Damn it to hell. Altan is avoiding me at all costs since he basically told me off that night. Yea we may have talked but it was just a casual conversation but it wasn’t serious and since that night, I haven’t seen him, only Gary and Brent. They told me they haven’t seen much of him either so I have no idea where he is or what he is doing. 

I know I should have come to them when I came back but I didn’t and there is no excuse as to why, not a good enough one for Altan to accept. He knew I was back given his powers so I should have just gone to see them. I didn’t know Altan was my mate, hell no one knew, not even his parents. He didn’t want anyone to know he was suffering all those years ago and until he met Brent, he was in silent pain and even more so after what Brent had done and he rejected him. 

I learned a lot about my tiger God of a mate since I have been spending a lot of time at the packhouse and with Gary, Brent, and his mama, Adin. They told me how they kept Altan away from Caleb for eight years and knew it wasn’t right but it happened so ever since Altan was a baby people have been keeping him in the dark, keeping things from him, and lying to him. Now I’m one of those people. He has such a good heart and is so kind, loving, and down to earth that I kick myself in the ass all the time for hurting him like I did.

I know Brent was right that Altan will come around if he was able to get to know Brent and try with him after their history, I know he will with me as well but it’s hard to look him in the eyes and see him hurt because of me. He is too beautiful of a man inside and out to be hurting, in any way from anyone. The only person that I know of that has never hurt him who is in love with him is Gary.

They have been together for four years and are so in love that you just look at them and can see their love for one another even if they aren’t in the same room. They aren’t even true mates and have a love like they do. 

Thinking back to the conversations and knowing what I know about Altan, I came up with an Idea and hoped it would work out how I’m hoping it will. 

“Are you ok, Joseph?” Altan’s mama asked, startling me out of my thoughts. 

“I knocked, but I guess you were too deep in thought to notice.” They said. 

“Not really, I just want the four of us together. I know I screwed up but no amount of apologizing will make him feel better. Even as a person without Amar he’s still complicated and I just want to make things right. Is that really too much to ask?” I asked them. 

“No, it’s not too much to ask. It took Caleb and I a while to be where we are today, I don’t want that for my baby boy. Also he's not complicated, he's just been through so much that when he's had enough, he shuts down and that's just who he is. Here’s my advice, this family on both sides value actions because the pain they all suffered, no amount of words can heal it. When he gets home from work, he has an hour and a half of training with the warriors. While he’s doing that the other two can help you come up with the perfect way to break through to him. Brent himself is close but not quite there so talk to him about how he did it.” Adin said and I smiled. 

“Thank you.” I said, hopping off the bar stool and running to my room and got on my laptop first working on our latest build for Collen and emailing it to him. I’m so grateful he’s my boss and gave me two weeks vacation to try and fix things.

While I was on my computer I looked up physical ways some couples have apologized to one another and they all sucked ass. Altan is a God and super empathic and when hurt, it runs deep. 

Human actions of apology aren’t enough. I have to do more than just cook dinner, schedule a spa day or buy chocolate and flowers. 

I have no idea how long I was researching but I woke up to a smiling Brent. 

“Well good morning sleeping beauty.” He chuckled. 

“Mmm, what time is it?” I asked. 

“It’s a little after three thirty.” He said. 

“Gary working late?” I asked, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. 

“Yea, Altan is training right now.” He said and I sighed. 

We just stared at each other. 

“How did you do it?” I asked. 

“He came to me, I was in that mental institution and he came to visit one day and we just talked. I had a lot of time to think in those six months and so did he. He doesn’t trust me or forgive me yet but after I had dinner with his family on common ground a few times we all came to an understanding. They don’t exactly trust me either but as you can see I’m able to do more without supervision and live life normally.” He chuckled and I nodded. 

“I’m trying my best, I just don’t know what to do other than just that scavenger hunt thing.” 

“Well there are a few things you can do he likes, you can do that and more.” He said. 

“Like?” I asked. 

“Well he always sacrifices himself so honestly speaking anything can work as you planned with him in mind. If you take him to the movies, ask him what he likes, let him take control without realizing it but also don’t do it if you're really not into it, you don’t want to hide things or lie to him anymore. That’s going to ruin your efforts in getting him to open up. Also, listen. Don’t get all defensive if he calls you out on your bullshit because that’s just going to prove his point, you didn’t process what he said if you automatically argue.” He said. 

“Thanks, Brent.” I said and got to planning. 

When I knew Altan would be home, I walked over to his house and knocked. 

“Hi.” I said. 

“Hey, what’s up?” He asked as he was just in a towel, water dripping down his well defined pecs and hard eight pack stomach, his hair a wild wet mess that I want to run my hands through it and all over his fine body. He cleared his throat and I snapped back to reality. 

“I was wondering if we could hang out, just the two of us.” I said hoping he’d say ‘yes’.

“I’m honestly tired Joseph.” He said sighing but I was pleading to him with my eyes as best I could without coming off as creepy.

“But, I’ll be out in a minute.” He said disappearing into the house and I sat on the swing on the porch. 

As he came out he looked so hot wearing a pair of tight blue jeans and a white thin sweater that clung to his stomach, chest, and arms. His hair was still messy but in a sexy way.

“So…” He said. 

"I just want to start by saying, I know what I did was really hard for you. I know that now. Thank you for pointing that out, what else is worth knowing here? I can actually never ever thank you enough for all that you did for saving my life. Thankful for only and only you who actually had been my very savior. Thank you, more and more for being my knight in shining armor, as well as my rescuer. If you hadn't saved me that day, I would have lost my very life. I am thankful for you for what you did for me, for giving me a second chance. You gave me that chance at making things right again and I would die trying to make you happy. Nothing means more to me than seeing you smile. I’ll work on this until the day I can no longer be brought back if that’s what it’ll take.” I said looking at his deep blue eyes.

“It was, more than you know Joseph. I think that’s a part of why I’m so upset. You were back on earth for eight months and didn’t reach out, not even to Gary. You didn’t know we were mates back then which is on me because I didn't want you to feel that you hurt someone else especially another mate. I know you’re trying, so I’ll tell you this, let’s just hang out and see where it goes.” He said. Well, that’s better than nothing at all. 

“So how was work?” I asked. 

“Good, working with special needs kids really isn’t as difficult for me as it is for some. I love it, it’s just as if you’re taking care of younger kids but with a lot more attention and supervision needed as well as assistance so it’s all very demanding but I absolutely love it and I have a teacher’s assistant so it’s not just me dealing with fifteen or so kids myself.” He said and I smiled. 

“I can tell you really love those kids.” I smiled. 

“I do, I can’t wait to have some of my own. Hopefully in the future we can all be there for them.” He said ‘we’ does that mean…?

“I’m sure you’d be a great dad, you have so many great role models. Although they didn’t start out that way they got through it together.” I said. 

“That’s not true, my parents were and are wonderful and raised me the best way they knew how. Yea mama may have done some major messed up stuff but they did it with good intentions and thought they were protecting themselves. Yea I may have disliked mama for a long time for keeping me from my papa but in no way were any of them not great, they all were wonderful from the very beginning no matter when I met them. You don’t know everything Joseph so don’t act like you do, please? What about you? How’s work?” He asked after he defended his parents which now I felt like an ass for saying that about them without really knowing the whole story which I still don’t.

“I’m sorry, you’re right. I won’t talk about things I don’t know again so I don’t make an ass out of myself and well I would like to have kids someday, I just have a lot of work to do on myself. As for work, it’s fun, I love when I can be creative, I also like the mental stimulation I get when my brain is trying to figure out how to put together blueprints and models.” I said. 

“You sound like Brent.” He chuckled. 

“Is that such a bad thing?” I teased. 

“Not at all, it’s cute honestly. I can tell you have your differences though. He’s more vocal about his thoughts and feelings, you rather hold yours in to an extent unlike myself when I keep how I feel to myself all the time to avoid people feeling bad about hurting my feelings so I guess in a way if you mashed him and I, you’d come out. He’s also more emotionally vulnerable than you, but that’s ok. In some ways we balance each other out.” He said looking at me and I looked down under his intense look.

“If you say so.” I said. 

“I know so, just because I’m upset now does not mean we can’t all be together. I have visions, remember.” He said winking at me and I blushed. 

“I’ll work as hard as I can to make it come true even if it kills me.” I said. 

“I did not save you all those years ago just to kill you again so help me if you work yourself to death Joseph Kingsley I’ll kill you myself and then revive you.” He playfully glared at me as if he was challenging me to say something but I kept quiet.

“I know you’re only here for two more weeks so let’s make the best of it. I know it may not seem like it but I want the four of us to work out together, we all mean something to each other so let’s see where things go. I don’t want to be without my three beautiful amazing in their own way mate’s any longer than I have to be.” He said helping me up and pulling me into the house. 

“Well I see you two talked.” Brent said.

“We did and we both agreed to work on it.” I said. 

“Good because I can’t stand to see y’all separated. You guys need each other and I need you both and hopefully Gary as well when he forgives me.” He said. Oh right, Gary is Vince’s equivalent for this pairing, at least that’s what I think.

“He’ll come around, mommy did in the end.” Altan smiled. 

“Well while you two were talking, I made dinner.” He said. 

“Were we out there that long you made all this?” I asked. 

“About an hour, it doesn’t take long to make rice or chicken curry for that matter.” He said and I shook my head as we all sat down to eat.

“Well it smells great.” Altan said, taking the words out of my mouth. 

The next morning before Altan got to work, I enlisted the help of his assistant and the kids to help me pull off my surprise as well as the pack since I’m not staff. 

“Everything is ready Joseph.” Altan’s assistant said and I nodded in agreement looking things over. I decided since it was the school’s sports day that I’d ‘help out’ and made an obstacle course. We can all participate in racing even the kiddos in wheelchairs with the help of us pushing them, a paint balloon war so everyone is in white right now and instead of paint the balloons have tye dye ink. It’s all going to be epic. All the kids are excited too which is a plus. 

As it got closer to the time Altan would arrive, I hid in the closet, literally. Waiting for him to come in. 

“Morning Stacy. Morning my lovelies.” Altan said to his assistant and the children. 

“Morning Altan, you seem chipper this morning, more than usual anyway.” Stacy said. 

“Morning Mr. Blackstone.” The kids said and it was cute listening to them speaking his name with excitement in their little voices.

“I’m better than I've been, yes but that’s a personal matter I’ll tell you at lunch.” He said to her and I smiled to myself. 

As he began his usual lessons, I couldn’t help listen to how professional yet nurturing he was with the kids. He’s perfect in every way and I couldn’t wait for the day we had kids of our own. 

When it came time for his class to do the obstacle course, I snuck outside when his back was turned and thanked the heavens Brent still had something to cover my scent so it was easier to slip away.

“Joseph?” Altan called out and I smiled.

“Yup, it’s me.” I chuckled at his shocked expression.

“What are you doing here?” He asked walking over to me and I had to hold my breath for a second, hoping he wouldn’t yell at me for being at his work.

“Well it’s sport’s day so why not visit? You said it yourself I was only here for two weeks so let’s make the best of it.” I chuckled. 

“Did you do all this?” He asked as he looked at the giant obstacle course. 

“Well, the kids, some of the pack who were awake when I went to try to find some help and Stacy helped to pull it off. This is too big of a job for just me I mean it took six people just to unfold the inflatable obstacle course alone so yea…plus I wanted to see what all you do and so here I am.” I said chuckling. 

What I didn’t expect to happen was him getting teary eyed and he hugged me, I melted when I inhaled his manly musky scent and his cologne, making me weak in the knees.

“You suck Joseph Kingsley.” He said in a playful way probably mad at me for making him cry in front of his class and colleague. 

“Yell at me later, let’s get this show on the road.” I said and the three of us got to work and helped the kids out. 

As the day went on I stuck around, and this time not in a closet. The kids had so much fun and won so many ‘prizes’ that they couldn’t wait to show to their parents. Altan wasn’t joking when he said this job wasn’t for everyone.

I can’t tell you how paranoid or frustrated I got. Not at the kids but the situations they happened to get themselves into like art time, one of the girls wanted color in her hair like her big sister and painted her hair red. I was so nervous the parent or parents would freak. I can’t tell you how many times I clutched my chest with worry when one of them would fall or start to cry for reasons unknown to me but Altan seemed to know exactly what was going on and went to help the child as if it was second nature to him which it is since these kids are lights in his life and it’s his passion to help them.

“Are you ok?” Altan asked as we were cleaning the classroom. 

“I’ll survive, you weren’t kidding when you said this job wasn’t for everyone. The amount of times I thought I was going to pull my hair out was unbelievable. I also see why you love it so much, these kids are great to be around. It reminded me of when we were all kids and questioned if we were this wild.” I said. 

“I don’t know about you but I was a good noodle thank you very much and yea the job is tough, even for me sometimes but I have you guys at home waiting for me and that’s what gets me through the day. I love these kids too much to be like ‘I don’t want to teach anymore because it’s stressful’. I became a teacher for a reason and that’s what I'll die doing because it’s my passion. Also they aren’t wild, they just need a bit more patience with their needs to be taken care of the right way and some can’t express how they feel with words so they get frustrated and that’s when they start to freak out, to us it’s freaking out, to them it’s expressing themselves in ways they only know how to. Working with special needs kids is not for the faint of heart Joseph, it is challenging and rewarding at the same time. I love them very much and I will do everything I can for them because someone has to and I will gladly do it for the rest of my life.” He said and I smiled listening to him talk about the kids with a beautiful sparkle in his pretty eyes and smile.

“Maybe I should volunteer here more often since I’m here for two weeks.” I smiled. 

“That would be a dream, the kids all love you it seems. I still can’t believe you did all this.” He said and I hugged him, wanting to feel his arms around me again and closed my eyes, just enjoying being in his arms.

“And I’d do it again.” I said smiling, looking up at him as he looked down at me and kissed the tip of my nose.

On our way home we just talked about random things and getting to know each other more on a more personal level without being at each other’s throats and it made things so much better. 

“Where are we going? Home is in the other direction.” I said. 

“I did say ‘we’ had to work on us so as a thank you for today I’m taking you out to dinner since we did stuff right through lunch.” He said. 

“Ok…where are we going?” I asked. 

“You’ll know when we get there.” He smirked and I just sat back and enjoyed the ride. 

Where are we going?

“We’re in the middle of nowhere.” I said. 

“Have you always been this annoying?” He chuckled. 

“I was worse, believe it or not.” I chuckled and we pulled up to this restaurant. 

Walking into the restaurant I swore I recognized the aura. 

“Skylar and Sam’s daughters own the restaurant.”  

“Rayleigh and Kayleigh, right?” I asked. 

“Yup that’s them, they are so sweet.” He said and we sat down.

“I’ve only met them like twice to have an opinion of them so I’ll take your word for it.” I said.  

“What do you think of the restaurant though? I spent a lot of time here when I was out and about when I temporarily lived at New Moon.” He said. 

“I like it, it’s got a cozy feeling like you walked into your own house but it’s a restaurant.” I said. 

“What else do you like besides wanting kids, being artistic and the cozy feel of the restaurant? I really want to start over and get to know you.” He said. 

“Well I’m a physical fixer, I like working with my hands. It’s not easy for me to relax, and be able to enjoy myself until all work is done. With me I’m all work and no play until things are finished. It’s why I was the nerd of high school if you can remember that far back.” I chuckled. 

“I do remember, we always thought you were being shy and scared because we were the jocks.” He said. 
“Part of that is true but I’m just very serious and committed to the things I do. Honestly I was beginning to lose sleep over trying to figure out how to get to this point. It’s just to me, I have to analyze everything to the last detail so I was going mad internally. I’m also the person to put others first so if you never gave me this opportunity I don’t know what would have happened.” I admitted and he smiled looking in my eyes.

“Then I guess I made the right choice and on my own, I don’t want you thinking I was pushed to do this.” He said and I believed him, he’s too sweet. 

“What else do you like, I wanna know everything.” He said smiling. 

“Well to put things simply and in less words. I like animals, eating healthy as much as I possibly can because sugar is my weakness, I love reading, nature and keeping a clean house because again, I’m all work until I’m satisfied so after a long shift I just want to relax.” I said. 

“Do you only read or write too?” He asked and I blushed every shade of red known to man. 

“I…write gay erotica. I guess you can say it was my way of fantasizing what I would have liked Gary to do to me…” I said blushing harder. 

“Why is there always that one kinky mate in recent pairings I swear.” He said chuckling. 

“There are more…?” I asked, shocked. 

“Like you wouldn’t believe, I have some kinky family members. So are you top or bottom?” He asked and I choked on my water. 

“W-what?” I asked. 

“Are you top or bottom?” He asked unfazed by his question in public nonetheless. 

“I’m a bottom…” I said looking at my water. 

“Fu…” He said and I could tell Amar was turned on. 

“Calm down tiger, literally, in time we’ll get there but I don’t want us to move so fast. I have a lot of work to do before we mate, mate.” I winked and he growled. 

“So is that your way of saying you want to be with me?” He asked. 

“Yes, it is. I didn’t request time off for nothing y’know.” I smiled. 

The things I’ve dreamed about, who wouldn’t want to be with them or the other two for that matter. Brent himself has said he can’t deny he hasn’t fallen for the rest of us, even Gary. 

“How was I to know, you have Gary here as well.” He said and I sighed, grabbing his hands in mine.

“I didn’t want to push you further away than I did by being away for so long then making you so angry. I wanted you to have that time to yourself because I thought you wanted nothing to do with me let alone see me. I just didn’t want to pressure you or make you feel guilty or selfish.” I said. 

“Yes I was mad, who wouldn’t be. I just…maybe if I told you I was your mate and that added to the reasons to save you that maybe you would have come back. I don’t know but I didn’t want you to leave. You never made it seem as if you were pressuring me or made me feel bad or guilty for being so mad. You understood.” He said and I nodded because I did understand fully.

“Well, I told you all about me, what about you?” I asked. 

“Not so fast, you didn’t tell me your dislikes, passions and what I can do as your mate to keep you forever always.” He said. God, he’s so blunt and straightforward. 

“Well, I’m still shy as shit, I worry about people constantly and tend to be overly critical of myself and sometimes others at work like if Collen needs something done a certain way then yeah… as I said, all work and no play when it comes to doing what I need to. I’m loyal to my friends and family so people think I’m being an ass when I’m being anal about work but it’s not that. We all work for Collen and that just looks bad if the work is half done. That’s why I’m pretty sure he’s letting me take control of the company he’s building here. Well, more like an underling. He’s having Sam and Blair run it but I'll be shadowing them and working for them so the three of you don’t have to uproot your lives, it’s just easier for one person to transfer than three.” I said. 

“That is easier, but I’m sure you’ll get there one day, I can tell you’re hardworking and bust your ass. You also don’t act out if you think you’re being cheated out of something. You’ve been like that since high school.” He said. 

“I try my best.” I said chuckling. 

“Now let me in that mind of yours, I don’t know how you’re not tired of me talking yet.” I said

“Ok ok calm down, and don’t think I’m done with you yet. You didn’t even answer what I can do as your mate.” He said. 

“Well?” I chuckled and he shook his head. 

“Well, much like you I’m very dedicated to everything I do, I hate nothing more than feeling as if I didn’t do my best. I try to be there for my friends and family but sometimes it’s tiring to be there for everyone when only a few return the favor like people in my past, specifically high school, group projects were a bitch because I was the one to do the whole thing and they still got credit because I never called them out on it. People honestly called me a pushover at times because I was too nice and hyper focused on tasks to even realize I was being used until I handed in the work and seeing my partner or partners on the projects walk away not even being like damn dude thank you for picking up the slack or whatever.” He said. 

“So what are things you’ve learned about yourself that you hate or hated?” I asked. 

“Not sticking up for myself because I was shy and hated to draw attention to myself.” He said. 

“Besides kids and being with friends and family, what else do you like to do?” I asked. 

“Being near water like some of my family, I love nature and running, just letting Amar take over while I enjoy the feeling. I also like reading so I can’t wait to read some of your stuff and I like music.” I bit my lip hoping he’d forget I write. 

“Since we’re caught up, my turn again, what do you look for in a mate?” He asked, wiggling his eyebrows. 

“If you must know, I like a versatility, I need variety, I like when my mate can be spontaneous and never stick to one routine because that’s my thing.” I said and he smirked. 

“What?” I asked. 

“Nothing…” He said and paid our bill before we got up and left. 

This man is going to drive me wild I swear. 

As we got home the four of us just hung out and found out Brent and Gary had a similar idea to us and got to know each other on a deeper level. 

“Good for you guys.” I said. 

“I’m glad y’all made that step.” Altan said. 

"And you two as well." Brent said.

The rest of the evening we made popcorn and sat our asses on the big couch all tangled up together watching a movie.

It was perfect.