oh good,” Wyatt said with a yawn. “He can help me finish unpacking and tell me where he wants his new clothes.”
About the Author
Thank you so much for reading Wyatt and Gage’s story! I had super fun writing it. Shifters are my absolute favorite romantic heroes. And writing them while they navigate the landscape of finding true love when it’s fraught with obstacles make my heart happy!
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Next up? Aaron gets more than he bargained for trying to find his true love in Romancing The Omega’s Heart coming soon!
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