Leaving the tree house was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. It has been my home for months, but once we saw the Warriors' carving on the tree, we knew we had no choice but to leave. Even if Liam said that carving was old, we did not want to chance the Alpha pack coming back to the area and finding us.

Now we trudge through a forest of poison oak and stinging nettle. Little hands grab everything they can, and I can see the irritation in Tatum's face as Elliot grabs another handful of the colorful poison oak leaves.

"Tate, I has itchies," Elliot says while scratching his arms. The rash has spread all the way from his hands up his arms, neck, and face.

Tatum crouches down next to him, careful not to touch the spreading rash. If you even brush up against the plant or someone who has the rash, then you can contract it as well. It is crazily easy to contract, making it a dreadful plant to try and dodge.

"Elliot, what did I tell you about those plants?" he questions, looking up from the rash into his little brother's big brown eyes.

"You say, 'no touch,'" the little boy says, scratching his arms again. "But, it so pwetty."

Tatum just shakes his head in exasperation, causing his dark curls to bounce, before turning to look over his shoulder at the Alpha twins.

"Can we stop somewhere soon? I would like to get some type of treatment on this before it spreads even more," the beta says.

Walking over to Tatum, I reach out an arm, waiting for him to clasp onto my hand before pulling him up. His palm is warm against mine and surprisingly soft. You would think that being out in the woods would take the softness away from anyone's skin, but not Tatum's.

"It would probably be a good idea. It looks like the sun is getting close to setting," I say once I pull Tatum up. Reluctantly, I let go of his palm, giving him a small smile before turning to look at the twins.

"Sounds good to me," Ethan says while scratching his face. It seems as if he has brushed up against some poison oak as well. Liam fusses over him for a couple minutes before declaring that we need to find a stream or lake to make camp next to.

"Why a stream?" Ethan questions while leading the way out of the poison oak and stinging nettle.

"We'll all have to wash off after being exposed to those plants, plus the cold water stops the spread of the rash," I say.

"We can't just use warm water?" Erik asks, seeming scandalized by the thought of having to bathe in a cold stream.

I just roll my eyes before answering. "You never use warm water when treating a rash. It opens up your pores and allows it to spread to other parts of your body.

"How do you know all this?" Erik questions, shortening his footsteps so that he is walking in between me and Liam. Everyone looks over at me, the curiosity evident on their faces.

"I was going to school to become a nurse when all of this happened," I say, gesturing around us. "I only had a year left to go before getting my degree."

"Really? That's awesome," Tatum says from behind me.

A blush spreads across my face when he says that. My interest in the beta has only grown since we met weeks ago. We have been talking a lot, but I do not think he shares my feelings, seeing as every time I hint at anything, he shies away.

We make it to an open clearing next to a stream about twenty minutes later, all of us making small talk to fill the silence. The sun is about to set while we set up a tent and spread out the sleeping bags and pads. Liam is the first to take a bath, taking his sisters with him, his mates joining him soon after.

As soon as they come back, I see Tatum do the same thing with a kicking and screaming Elliot. He washes his little brother off quickly before dressing them both in some warm clothes. I am the last to wash myself off, but I do not mind. I kind of enjoy not being rushed, going at my own pace and getting out when I am done.

We all sit around the fire, enjoying the warmth it is emanating, but before long, the little ones are whining from exhaustion, and they are placed right to bed. The alphas and Tatum follow soon after, leaving just me and Liam sitting around the fire.

"So, what do you want to talk to me about?" I ask, giving him a smile even though I have a feeling I will not like this conversation.

*****

From inside the tent, I can hear Taylor and Liam talking. The conversation starts off light, with Taylor telling Liam what will happen to his body once the baby is ready to be born, but then it takes a darker turn. I feel myself tensing up when Taylor starts to explain what happened to him when he was captured by the Warriors, how they did horrible things to him and how he lost his baby.

My breath catches when he says that. Taylor and I have grown close over the past few weeks. Both of us talking long after the others have gone to sleep, and him making me laugh all the time, something I have not done in a while. Ever since the first time I laid eyes on him, I have been attracted to the omega, but it is hard for me to tell if he feels the same. Whenever I try to flirt with him, he turns away from me, hiding his face from view.

I am brought back to the present by Liam coming into the tent and sliding into his sleeping bag. He murmurs with his mate for a minute before they both fall asleep, everyone's breaths in the tent long and even.

Quiet sniffles draw my attention back to outside the tent. Silently, I climb out of my sleeping bag and unzip the tent, drawing the omega's attention to me. He wipes his eyes, but I can still see the bright red tear tracks on his face.

"Tate?" he says, his brown eyes meeting my blue ones. "What are you doing up?"

"Couldn't sleep," I murmur, sitting on the blanket next to him.

He leans into my side, wrapping the blanket he is wearing around the both of us before resting his head on my shoulder. His hair tickles my neck, but I do not pull away. It is almost comforting feeling him this close to me. While we have talked for hours on end, we have never been this close to each other before.

"You okay?" I whisper, rubbing my nose along his hair and pressing a soft kiss to the top of his head.

"Did you hear everything?" he whispers back, pulling back his head so that he can look me in the eyes.

"Yeah."

"Do you still like me?"

"Why wouldn't I like you?"

"'Cause of everything that happened to me." Taylor's eyes become glossy as he meets my gaze, causing my heart to hurt.

"That could never change how I feel about you," I whisper. His eyes widen a little bit and his lips part in shock as he takes in a quick breath.

"How do you feel about me?" he breaths, his eyes wandering down to my lips.

Pressing my lips together, I try to turn away from his knowing gaze, but his hands come up from under the blanket, holding onto my face.

"Tate?" he whispers, looking me in the eyes.

"I-I like you," I tell him, my gaze flickering down to his lips again.

"Like like me?" he questions, his eyes twinkling a little bit in amusement. Thinking he is laughing at me, I try to pull away, but he does not allow me to. His left-hand slides down my cheek and into my hair, weaving his fingers through my curls.

"I like like you, too," he says, his plush lips ticking up into a smile. "A lot."

With that, he presses his kissable lips against mine, and I look at him in surprise. Taylor pulls away before I can respond, confusion clear on his face. He pulls his hands away from my face and tries to wrap the blanket tighter around himself, but before he can do that, I surge forward, capturing his lips with my own.

He lets out a soft sound of surprise before moving his lips against my own. Licking along the seam of his lips, I ask for entrance into his mouth. Taylor parts his lips, moving his tongue along mine and leaning into me as far as he can. Before I can catch us, we topple over, me falling onto my back and Taylor landing on my chest with the blanket covering the both of us.

I let out a laugh, but Taylor cuts me off by pressing his lips against mine again, his own mouth turned up in a smile as he kisses me. We lazily kiss for what seems like hours but what is probably more like ten minutes, only breaking our lips away when the need to breathe gets too strong. Both of our lips are red and swollen, which is an attractive thing to see on Taylor. With one final kiss, Taylor lays his head against my chest, pulling the blanket tight around the both of us.

"Thank you," Taylor mumbles, turning his face to press a kiss over my heart before resting his head against my chest again.

"For what?" I ask, running my fingers through his hair. His soft locks flutter in the wind and it is almost calming to play with it.

"Coming out here to check on me." He turns to look at me, his brown eyes wide with sincerity. "It means a lot to me that you did."

My heart skips a beat when he says that, and a small smile stretches across my face. Resting my head back on the ground, I resume running my fingers through his hair and feel Taylor's body relax into mine.

"No problem," I say, but I can tell that Taylor can hear the sincerity in my voice when his arms tighten around me. "No problem at all."

We lay there in silence, Taylor listening to my heartbeat while I listen to the chirping of the crickets and the soft hoot of the owls living in the forest around us. The stars above us are twinkling, and for once, the sky is clear, not a cloud in sight. The calmness of the night lulls me to sleep, Taylor staying wide awake but relaxed as he lays across my chest.

*****

"Mm, I feel like I haven't been able to kiss you in forever," I say, running my fingers through Tate's curls as I capture his lips with mine again.

Tatum hums in agreement as he presses me against the tree closest to us. We were able to break away from the others after we helped set up camp at our new spot, both of us eager to get out of sight from our group.

"It's been too long," Tatum mumbles against my lips, giving me one last kiss before pulling away completely. He looks me in the eyes, a hesitant look on his face "Can I try something?"

"What is it?" I question, looking up at him as I continue to rub my hand through his dark curls. A blush spreads across the beta's face, and he refuses to meet my eyes. "Tate?'

"Never mind," he mumbles trying to pull away from me, but I refuse to let him go.

"Tell me," I say, pressing as much of my body against his as possible. Finally, he meets my eyes, and I give him a reassuring smile.

Without breaking eye contact, he slowly slides down onto his knees, putting his face level with my cock.

"Oh," I breathe, feeling myself grow hard at the prospect of his plush lips wrapped around me.

"Is this okay?" he quietly questions, blue eyes locked onto mine. Quickly, I nod, excited about doing this with him. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, Tate, I'm sure."

He sends me a smile before biting his lip and fixing his eyes on my belt. With nimble fingers, he unbuckles my belt and snaps open the button on my jeans. He pulls them down just far enough that he can reach into my boxers, releasing me from my clothing prison. Seeing him lick his lips causes a moan to slip out of my mouth, and hearing me, Tate sends me a quick smile before placing a kiss on the head of my cock.

"Tate, please," I whimper, wanting his mouth fully wrapped around me. Finally, after a few more kisses to the tip, he wraps his mouth around me, taking half of me in his warm mouth before pulling off again. The cold air against my spit slicked skin causes me to shiver, and I bite my lip to try and stop another moan from escaping.

With every bob of his head, he takes more of me into his mouth, and my hips twitch every time he pulls off, chasing his wonderful mouth. His hands slide up my legs, holding onto my hips to keep me from moving again.

"T-Tate," I stutter, feeling heat spread through my body, "I'm gonna come."

Instead of pulling off like I thought he would, Tatum just pumps faster, one of his hands releasing my hip and wrapping around the base of my cock, pumping me as he bobs his head. I feel as if I am about to explode with how amazing he is making me feel, and only a few seconds later, I am coming, Tatum swallowing everything. He pulls off, placing one last kiss on the tip before sitting back on his heels and looking up at me, licking his lips.

"Oh my god, that was amazing," I say, sinking down next to him as I try to catch my breath.

Tate wraps his arms around me and turns us around so that his back is to the tree and I am leaning against his chest. I rub my hand along his shirt covered chest and bring it down to his pants, rubbing against him, but I notice a wet spot.

Looking down, I see that Tate has already come, and the thought that he was able to come just by sucking me off causes my heart to flutter a little bit. Biting my lip, I look up at Tate. His eyes are closed, dark lashes fanned out against his cheeks, and his lips are swollen from our earlier activities.

"What are you looking at?" he mumbles, not even opening his eyes.

"You," I say, leaning my head against his chest and listening to his heart. "You are amazing and lovely. You're my lovely."

He cracks an eye open to look down at me and a soft smile spreads across his face. "You're my lovely, too."

I nod my head and close my eyes, the sound of his heart in one ear and the sound of the forest around us in the other. We rest there for a few minutes, not wanting to get up, but knowing that the others will start worrying about us if we do not return soon.

*****

The picture at the top is of Tate.