Magnus

I woke up disoriented.

I felt sore and cramped, and there was a weight on my chest I couldn't place... not until I opened my eyes and gaped down at Lachlan, who was wrapped around me like a vine. His whole body was sprawled on mine except his right leg, which was jammed between me and the back of the couch we had slept on. I badly wanted to stretch out, but that would wake him so I gritted my teeth and focused on how sweet it was to wake up with him instead of on the complaints of my body. I wanted to kiss the top of his head – the only part of him I could reach – but I wasn't sure whether that would break his contact rule. It was shocking enough he had felt comfortable enough with me to fall asleep.

My phone buzzed in my pocket and I silently cursed, shifting around in a futile attempt to grab it. Either the buzzing or my movements woke up Lachlan, and even as he blinked sleepily up at me, my phone finally went still.

"Magnus?" he asked, the most adorable pout of confusion gracing his face.

"Good morning," I answered. My heart pounded nervously. Was he going to be upset we had fallen asleep like this?

But Lachlan just sat up and stretched his arms above his head, groaning in pleasure. It was a sound that had me thinking about all the other ways I bring that noise out of him. His eyes fluttered a few times and when he looked at me again, they widened. "Magnus?!"

A chuckle slipped out of me – he wasn't upset, just surprised. "Yes?"

Lachlan looked around the room as though it would provide some kind of clue as to what happened to bring us to this moment. Then his lovely eyes settled back on me and he gave me a wry smile. "We must have fallen asleep."

"Looks that way," I agreed.

He fell forward against me in a hug. I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him even closer. "That was the best night's sleep I've ever had," I said. And it was true. Despite the stiffness in my limbs and the sore muscles from being crammed into one position all night, I felt incredibly well-rested. Everything was better when Lachlan was with me.

Lachlan's head nuzzled against my chest and he hummed happily. "It was nice, wasn't it?"

Lachlan pulled away and looked up at me. There was such affection in his eyes that I had to really focus on not kissing him. The small smile he wore grew as we looked at each other until he leaned up and pressed a kiss against my throat. He was trying to kill me, clearly.

"I feel a lot better today," Lachlan said. I frowned – had he been feeling unwell? "About our talk," he clarified

"Oh." Were we getting right back into this before we even had breakfast?

"I can push off my work until tomorrow. I'm hoping you can teach me more about werewolves today – that's if you won't be too busy being the big bad alpha?"

Actually, I did have a couple of meetings today and a few pack responsibilities that I couldn't push off. Callie, one of my pack mates, had recently turned thirteen. She was just about the right age to shift for the first time and had been sore, irritable, and going through a growth spurt over the past week. Her symptoms had peaked yesterday, which meant she would be shifting today. We were throwing a huge celebration for her this afternoon. A lot of packs celebrated the day after a person's first shift, but we liked to do day-of. Knowing you were approaching your first shift could be daunting and this provided a fun distraction and a whole pack's worth of support.

As alpha, it was really important that I be there, both to help prepare and to show my support to Callie.

"It's okay," Lachlan said. "If you have to think that hard about your schedule, I can see that this isn't the right time."

"No!" I protested. It was so good that he wanted to learn more about werewolves. This was a huge step toward acceptance, and no way was I going to delay it if at all possible. I couldn't risk him changing his mind. "I would really love if you came with me," I said. "Go through my work day with me? It will actually be a lot of fun, I swear."

Lachlan looked like he was seriously considering it, but he said, "Won't they wonder why you have a human with you?"

I shrugged. "I'm the alpha. I'll tell them you're a friend and they won't argue." Then a horrifying thought occurred to me. "Wait, we need to keep your species a secret, don't we? It could cause problems for your family if you become a werewolf and people know you were once human."

"God, I want to kiss you right now," Lachlan said. "I love that you're thinking about my family's safety. You're right, it would be best if people don't realize that transforming is even possible. My family is spread out for our protection, but rumors could still cause a lot of unwanted attention."

Having his approval meant a lot to me, and the glowing smile he was aiming my way almost – almost ­– made up for my disappointment. How could I really show him what his life would be like with me if I couldn't take him to my pack? He would be making a massive life decision blind.

I looked back to Lachlan, who was holding his phone to his ear. I lifted a brow and he held up a finger in the universal "wait" sign. "Hey, Glenna? Would it be okay if we canceled tonight's dinner? Something came up."

Thanks to my enhanced hearing, I could pick up Glenna's words just fine. "Is everything okay?" Her concern was evident.

He paused, then his eyes twinkled with mischief and he said, "My boyfriend is a werewolf."

"Oh, Lachlan! I'm so sorry."

Lachlan's eyes met mine. They held such warmth in them that I couldn't help smiling. Lachlan said, "We're working it out. I have a favor to ask, actually. I need to smell like a werewolf. Do you have a spell or something that might help with that?"

"What are you up to?" Glenna asked, sounding suspicious.

"Well, he wanted to take me to his pack house today and I'd like to blend in."

"Oh! Yes, of course. I can whip something up and I'll be there within the hour. Is that okay?"

"Perfect! Thanks."

"No problem. See you soon."

Lachlan hung up the phone and grinned at me. "You heard all that?"

"Yeah. Good thinking. There's one little problem still – my family knows you're human. My sister was with me when I found you and I had no reason to keep your species secret, anyway. We'll have to give them some kind of explanation for you smelling like a wolf."

I could see the worry in Lachlan's eyes and I rushed to erase it. "My family will never do anything to hurt you. It's just my brother, sister, and brother-in-law. I trust them all completely. They'll keep your secret – as my mate, they would never do anything to hurt you."

Lachlan's eyes searched mine before he nodded slowly. "Okay. I don't see a way around telling them the truth."

I felt awful that I was putting so much on him. Because of me, he may have to give up so much. He was confronting things I knew scared him and putting his faith in complete strangers. What kind of mate was I, that I was asking so much of him? What could I ever offer in return that could make up for it?

"Hey," Lachlan said gently. He slid forward so we shared the same space. Even just being near to him smoothed some of my worries. Did I have the same effect on him? "It's okay," Lachlan said, and between the soft look in his eyes as he gazed at me and his hands braced on my thighs, even more of my worry melted away. He was like my own personal miracle.

"Is it?" I whispered, hating that I was twisting his stress into my own and asking him to comfort me. I should be comforting him.

Lachlan's warm lips pressed against my forehead before he pulled me in for a hug. I knew I should care that he was breaking his rule against skin contact, but I was too glad for it. "Yes. We're going to figure this out, okay? Let's have breakfast while we wait for Glenna. I think I have some cinnamon rolls tucked away."

I tightened my arms around him before reluctantly letting him go. He darted off the couch and shot me a look that radiated happiness as he dashed to the kitchen. An answering spark of playfulness lit in me and I happily jumped off the couch to chase after my mate.

--

We were still at the kitchen table, empty plates in front of us, when Lachlan's doorbell rang. "That'll be Glenna," he said. "Mind getting the dishes?"

"No problem."

Was he hiding me? Just a few days ago, he had wanted me to meet his family, but that was only because he wanted to test my humanity – a test I had been doomed to fail. Just in case, I took my time with the dishes. I didn't want to intrude if he was having second thoughts about introducing us, even if it stung a little to even consider such a scenario.

I was just drying my hands when Lachlan led a woman into the room. She had honey-colored hair and the kindest amber eyes I had ever seen. Her smile was sweet and her eyes warmed with genuine pleasure as she offered a hand to me.

"Hi, Magnus. I'm Glenna, Lachlan's cousin."

"It's great to meet you," I told her – and it was. Lachlan might not think of this as a step toward accepting me, but I sure did. I'd take whatever affirmation I could get.

"You, too. Lachlan tells me you're an alpha?"

I shot him a surprised look and his eyes lowered to the floor while he blushed adorably. Was he... embarrassed? I wanted to kiss those blushing cheeks, but instead I forced my gaze back to Glenna and said, "Yeah, I am."

"Fascinating! Maybe we can talk sometime. I have a lot of questions, if you don't mind."

"Sure," I agreed easily. I didn't voice the obvious caveat: we would talk if and only if Lachlan was okay with it.

She smiled warmly before taking a step back. "I'd better head out. I just dropped by to drop off the potion for Lachlan. Have a good day, you two."

Glenna saw herself out while Lachlan sat down at the kitchen table. He pulled a little vial out of his pocket and set it on the table in front of him.

I leaned in close to it, examining the contents. This was the first potion I'd ever seen, and it was disappointingly dull. In fact, it looked like a little bottle of apple juice. "Are you sure this will work?" I asked.

Lachlan snorted. "Glenna's amazing at what she does. This will work. I need to take it every few hours – you'll have to tell me when the scent starts to wear off."

"Sure."

"I'm going to get ready. Give me fifteen minutes? If you want to brush your teeth, there's a spare toothbrush in the bathroom off the hall."

I was going to take Lachlan to my house first, anyway, and it's not like he was going to let me kiss him. I settled on the couch and pulled out my phone, opening up the group chat between Felix, Mel, and Everett. "Family meeting at my house at ten?"

That would give me enough time to get ready for the day before the questions started. Mel and Felix quickly responded that they'd be there, which was enough. If Everett couldn't make it, Felix would fill him in.

I shut my eyes and took a minute to fully appreciate that my family would meet my mate today. Hopefully he would like them. Hopefully he would see how loyal my family was, how beautiful the pack lands were, and would want to stay. After years of living alone and keeping a distance from others, being around the pack might be kind of overwhelming, but he could decide how much time he wanted to spend with them. If he wanted to spend most of his time on the pack lands in our home, that was fine with me. As long as he was there, I wouldn't complain.

Sure, I was getting ahead of myself, but it was hard to put the lid back on my dreams now that so many were starting to be fulfilled. I had Lachlan, and he was more than I ever imagined he could be. Not only was he incredibly attractive, but he was kind. Thoughtful. So smart. And best of all, he was giving me a chance. It was a huge relief.

"Hey, no sleeping. We've got places to be, right?"

I opened my eyes to see Lachlan grinning down at me. "I was just resting my eyes."

I stood and started putting my jacket on, but froze when I noticed his outfit. He wore a black button-down with dark jeans that hung perfectly from his frame. He looked incredible. My mouth went dry and I clenched my hands, which were desperate to reach out for him.

"What is it? Is this too formal? Not formal enough?" He looked down at himself, frowning.

"You're perfect," I answered immediately, not liking the uncertainty on his face. I shook my head, knowing how that sounded – like I was a love-struck idiot. That wasn't far from the truth, but there was no need to be so obvious about it. "I mean, you look perfect."

Lachlan looked up at me, smiling again. "Thanks. You ready, then?"

I'd been ready for this for so long. "Absolutely."