Hagen’s POV

Head craned to one side, I try my best to catch a glimpse of my mark, but no matter how much I twist and turn, I can’t see much beyond its slightly less red edges. I groan as I push on my toes as if that would help, but all it does is make me stumble.

The rest were all healed up, sealed as they should be, but the last at the back of my neck was taking its time to do the same. The skin, at least, was beginning to knit itself back together, but I didn’t think marks were supposed to take this long to heal.

“What’s wrong?”

“Fuck,” I startle as I turn away from the mirror to face Nikola as he strides into the bathroom with a frown deep enough to form a crater between his thick brows. “Nothing before you scared me.” He ignores that, as well as my protests, as he turns me around for his own inspection. “I’m fine.”

Humming, Nik ignores that too and gently tilts my head down, leaving me no other choice but to stare down at my feet and wait. I try to keep still while Nikola stretches the mark by the skin bordering it, but it’s hard when the quiet seconds tick by with nothing but our synced breathing to fill it.

“How’s it looking’?” I ask when I can’t take it anymore.

“Good,” Nikola replies as his fingers finally slink away, allowing me to look back at him. The crater is gone, replaced now but what I know to be quietly brewing excitement. “Very good. I think a day more and it will be fully healed.”

My heart does a full somersault within my chest as euphoria floods it, moving into my chest and veins.

Nikola was pretty much running twenty-four-hour surveillance on our last mark, pouring all the magic he could spare into protecting it, but that didn’t get rid of all the nerves. Magic couldn’t decide whether or not it would take like the rest, so it was just a waiting game at this point.

Between alphas and omegas, an omega’s mark was a sign of extreme submission, but unless it was between a willing omega and an alpha who valued that omega the way they should, it would not take. Nikola was not an alpha and I sure as shit wasn’t an omega, but it felt right for us. It felt likeeverythingeven though I’d never wanted anything like it before our mating. It was here now, and I wanted it desperately.

“It’ll take.”

“I know,” I reply before tilting my head in the direction he’d come from. “Almost done?”

Nik nods while his eyes track over my face, “The barriers are all that’s left to secure.”

“That’s good,” I reply, completely ignoring the way my face heats at the reminder.

The damage our makeshift home had taken during our mating was not my fault! I wasn’t the one with magic strong enough to encourage lightning strikes, so I definitely wasn’t the one behind the walls’ tears and holes.

“Is there anything I’m allowed to do now?” I ask while I slide my hands over his chest.

Nikola doesn’t even falter, “No.”

My shoulders drop as I glare at him, “Asshole.” He just smirks.

According to Nik, I needed only to rest, but that was stupid because if I needed to rest, then so did he. I’d tried to say as much, but Nik reminding me of the state I’d been in after our mating was enough to shut me up. It was embarrassing enough to remember, I didn’t need the reminders. There was also the fact that I’d only just regained strength back in my legs this morning.

“We’ll leave soon,” he states, planting a kiss on the top of my head before he pulls away and heads back the way he’d come. I, of course, follow after him, and sure enough, everything is all bandaged up.

It looks almost exactly as it had when Nikola had first used his magic to make it- a great escape with a hammock to one side, a cool, ballooned ceiling and the windows all around that made it feel like we were sort of outside even when we were inside. The only difference was that it didn’t feel as new as it had at first. It felt familiar now.

A weird knot forms in my chest as I follow Nikola outside, and it only grows when I’m greeted by the world that blows me away all over again. It wasn’t as if I forgot that we were on another planet, but it just hit me all over again whenever we were outside, and I was reminded of how insane it all was- how insane it was thatwewere here.

Nik takes no note of it as he stops and stares up at the sky. I stop at his side and do the same, except while he works his magic- ha- and focuses on strengthening the barriers he had wrapped around this place, I stare at the orange skies and the wisped clouds that pass overhead.

We’d only been here for a few days, the majority of which had been spent inside and now, we were already leaving. There was still so much to see, like the distant mountains we’d seen on our way to the river, and I was sure with Nikola’s magic, we could get up to all sorts of things out here.

“What’s wrong?” Nik asks again as he slides his hand into mine.

I smile as I peek at him from the corner of my eye. He’s still focused on his task, but I know he’s listening.

“I kind of don’t want to go.”

That claims Nik’s full attention. Skies forgotten, he looks at me, examining me carefully as the purple in his gaze flutters out.

“We have to,” he replies after a moment. I nod, because I knew that, and he relaxes a little, but not entirely. “But you don’t want to?”

“We barely spent any time here,” I reply with a slight shrug. “I only just got you to myself, and we’re leaving. It feels too soon.”

Nikola’s frown disappears as tender understanding sloshes over his side of the bond. His hand tightens in mine as he pulls us together so that we’re facing one another. I have to crane my head back a little to look at him, but when I glare at him, Nikola only smiles.

“It is too soon,” he agrees while he thumbs my knuckles. “When I brought us, here I had planned to stay for far longer, but I can not stay here without touching you.”

Heat races up my neck as I struggle to hold his gaze. Sometimes, I forgot how blunt Nik could be, and then- BAM- there it was.

“We need to figure out what’s wrong,” he continues without pause. “I can’t do that from here.”

“I know,” it was what we’d spoken about last night. Technically, we could stay here as long as we wanted, but it seemed foolish to test the boundaries of the little control when it came to each other. I mean,Iwas all for it, but Nik was worried, and I didn’t want to make that worse.

“We will be back,” he promises as he ducks his head slightly to meet my eyes. When he does, his lips tug into an almost innocent smile. “Once all is well, we will return as often as you want.”

“And as much as you want,” I add with a pointed look. “You’d want to come back too, right?”

Nikola claims my other hand in his, enveloping them both to hold against his chest, “Of course.”

Something warm and gooey explodes in my chest, spraying itself all over my heart as I beam at him.

Nik had brought me to this pocket universe twice now, and I refused for it to be my last time. It wasn’t the pack, but it felt like home in some ways. I guess it was because this was where we were most ourselves.

When we stripped back all the shit we went through, all the anxiety, shame, and anger, and just were us, we’d done it here.

I didn’t think going home would change us, but it wouldn’t be as easy as it was here, at least not at first. That made it hard to leave, but we had to. For all the sex talks my parents had forced onto me, I’d never been warned that I might turn into a sobbing baby after sex, so I needed answers- ASAP, and I needed them to come quickly because, well. I apparently very much liked things up my ass. A lot.

Like a lot.

… a disturbing amount actually.

“We can stay another night if you wish,” Nikola says, bringing my horny thoughts back to the present. “It would give you more time to replenish your strength.”

“Hey,” I groan as I tug a hand free to slap his chest. “I know you, you piece of shit. That’s code for ‘eat more you, pig’.”

Nik shakes his head, but even he can’t hide the way the corner of Nik’s lips quirk, “I never said that.”

“I hadn’t eaten in days! Days!” I protest, adding another slap to his chest for good measure. And another one, just for the fuck of it. “I was justified this time!”

“Of course,” he replies, laughing now while he tries to catch my wrists.

I knew I could be feral when it came to food, and I’d rarely felt any shame about that, but I refused to feelanyshame about what I’d become last night. I hadn’t eaten in more than three days! What sane person wouldn’t make up for lost time?!

It’s the manner in which you did it, Hagen –Zyair replies with all the haughtiness of a haughty flight attendant –you choked twice, Hagen.

And what about it?

Zyair huffs as Nik catches my swinging hands and stretches them apart, bringing us face to face. I glare at him while I pant, but he only smiles as he forces placating kisses to the corner of my lips, “I meant no harm, mon coeur (my heart).”

“Yeah, whatever, dickhead,” I grumble.

Chuckling, Nikola ramps up the kisses, kissing me all over and tracing my skin with his smile until he settles against me with a sated sigh, “But seriously, Hagen, we can stay longer if you want.”

I shake my head against him, “No, no. We shouldn’t. The sooner we go, the sooner we figure this all out, and…”

And the sooner we all get to fuck again –Zyair finishes enthusiastically.

Yes. And do that, but I wasn’t going to say it.

Nikola hums low as he draws back as if he’d heard it anyway. I think he might’ve cause there’s absolutely nothing sweet about the way he looks at me as the scent of his arousal spikes.

“Nik,” I groan with a strained huff.

“What?” He asks gruffly as if he isn’t actively staring at my mouth.

“Don’t ‘what’ me,” I scold, earning his sharp attention. “You know exactly ‘what’.”

Nikola’s lips dip into a crabby frown as he shifts his gaze to the side like a reprimanded child, “I can not control my body’s reactions to you.”

“Well, you’re going to have to figure it out becauseyou’rethe one who said we should wait until we get things all sorted out, so you can’t stand here, smelling horny and then go ‘what’,” I retort, using my best Nik voice for that last bit. “You smell like you’re about to tackle me.” Nik huffs a laugh, “I’m being serious.”

“I know,” he replies even while his lips pinch with the effort to contain any more chuckles.

He buries them into my skin as he nuzzles me, rubbing his nose against mine to further cement his scent in places already brimming with him. At this point, Nik’s scent wafted off of me as if it were my own, and Nik seemed determined to make sure that never changed.

I shudder against him as his arms slip around my waist and press my body into his while he scents me to his heart’s desire. Scenting didn’t feel as earth-shattering as it was in the past, and maybe that was because we’d already overdone it, but it still made me turn into a puddle now.

“If we’re going to do this, then we should go,” I mumble even as I tilt my head to the side, giving him better access.

Nikola dips low, licking over the marks on my neck and making my eyes roll as I cling to him. My cock pulps eagerly, but Nikola stills before I can dare to hope. I bury my groan into his hair and curses too when each breath teases me with more of him.

Laughing, Nikola’s chest vibrates against mine as he leans back and looks me over. He’s smiling again. He did that all the time now, and I was an addict.

New life goal: make Nikola smile all the time.

The smile wavers a little now though, as he surveys my marks, “Are you sure you’re ready to return home? We could go back to your apartment or the castle. Life in the pack will be very different now.”

“I mean, it should be. We’re matedandlinked, if it’s not, then something went very wrong while we were doing the deed.” I make a little humping motion, and despite himself, Nikola huffs another laugh.

“You know what I mean,” he replies while he swats my hip to make me stop. I snicker, but his smile fades as quickly as it’d come. “It will be different for you, Hagen. It will be different amongst your family.”

“Not in the way you think,” Nikola’s expression turns deadpan. I roll my eyes, “Okay, not entirely.”

The last time I’d been home, I was a depressed, spiralling mess, and I hadn’t seen my family since. I’d spoken to my parents on the phone but it’d been months since I’d been home. Given our past and everything that had happened over the last year, Nik and I had very different impressions about how today was going to go.

My prediction was that my family would be glad to see us together, and once they got over the initial shock of all my marks, things would be fine.

Nikola didn’t think we’d get that far.

The way he saw it, once my family saw my numerous marks, all hell would break loose because they’d think he’d maimed me or something. Josey would be up in arms, and so would my dads, and if they weren’t when they saw the omega mark, if they hadn’t already, it would push them over the edge.

It wasn’t a crazy assessment, especially the part about Josey, but Nik was a pessimist by nature, and he didn’t realise that when I’d left home to find him, everyone had been on board. They’d been the ones to force me into action, and whether they liked it or not, they knew that any reality without him by my side wouldn’t be a good one.

“It is not only your family,” Nikola continues while he smoothes a hand over my cheek. “We will face judgment in the pack.”

“Damon will kill- wait, no, uh- kick anyone who dares out the pack.”

That wasn’t even a question. If there was one thing Damon and Will didn’t stand for, it was prejudice in our pack.

“They will not be able to remove everyone who looks at us and does not see what we do,” Nikola continues without pause or anger for that matter. He’s oddly calm as he speaks. “And there will always be those who look at you, and think that what I did-”

“What I wanted,” I correct before he can finish.

Nikola smiles a little as a warm trickle of adoration sparks within the link, “Whatwewanted… is not right. They will always see your marks before mine. They will think I hurt you or took advantage of you.”

“You didn’t.”

“We know that, but others will not agree.”

“Then let them,” I reply with a shrug. “Let them think whatever the fuck they want, I don’t care, Nik.”

The grey in Nikola’s eyes tries to soften, but I can see his doubt as he studies me.

I frown, “Since when have you cared what other people think?”

Nikola frowns, his nose wrinkling with offence, “I don’t. I am used to this; you are not. I worry about you, Hagen.”

My heart rages for him, and I can’t help but smile as I take his face in my palms and kiss his wrinkled nose. Nikhatesthat, which makes me do it again. I snicker as he glares at me, but the radiant rush of serotonin through our bond tells me all I need to know.

“All I care about is this. You and me,” I promise as I stare at him. “You and me, Nik. Outside of us, there’s only our family and friends, and if I could win overLincoln, then everyone else will be a piece of cake.”

Nikola laughs at that, and it’s not a small laugh, but a real, heavy one that tumbles out of him with the richness I loved to hear from him. When he settles and tries to draw away, I pinch his cheeks and stretch them out to keep him close. Nikola groans but stays still as he flicks his unimpressed gaze back up to me.

“You are extremely tactile today,” he states. “And in a very annoying way.”

“You can make me stop at any time,” I remind him, but of course, he doesn’t.

“You’re making them hurt more,” his grumble is distorted since I haven’t released his cheeks and, quite frankly, have no plans to, but one thing does make me frown a little.

“More?” I ask as I loosen my grip just a little.

“They’ve been hurting,” he informs with a disturbed frown. “That’s another thing I must look into when we get home.”

“Your face has been hurting?” I ask, but he shakes his head. “Cheeks?” He nods. “A lot?”

“It’s an ache,” he supplies with a big sigh. “It comes and goes.”

“That’s weird,” I mumble, head tilting to the side as I think. “The only time my cheeks hurt is when I-” I pause, the words sticking on my tongue as I look at my mate and my hold on his still-stretched cheeks.

“When you what?” Nikola asks as he straightens, but not enough to escape my hold. It’s a little comical the way his expression tries to turn serious, but it’s a warped thing with his cheeks wide like a chipmunk’s.

“When I laugh or smile too much,” I answer as my lips tug into a wide smile. Finally realising him, I step closer and grin at my mate. “Nik, is your face hurting ’cause you’ve been smiling so much with me?”

Blinking down at me, Nikola stands still for a moment as he seems to register that and struggles to compute.

A whole minute passes before he hesitantly nods his head, “Perhaps.”

“Nik,” I groan as I jump and loop my arms around his neck to kiss him.“You’re so fucking- ugh!”

“Ugh?” He echoes against my lips.

“Yeah,” I confirm as I kiss him harder.

Nikola’s confusion ripples through me, but he returns my kiss with complete devotion. My soul vibrates inside of me, desperately seeking his, and I only settle when his magic brings them together. Melting, I pull back with a sigh. Blinking my heavy eyes open, I meet Nikola’s waiting stare and don’t dare look away.

Nikola frowns, “I still do not understand, but I am glad you are so pleased by my pain.”

I snort as my fingers delve into his hair, “Good,” I mumble as I comb it back and out of his face. “Now, finish up with the barriers so we can go home and figure out that other thing.”

Nik hums before he kisses the inside of my palm. “If you’re sure that you’re ready to leave.”

“I’m sure,” I confirm and he smiles again until a wince stops him.

“It hurts,” he explains pitifully.

My heart floods as a similar ache forms behind my smile, “Mine too.”

————

Returning home is strange because the last time I’d been here, I’d been a husk of myself, and this time, I’m happier than I think I’ve ever been in my entire life. Also, we don’t have to drive, and that’s always a plus.

“I’m curious, how did you imagine one would drive from one universe for another?” Nikola asks drawing my gaze away from the back door. Dad was too nosey to miss anyone approaching the front door, so we’d chosen the back to give us the element of surprise which was always needed with a family like mine.

“You’d figure something out if I really wanted to,” I reply with a smirk. “Right?”

Nikola hums non-concomitantly, but that’s all the answer I need. I would drive through space before I died.

Climbing up the back stairs, Nik lets me take the lead, following by the hands we keep clasped together.

I wasn’t scared to see my family. If anything, I was excited because it had been too long, but the nerves were starting to kick up a fuss in my stomach. Everything was going to be okay, I knew that, but I’d spent years watching my siblings bring their mates home and it was never a smooth thing.

Levi had basically hidden Jayson away until he couldn’t any more, and by the time he’d told everyone, it had been a big fucking mess. Damon had disappeared for months, and when he returned it was with Will, a human.

Everyone knew Nik, he’d been part of our lives forever, but shit had been fucked for so long that even as close as our families were, it had never been like this. But no matter what happened, they would learn to love him ’cause I loved him- at least, that’s what I kept telling myself.

Slipping through the back door, I breathe in, and I know in an instant exactly that everyone’s here. Great, at least I’d have Jayson to back me up with whatever was to come. But it was a little strange that they were all home.

“What-” I stop my whisper, and instead, try our link for the first time. There hadn’t been any reason to yet, but now… –what day is it?

A swell of childish glee swells between the both of us, sparking something electric through our link as we smile at one another.

A Sunday, I believe –Nikola replies and I shudder as his deep voice slips through my mind, surrounding me like a warm blanket. We definitely needed to use the link more.

A Sunday. Well, that might’ve explained it. We didn’t always have big family meals, but when we did, it was usually on a Sunday if everyone could make it. It was either that or it was a special occasion, and besides Josey and I’s birthday, there was nothing else on the roster soon.

Continuing onwards, Nik and I move through familiar hallways, heading in the direction of the voices closest to us. The house isn’t quiet, it never really was, but when a shout sounds, I stop to look at Nikola. He’s tense, but he relaxes a second later as a layer of magic slithers over him, muffling the outside sounds for him.

“I’m okay,” he states before I can ask.

I nod, squeezing his palm before I continue onwards with the reminder of something else I have to do now that we are home. I didn’t plan to treat Nik differently now that I knew he was autistic, but I did have every intention of learning everything there was to know about the spectrum and exactly where he fell on it. But first off, we had to face the family.

We head down the hallway leading into the dining room. From the smell of things, Peter cooked up something good. My stomach rumbles, but I ignore it, along with Nikola’s stifled chuckle, as we approach the open doorway. The voices rise, making my heart thump widely against my chest.

Well, here we go.

No one is seated at the large ornate table yet, the food isn’t even laid out. They’re still setting it up and trying to get everyone together, which is why there are only a few people inside the room right now.

My Old Man circles the table with Elijah tucked in front of him. He helps Elijah set the table which is weird because that was usually Josey and I’s job, but Josey’s not the one standing opposite Eli and Pops. It’s Jayson, who chatters happily despite the Old Man’s annoyed groans.

“Jayson,” he mutters, using his extra-nice voice as he smiles sweetly at Elijah. “I don’t know how many times I have to tell you this, but I genuinely do not give a damn what type of jam you prefer.”

“I know,” Jayson replies undisturbed. “But I have to tell you so that if you miss it next Christmas you have no excuse. So, as I was saying, you might think that strawberry jam is the most satisfying with cheese, but raspberry is a surprising alternative-”

“UGHH!” Dad groans as he straightens and glares at Jayson, who takes a measured step back. Pops tries to take a step, but he stops when Elijah scolds him with a pat. “I’m sorry, Elijah. Your father is so incredibly annoying.”

“Don’t listen to him,” I stiffen, heart leaping at the sound of Josey’s approaching voice. I’m excited to see them all, but her… – “Keep talking about your jams, Jayson. I care.”

She’s already snickering when she enters from the other doorway, but the smirk on her face evaporates as her eyes immediately zone in on me and Nik. The handful of knives in her hands slips, clattering to the floor in a rainfall of clambering sounds that make Alex jolt at her side, and clutch her handful of forks.

“Hagen?” Josey breathes while she stares at me with wide eyes like I’m a ghost.

Everyone’s heads snap in our direction and then-

“HAGEN!”

It’s a chorused cry as they all rush me with massive smiles that I know I match as I try not to vibrate in my skin. Nik releases my hand with a mental and physical shove that releases me before I have to think about it. I rush forward, arms open, and even though she’s the furthest from me, Josey’s the first to crash against me.

It yanks the air from my lungs, but I barely notice it as I cling to my other half. Josey’s hugs were always brutal, but for this one she hoists me up and swings me around like a long-lost doll she adored. The world seems to shift back into place as I squeeze her back, laughing as Jayson slams into us next, almost sending us to the floor but when our Old Man comes with a tackle from the other side, it keeps us all upright.

“Did someone say, Hagen?” A voice, Levi’s, calls as a bunch of rushing steps sound from afar.

“Hagen? He’s home?!” That’s Dad, and from the sounds of things, he’s coming in hot.

The family bond flares, burning hot like a flare as the three that squeeze the living daylights out of me each try to get a hold of some part of me. I feel smaller arms wrapped around my legs and smile when Elijah and Alex’s excitement warms the family bond as well.

Jayson’s the first to pull back, bringing his dark eyes to mine, “Hagen!” He ruffles my hair with a wide grin. “When did you get back?”

“Just now,” I reply, chuckling as he looks me over, searching for something, only to freeze when his gaze drops to my neck.

“And you didn’t think to tell us?” Pops asks, stealing my attention as he glares at me. There’s real anger behind his gaze as he looks me over, his black eyes a little moist, “We were so worried about you.”

“I’m fine,” I promise, smiling as I try to step back, but Josey’s hold is inescapable. “Honestly, I’m great.”

Dad’s eyes narrow, hardening with disbelief until the rage seems to give, replaced instead by pure relief. His lips tug up into a familiar smile instead. He shakes his head as he gives a big sigh, “What have I told you about sneaking in here like a whore?”

“Dad!” I groan, with a pointed look at his grandkids.

He glances at the kids before he shrugs, “They should know what type of uncle they have.”

Rolling my eyes, I shift my gaze to Josey as she finally releases me, only to still when I spot the tears in her eyes. They’re not balanced on the edge, about to be retracted like they usually were when Josey was close to showing such a weakness. No, they flow freely, pouring out of her golden eyes like I’ve never seen before.

Josey didn’t cry, like ever, but she cries now as a small sob slips from her trembling lips.

“Jo,” I whisper quietly, my heart pounding for her as our bond floods with hurt relief. “Hey, I’m here.”

Josey nods quickly as she tries to contain herself, wiping at her tears, but they don’t stop coming. My lips tug up with a tease on the tip of my tongue, but I forget it when her slitted gaze catches on my neck, on my marks, and very quickly, relief becomes the very last thing I feel in our bond.

“Oh shit,” Pops breathes from my side, and like the rest of them, his wide eyes are now entirely fixed on my neck and all the marks around it. “Oh…oh shit!”

Alex tries to say something about his cursing, but none of them seem to hear it, and neither do I as I watch the rest of us come crashing inside. Dad leads the charge, with everyone else at his back. They all have the same look of disbelief that morphs into relief and joy when they spot me. They try to charge at me the way the others had, only they notice the marks way before and slow in their tracks to stare.

Peter gasps, his hands shooting up to cover his mouth, but his wide blue eyes are unfamiliarly clear as he stares. Dad’s jaw is a slack thing, and in any other situation, I think I’d laugh at seeing him completely shocked for probably the first time in my life, but this one makes it a bit harder to do that.

“Oh fuck,” Levi whispers as he slows to a stop at Jayson’s side with Kane on his hip.

“What’s wrong?” Will asks, looking around wildly. He pokes at Damon, who’s an unreadable, blank wall that only moves to slide his mate’s hand in his. Will immediately looks at me, and the confusion makes room for shock instead, “Oh fuck.”

“Everyone’s cursing,” Taylor announces before she turns tail and runs. “I’m getting the swear jar but I’ll come say hi after Uncle Hagen!”

When Taylor’s fading steps pass, the room becomes impossibly quiet, probably quieter than it’s ever been before when we were all together, but not a single one of them speaks a word. They all just stare.

“I was expecting heckling,” I tease with an awkward chuckle as I barely resist the urge to rub the back of my neck. “You should see your faces.”

The staring continues.

I shift anxiously, about to take a step back, but before I have to, Nikola steps into the space at my side. I breath a sigh of relief as he reclaims my hand with his, and holds on tight. Nik’s expression is plain as ever, unreadable to everyone else, but I knew him and could feel the mountain of nerves twisting inside of him. He hardly gave a damn what they’d think or say about him, but for me, the nerves reared their head to join mine.

“Uh, so yeah,” I say when the strange silence endures. “We worked it out,” I say raising our clasped hands before I realise I look like I’m announcing an engagement. I drop them immediately and try again, “I mean, we’re mated… clearly… and we’re all good.”

“Mated?” Pops echoes. “Hagen, you’ve been mauled.”

“More like attacked,” Damon mumbles under his breath. Nik’s gaze shifts sharply his way, but their strange relationship encourages Damon to smirk, “Oh, don’t look at me like that. You finally did it.”

“Did it?” Pops echoes, again. “Were all your therapy sessions together to make sure he did this?” He waves in my direction before he squints, “One, two, three… Goddess, have mercy. How fucking many are they?!”

“Five,” Levi answers, still looking gobsmacked while he tries to hold Kane back from rushing at me. “Is that even-” he blinks and then blinks again before managing, “How?”

“With teeth,” Nikola deadpans.

Everyone’s gaze shifts to the right to look at him like he’s crazy and when I snort, they shift back to fix me with the same stare.

“It’s actually six,” I reveal which only adds to the whole super-shocked thing.

“He bit you six times,” Josey asks, her voice a low-guarded thing. She’s the only one who isn’t looking at me. Her attention is all for Nikola, who she eyes like some sort of enemy.

“Yes,” I reply, stepping in front of him. “And I wanted it.”

Josey’s eyes widen slightly when they meet mine. The harshness in her stare wavers a little as she stares at me, looking confused and lost, and my heart squeezes in my chest as that confusion taints our bond.

“You wanted six marks,” Dad repeats, speaking for the first time. He seems a bit more collected with his jaw lifted from the ground, but his suspicion rivals Josey’s as he looks between us. “Did you even know it was possible? I certainly didn’t.”

“No,” I admit, “neither of us did, but they all took so clearly it’s fine. And I marked him too.”

Everyone looks at Nikola, seeing only the one mark but I wasn’t going to force his sleeves up and point out the thinner ones because then they’d be asking the type of questions I very much did not want to answer to my family.

“Does that mean we can get more marks?” Jayson asks with obvious excitement.

Damon snorts a laugh, “I don’t think any of us have what it takes to mark each other six times.”

Jayson slumps, and from the corner of my eye, I spot Will do the same. When our eyes meet, Will offers me a warm smile and a thumbs-up that makes me smile.

“Six fucking marks,” Pops breathes, with another shake of his head as he palms his forehead. “And you marked him too? More?” I nod, and the shaking continues. “My god, you animals.”

“Stop it,” Dad scolds with a slap to the wrist that makes Pops wince.

“Jewels, come on,” he replies with a haughty laugh. “They’re breaking records over here and I’m not supposed to react?! I kept it together for the scenting, which, by the way-” he pauses to look at us, “reeking, yet again-” turning back to Dad, he finishes, “but a man has limits!”

“We’re not reeking,” I try, but Dad and Damon’s laugh cuts me off halfway through.

“You smell like he pissed on you,” Damon informs, earning a firm nod from the Old Man.

“You don’t even smell like my son,” he states. “You smell like him, but him on crack, and you look like someone mistook your neck for a piece of beef jerky.”

“Goddess, kill me,” I mutter as I try to ignore just about every part of that.

“C-Can I ask,” Peter starts carefully. He eyes me, purposefully holding my gaze with quiet concern. “If they’re six, w-where’s the last?”

Curse Peter and his perceptiveness. CURSE IT!

“Ugh, you’ll see,” I reply with a rough chuckle. If they were freaking for these, then they’d lose it for the last. “Anyway, does it matter? I’m home, I got Nik back, and we’re all good now. We should be celebrating that! I got my mate back!”

The attention falls on Nik again, and this time it’s not fleeting.

Suddenly, they’re all looking at Nikola, likereallylooking at him and realising that we’re bonded now, and a package deal now. It’s not just that I’d accepted him, but that he’d taken me back after that state I’d been in after he’d stopped fighting for us.

Nikola blinks under their gazes, never faltering, but when no one speaks, he glances my way. I nod my encouragement, giving his hand a squeeze that has his eyes narrow with mock determination.

Raising a hand, Nikola takes a breath before he waves, “Hello again.”

I stare at Nik like the rest of them, but not because I’m still stuck in some perpetual state of shock, but because I fall in love with him all over again.

Nik was probably the smartest person I knew, and he had all these little ticks that made himhim, but fuck… he could be really fucking sweet sometimes without even trying.

I cling to his hand, using it to anchor me before I do something silly like try and kiss him. Everyone here ate their mates’ faces off no matter who was in the room, but I didn’t know if I would stop with how I was feeling right now, and the last thing I needed was for my family to see what I became when it came to Nik.

“Hey,” Will replies with a friendly smile as he pulls Damon forward.

“Yeah, hey,” Damon snorts as he pushes past Jayson with more force than is needed. “Alright, everyone. Stop with the staring. He shrinks in sunlight.” Nikola scowls, but he doesn’t try to escape Damon and Will’s incoming attack. I let him go, ignoring the look of betrayal he casts my way before Damon pulls him in for a hug, “It was worth the wait, yeah?”

Stiff as a board, Nikola takes a second before he hugs Damon back, “Yes.”

Will is quick to join, and at their parents’ prompting, Alex jumps into the pileup. Nikola melts into it, relaxing as they overwhelm the bond with their joy for him. It’s a little startling, not the joy itself but how great it is. I always knew Nik had a special relationship with Will and Damon, but this felt different. This felt like a love so deep it carved out its own secret place within the family bond.

“I’m happy for you, Hagen,” Jayson says as he steps forward with an ear-splitting grin. “It was about time!”

“Yeah, it was,” I reply with a chuckle as Levi joins our little circle with Kane. The little guy steals all my attention as his little outstretched arms reach desperately for me. “Kaneeeeee!”

“Haggaaaa,” he whimpers. He’d been trying to get at me this whole time but Levi hadn’t let him. I take him in my arms now and he beams with renewed excitement. “Hagaaaa!”

“Kaneeee!” I scream back, blowing raspberries into his neck until he squeals.

“I’m glad it all worked out,” Levi says as he smiles at me with genuine excitement. “I hope since it worked you don’t hate me too much for shaking you and stuff.”

“You mean when you grabbed me by my collar and went all alpha on me?” I reply as I tilt my head. I’m joking, but it makes Nikola straighten and glare at the back of Levi’s head. “It’s fine, honestly. I don’t hate you, I needed it. You and Damon got me off my ass.”

Levi smiles while Nikola’s harsh gaze shifts to Damon, but Damon doesn’t cower under it. He just smirks like Pops and tries to ruffle Nikola’s hair. Nikola seems to have a heart attack.

“Me next,” Peter mumbles as he peeks around Jayson’s side.

His blue eyes find mine, and while he’s clearly happy for me, I can see the quiet examination he makes of me. Peter wasn’t like the others. He was more attuned to our feelings than sometimes even we were. I was sure he was looking for some kind of hesitation or fear, but when he finds none, his lips stretch into a smile before he scrambles forward to hug me, barely giving me the time to hand Kane back to Levi.

“I-I worried,” he whispers against my chest.

“I’m sorry,” I mumble as I squeeze him, careful not to use too much strength. “I couldn’t call home.”

“N-No,” he shakes his head as he slinks back. Tucking his long strands behind his ear, he peers at me, “I-I thought… w-what I told yo-you… I th-thought maybe I-I-I ruined things.”

It takes a minute for me to realise that he’s talking about when he’d told me about the mate awareness. Goddess, that felt like forever ago and it was. I mean, back then, when I’d thought Nik and I were on the right track, we weren’t even at the real beginning of us. We were dancing on eggshells, both of us waiting for the shoe to drop, and then it did.

“You didn’t ruin anything,” I promise Peter with a squeeze to his side that makes him giggle. “If anything, I think you started us off on the right track.”

It was a bumpy fucking road, with loads of ups and downs, but it’d brought us here, and that was all that mattered to me.

“B-But I d-did worry wh-when you were g-g-gone too,” Peter adds as he peers at me with sudden seriousness. “All-All those v-v-v-vampires.” Peter barely gets the word out, growing suddenly pale at the mention of the one thing he feared the very most in this world.

“They were fine,” I lie. Peter didn’t need to know that they were worse than he could ever imagine.

“Fine? You’re telling me you mettheoldest vampire alive, and they were ‘fine’?” Damon asks, missing the plot to save Peter’s sanity entirely as he and Will drag Nikola back over. They each have an arm looped in one of his and Alex is tightly clutching one of his free hands. My gaze darts now to his free one, itching to clutch it, but I fist my hands to stop myself. My family already thought we were crazy with all my marks; I didn’t need to prove them right by showing how clingy I’d become too.

“Yeah,” I reply, but I can hear the lies in my own voice. “I mean, Lincoln is the scariest person I’ve ever met,” Peter shrinks back, “but he was nice when Nik was around.”

“I guess we should be impressed kid,” Pops says as he and Dad join our circle. “You went to the black castle, faced the big boss and came back with your mate.” He shoots Nik a sinister smile, “You can’t escape us now, Nikola. You’re here for every family dinner, every family outing. I want your ass on the frontlines the next time we’re having a Midnight Nerf War.” Nik pales and Pops cackles in the face of it, “Yeah, your stuck now.”

“Stop scaring him,” I say, swatting Pops.

“Alright, alright,” he grumbles, swatting me back as he sobers. When he looks at Nik again, the humour in his eyes wavers a little as he scratches at the back of his neck, “Were… were your family okay with this?”

It’s then that I notice how my dads clutch each other’s hands, holding onto one another for the news that no doubt terrified them. Before Nik and I joined the picture, Aunty Kat had been one of their closest friends, but over the years with all our shit, we’d dragged their friendship down in the process. We’d need to fix that.

“Yes,” Nikola replies firmly. “They were not at the start, and it was hard, but-” he glances my way, “-Hagen made them accept it.”

“Made them, huh?” Dad echoes as he raises a brow over his smile.

I nod quickly, feeling pride fill my chest, “ThemandNik,” I reveal, laughing when Nik stiffens a little, “he wanted nothing to do with me.”

Everyone glances at Nik with shock that he misinterprets as horror, “I did not believe his affections were true,” he defends quickly. “It took me time to realise that they were.”

“Wow,” Will breathes while he looks between us. “So, Hagen was the one running after you this time?”

Nikola shifts uncomfortably, but when I reach for his hand, and drag him away from everyone but Alex who follows, he relaxes some. “Yeah, but honestly, I think it helped us in the end.”

Nikola glances and in his eyes, I know he feels the same.

It had sucked and everything that had brought us to that point wasn’t something I ever wanted to relive, but for the first time in my life, I’d felt how hard it was constantly chasing after someone who wanted nothing to do with you. And Nik felt what it was like being pursued by someone who’d hurt you and refused to stop anyway.

It made coping with our past a hell of a lot easier.

“An omega mark?!?”

I jolt, twisting away from Pop’s nosey ass, but all that does is put my mark on display for everyone else. Gasps spread across the room, causing me to turn back, and then, the shock is back, along with a touch of horror. Great.

“You bit the back of his neck,” Dad snaps, gaze pinned on Nikola with burning rage. “That is incredibly dangerous!”

“Yes, it is,” Nikola replies, not bothering to argue or defend himself.

“And I’m fine,” I remind as I try to reclaim their attention.

“Are you okay?” Pops asks, taking my face in his hands and squishing my cheeks together as he peers down at me. “Hagen, my son, blink twice if you’re not.” I think he’s joking at first, but his red eyes glow as he shakes me. “Blink, son. BLINK!”

“Would you fuck off?” I groan as I slap his hands away. “I’m fine!”

“Y-You’re not an o-omega,” Peter comments, his head tilted to one side with the utmost confusion.

“Will that even take?” Damon asks, earning a fresh, real glare from Nikola. He lifts his hand in surrender. “I’m just asking a question.”

“It’ll take,” Nikola and I reply in unison.

“Oh wow,” Will murmurs to his mate, never mind the fact that we all have supersonic hearing compared to his. “That’s uncanny.”

“I know,” Damon murmurs back. “Kinda cute too.”

“Isn’t it just?” Will whispers.

Rolling my eyes, I look to Levi for help, but he’s staring at me like I’ve grown a second head, “…How?”

Apparently, ‘how’ was Levi’s favourite new word.

“Hagen, blink!” Pops shouts, making me glare at him. “Twice. You have to do it twice.”

“I don’t get it,” Jayson suddenly pipes up, and I’m almost hopeful it has to do with me, but when I look at him, he’s frowning angrily at Levi, “So he can have six, including an omega’s mark, but I can’t get another?”

“Goddess, help me,” I mumble, but before she can send down a rope to tug me up, Dad’s on me. He tries to tug me away from Nikola which doesn’t work with our hands glued together. When I move, Nik moves, and vice-versa.

“Wow,” Will whispers again while he and Damon peer at us. “It’s like they’re one person.”

“They breathe in sync,” Damon adds as if he and Will didn’t do that too.

“Hagen,” Dad breathes, peering at me. “This… this is a lot more serious than the others. Do you know what an omega mark symbolises?”

“Yeah,” I mumble while my face heats. “And they’re all important to us.”

“It’s an omega mark, Hagen,” he repeats.

“I know,” I groan. “And it works for us.”

That makes his eyes widen before he peers between Nik and me with what feels like a magnifying glass.

“It’s fine,” I promise as I shrug out of his hold, stepping into Nik’s space until his entire body is shadowing mine. “We’re fine.”

“Because this is what fine looks like,” Pops mumbles, and I know he means it as a joke, but it sends me over the edge.

I was prepared for jokes, but the jokes, paired with the ogling, and the way everyone is looking at Nikola makes something inside of me snap.

“Yes, it is!” I boom, tightening my hold on Nikola’s hand. “I wanted this. I chose him, and everything that came with him to make us, so stop looking at him like he’s done something wrong.”

“It’s fine, Hagen,” Nik tries to whisper but I shake my head.

“No, it’s not,” I growl, making them all stiffen a little. My eyes narrow, and I feel them glowing like the magic around me, “I don’t care if you don’t like it; it’s not your bond. It’s ours. Stop looking at us as if we did something wrong, and stop blaming Nik! This is what both of us wanted, and you can be shocked and tell all the jokes you want, but don’t questionus.We’re finally happy and I’m not risking anyone getting in the way of that. So get on board or… or,” I falter as I try to think of a threat big enough to scare everyone here.

“Jesus, kid, we get it. Don’t give yourself an aneurism over it,” Pops mumbles, but when I glare at him his smile slips.

“I’m being serious. This is us, take it or fucking leave it. I marked him all over too, and yeah, maybe that’s insane, and maybe we’re psychos, and maybe things got a bit out of hand, but its what we wanted. Nik didn’t force anything on me.”

“Are you sure?”

It’s the first time she’s spoken, and I hate that those are the words she’s chosen to use.

My gaze zones in on Josey, who’d stood back during this whole thing, watching it all with clear distaste, but when I look at her, I see fear in her eyes. If it wasn’t written all over her face- which it is- she’s scared. The others wouldn’t see it like that, but I knew Josey better than anyone else in this world, and I could feel it- see it, it’s fear in her eyes as she glares at Nikola.

“Josey,” I whisper, stepping forward and away from Nik. He lets me go, but I can feel his apprehension running through our bond as I move through the others to get to her.

I stop in front of her and wait until her gaze falls to me. The tears are back in her eyes, gathering faster with each step I take towards her, but she doesn’t let them fall.

“I’m okay,” I promise, and then the tears are falling freely as her lip trembles.

“Are you?” she croaks quietly, her brows tugging together. “Are you really?”

She knows I am. She can feel it through our bond the same way I can feel the terror lashing within hers, mixing with a flicker of hope she doesn’t want to let free.

I nod, blinking back my own tears as they start to gather.

Of course, she was scared. Of course, she was fucking terrified that maybe I didn’t want this but was forced to deal with it anyway because that’d been the trend of our childhood when it came to Nikola. It was what he wanted, how he treated me, how he caged me, and Josey had been there throughout it all. She’s seen more of it than anyone else, and had endured it with me because if Nik had me surrounded by a barbed fence, then Josey would get cut too, ’cause she would never let go of my hand.

“Josey,” I say, taking her hands in mine and squeezing them with everything I have. “I’m okay.”

Josey’s eyes search mine, probing almost desperately for the truth, because a piece of her can’t believe that, not after everything.

I’m okay –I say, using the bond so she knows it’s true –You don’t have to be worry about me anymore.

Her lip trembles and I can tell she’s biting the inside of her cheek because that’s what she does when she’s trying her best to hold it all in. I nod, smiling a little and it’s like she breaks, but before anyone else can catch her sob, she muffles it against my shirt as she hugs me.

My arms wrap around her in an instant, keeping her close as I breathe her in.

This was home. Above the rest of the family, outside of the comforts I always knew, Josey was home. She was the one constant in my life, and we were lucky enough to love one another more than we loved ourselves. If the roles were reversed, I knew I’d be the same, if not worse.

“I am happy for you,” she whispers, needing to clarify that. “I am happy for you, and I know you want this, it’s just-”

“Hard,” I finish when she can’t. Nodding, I squeeze her tighter, “I know, but I love him.”

Josey’s muscles unlock, her body slumps, letting the fight slip from her as she hears my words and how much I mean them.

With a sniff, she nods against me, “Then, I’m happy for you, Hagen.”

We hold one another for a while, forgetting everyone else until our geriatric father decides to cut in.

“I did that,” he mumbles, most likely to Nikola or Jayson. “They’re my twins.”

Josey and I turn together to look at him, and sure enough, he’s smiling proudly at the two of us as if he has some real part to play in this moment right now.

“I got it!” Taylor announces as she races into the room with a large jar stuffed with bills and a paper and pen tucked under her arm. “I wrote down every curse I heard on the way! You guys owe us soooo much money!”

While Alex and Elijah rush over to see just how much they’d earned, the rest of us burst out laughing, including Nik, who chuckles a little at their antics, his eyes warming at the sight. My gaze catches his and it’s a strange thing, seeing him surrounded by my family, but it’s something I suddenly adore because I know in my heart that he’s a part of us now.

It might take time for it all to smooth out, but we’re a family, me and him, us and them, and that’s not something that’s ever going to change.

We were home.

———-

I really needed this, I mean the fluff was out of this world and I now have a new version of Hagen and Nik I love even more.

GOOFY HAGEN AND SLIGHTLY ANNOYED, FOREVER IN LOVE NIKOLA!!!!!!! INJECT IT INTO MY VEIINS!!!!!!!!

Thoughts????????

Thoughts on this big fat and long chapter. I mean, it’s getting harder to write family scenes with so many people in lmfaoooo, but I loveeee them, because it reminds me why I love them all in turn.

Jayson was fucking killllinggggg me complaining about the marks, and Will and Damon’s little conversations made me want to reread Delicate all over again. Also, Aiden?!!!!

MY UNHINGED HUSBAND: BLINK TWICE!!!!!! I love that man!!!

I LOVE THAT MAN

Ugh, I absolutely adored Hagen this chapter, I’m so glad I went with his POV, cause he was honestly such a treasure, and I love him more and more as we see the personality we knew in the other books make a return here!

Can’t wait for what’s next!!!!!!!!

Until next time,

Byeeeeeee Humanssssss