Setting Beckett down in the crib, I watch as Noah immediately snuffles closer to his brother, only settling when I scoot him closer and lay a blanket over the both of them. Ever since Beckett was born a couple weeks ago, Noah has been thriving. He hates to be away from his brother, only sleeping when they are together and often getting upset when Beckett starts to cry.

Micah had been worried at first, thinking that we were doing something wrong, but after a lot of assurances, he now finds it adorable. It isn't rare to find him hovering over the both of them while they sleep or cuddling them both to his chest when they start to cry.

Thinking of Micah, my heart starts to speed up. Things have been great ever since I got back, but I still feel as if we are on uneven ground, waiting for something to happen that will cause our still fragile relationship to collapse.

I know that we have barely talked, and the past few days I have been working up the courage to actually talk to my mate about what is going on in my mind. Just like others have told me before, communication is key to making any relationship work, and I am willing to do anything to keep Micah by my side.

Leaning down, I press a soft kiss against my sons' cheeks, watching as they both let out sleepy snuffles. Seeing as it is the middle of the day, light peeks in from the edges of the curtains, giving me enough light to walk out of the room without tripping on anything.

The house is quieter than usual, everyone busy with something. Alpha Seren had decided to set up some of the other houses, getting them ready for any of the pack members who may return with Alpha Michaels. They should be returning any day now, and Alpha Seren has been tense, waiting for them to make it back.

Liam and Taylor had volunteered themselves to set up the two houses closest to the pack house, Andrea wandering over to help them whenever they needed it. Avery has been watching over the little ones, seeming to enjoy teaching them and playing with them afterward. The twins, their father, and Alexis have been busy taking apart some of the more dangerous traps we had set, along with burning the bodies of the dead.

Micah and I had been left with strict orders to relax because taking care of two infants is tiring work. We have both had a hard time with that, neither of us used to being inactive for long periods of time. But being here allows me to watch over Micah, making sure that he doesn't overwork himself.

Wandering down to the first floor, I look around for my mate. He had been in the kitchen when I left, making himself something quick to eat while I had put the babies down for their nap. Now, though, the kitchen and living room are empty.

Sounds start to drift up from the basement, and with an irritated sigh, I walk down the stairs. Micah has been complaining about laundry for the past few days, but none of us had allowed him to do it since it involved too much lifting and bending. Knowing my mate, though, he decided to do it anyway.

My thoughts are confirmed when I see that the door to the laundry room is open, Micah throwing a bundle of clothes into the wash before picking up a laundry basket full of dried clothes.

He is humming quietly to himself, lost in his own little world as he turns to face the door and subsequently me in the process. His eyes widen when he sees me, obviously knowing that he has been caught. When I raise my eyebrow at him, he takes on a stubborn pout, his hands tightening on the basket.

"It's perfectly fine if I do laundry, and this basket isn't even heavy," he tells me, tilting his head up in defiance.

Not able to hold back my smile, I lean forward, pressing my lips against his pouted ones. Micah leans into the kiss, allowing me to take the laundry basket from him without him noticing. When I pull away, his eyes are a little glazed, like they usually are when we kiss, and it takes him a second to realize his hands are now empty.

"Hey!" he says, following me out of the laundry room and up the stairs to the living room. "You can't use kisses to distract me, that's not fair."

"Micah, you like to walk around in just your briefs and one of my t-shirts whenever you want me to do something that I might not want to do."

A blush creeps over his face, but he has a smug smile on his face anyway. "It works, doesn't it?"

Shaking my head, I don't bother to hide my smile. Micah settles down next to me on the living room couch, laying his head on my shoulder when I start to fold the clothes. Most of the load consists of tiny baby clothes, and Micah takes the folded clothing from me and sets them in separate piles, seeming to know who everything belongs to.

"There's something I wanted to talk to you about," I say, and Micah tenses against me.

Slowly, he pulls away from me, his brows scrunched in worry as he meets my eyes.

"You're not leaving again, are you?" he asks.

His words make guilt settle in my stomach, and I shake my head, eager to assure him.

"No." Setting down the folded baby blanket, I reach over to grab his hand, bringing it up to my lips so that I can press a soft kiss against his skin. "No, I'm not ever leaving you again."

"Okay," he whispers, some of the worry leaving his face, but he still looks wary.

Placing another kiss on his hand, I try to release some of the anxiety sitting in my stomach. "I wanted to say that I'm sorry," I whisper, watching my mate's eyes widen. "For everything I have put you through while I tried to sort myself out.

"I know that I treated you horribly, and not as an equal, always assuming things instead of talking to you. We were pushed together for so long that I got used to distancing myself, and it has been a challenge for me to get over the barrier I put between us.

"I don't even know how or why you forgave me," I say, eyes flickering away from Micah, trying to hide my shame. "You just accepted me when I came back and I can never be more grateful, but it feels like I am just waiting for the other shoe to drop. For you to tell me that what I did pushed you too far and you want me to leave.

"And I would if you wanted me to," I tell him earnestly. "I'll do anything to make you happy."

Micah swallows heavily, blinking his eyes to fight back the wetness that looks like it is about to spill over.

"Of course I forgive you," Micah says, voice raspy. "I have to admit that I was so angry for so long about you pushing me away because all I wanted was to be happy with you." The tears spill over, and he hastily wipes them away. "But you always thought you knew what was best, and I knew that being with me while I was underage made you uncomfortable, so I decided to just wait.

"And you eventually did come back to me." He scoots closer to me. "I forgave you the minute you came back from your journey because I could see the change in you. You were the person I fell in love with before I even realized what love was, and now I know that we are both ready for this relationship."

Leaning up, he places a soft kiss on my lips. "Because we weren't ready before. Now, we just have to figure out the rest of our lives together, because that's how I intend for us to spend the coming years: together."

"I love you," I say, watching as a wide smile spreads across Micah's face. He surges forward, kissing me deeper than before as we collapse back on the couch, him landing on top of me while I wrap my arms around him.

"I love you too, so much," he says, breathless from the kisses.

We lay there for who knows how long, the silence in the house an encouragement. Micah starts to move against me, causing a low moan to slip from my lips. All this does is cause Micah to smile against my lips, rocking his hips down in a slow grind. My hands find their way to his hips, making him still.

"Not right here," I say, kissing the pout that appears on my mate's lips. "Anyone can see us if they walk in."

Micah raises a brow as if to say 'so what?', but I wiggle out from under him anyway. "Not all of us are into voyeurism," I say.

"Well, come on, we only have a little bit before the babies wake up, and I really need you to fuck me."

His words make heat flood through me, my cock becoming even more interested than before.

"Jesus," I mumble, allowing Micah to pull me away from the couch and up the stairs. It is only when we reach my old room that he stops, hurriedly opening the door before pushing me inside.

Luckily, the bed still has sheets on it, and we collapse on the soft surface. Micah doesn't hesitate to start stripping me of my clothes, making sounds of irritation when I don't immediately comply. Soon enough, we are both completely naked, Micah straddling me.

The press of him against me feels amazing, and I quickly flip us over. Micah lets his pleasure be known, rubbing his hands through my hair and pulling me down for a kiss. It's much more heated than before, his tongue brushing against mine, leaving both of us breathless.

My hand rubs along his side, reveling in his soft skin before finally wrapping my fingers around his full cock. A moan leaves his full lips, and he watches me with hooded eyes.

His cock is smaller than mine, but it is still the most beautiful one I have ever seen. Leaning down, I wrap my lips around him, reveling in the weight of him on my tongue. Micah lets out a choked off moan when I take all of him in my mouth, the head of his cock bumping against the back of my throat.

Pulling back up, my tongue glides across the top of his cock, gathering the precome collected there. His taste is amazing, better than anyone else I have ever been with, and I am tempted to just stay down here until Micah comes completely undone, wanting to taste every little bit of him.

Micah ruins my plans, though, when he tangles his fingers in my hair, pulling at the strands until I relent and let him slip from my mouth. Leaning up, I press another kiss against his panting mouth, careful not to put any pressure on his still somewhat sensitive stomach. He has healed a lot, especially since we heal twice as fast as humans, but I am not willing to risk accidentally hurting him.

"Jesse, please," he murmurs, and I can't deny him when he looks at me like that.

Placing one last kiss on his lips, I pull away, Micah letting out a small whimper of disappointment once I am no longer pressed up against him.

Luckily, there is some lube and a few condoms still left over in my old nightstand drawer. Micah gives me a satisfied hum when I settle back between his legs, eyes half-lidded as he watches me.

Once I have the lube spread out on my fingers, I lean back down, kissing Micah deeply while gently pressing a finger into him. He hums against my mouth, pressing back against my finger as I slowly open him up. A sound of impatience makes its way out of his mouth when I take too long to add a second finger and then a third. By then, Micah pulls his mouth away from mine, his fingers tangled in my hair.

"I'm ready," he tells me, eyes holding mine, and it is easy to see that he is telling the truth. "I want you inside me already."

My cock throbs at his words and I have to reach down to squeeze the base- where already my knot is starting to form- in order to stave off my orgasm. Micah, now with his fingers free of my hair, grabs the condom, ripping open the foil before rolling it down on my cock.

"This one better not break," he murmurs, and we both chuckle.

Micah wraps his legs against my waist, his pale skin standing in stark contrast against my tan. Reaching down, I line myself up to Micah's hole, looking up at him in reassurance before pressing in when he gives me a confirming nod.

Heat envelops me, and it is hard not to just push all the way in, but I don't want to hurt my mate. Micah gets impatient with me when I still after pushing in just a few inches, his hands finding their way to my ass and pulling me in tighter against him.

Rocking forward, I revel in the tight grip, barely holding myself back. Once I am all the way in, I grab Micah's legs, pushing them into a more comfortable position. He lets out a low moan when I pull out, breath hitching when I push back in.

This is better than our last heat, the night Micah got pregnant, because now I actually let myself watch him with wide eyes, taking in every pleased expression that crosses his face. His lips are cherry red and swollen from kissing, too tempting for me to stay away.

Bending down, I capture his lips with mine, my hips speeding up on their own. My knot starts to grow as I become closer to tipping over the edge, and I look down at my mate.

"Micah, my knot..." I gasp, and Micah just pulls me closer, not letting me get more than an inch away from him before pushing back in.

"Yes," he says, his words becoming more rushed as he gets closer to his own orgasm. "I want you to knot me, be locked inside me."

His words send another burst of heat through me. With a trembling hand, I reach down in between us, wrapping my fingers around Micah and pumping him quickly. A strangled moan comes from my mate, the sound making me push in as close as possible to him. He tightens around me as my knot fills completely, locking me inside him as I topple over the edge.

Micah spills over my hand, his come warm as it trails over my hand before dripping onto his stomach.

My vision blurs for a second, my hips pushing in as far as they can into my mate. Micah lets out pleased little hums, his hands running up and down the length of my back as I collapse on to the bed beside him. Micah turns with me, his legs tangled with mine as he rests his head on my chest, pressing kisses against my skin every once in a while.

"Jesse?" Micah whispers, his lips tickling my skin as he talks.

"Hm?"

"Thank you."

Fighting off the tiredness that comes with having amazing sex, I look down at Micah, who has the softest smile on his face. That smile, one that I have never seen before, makes my heart skip a beat.

"For what?" I ask, truly curious as to why he would be thanking me.

"For everything. Apologizing, healing, letting us be happy." He rests his head back against my chest, body completely lax against me. "I never thought we would get to have this."

"I should be the one saying thank you," I say, voice raspy with sleep. "For forgiving me and still wanting to have a relationship with me after everything I have put you through."

Micah is silent for a moment, and just when I decide that he must have fallen asleep, he curls even closer to me. "We're healing, both of us. But now we have each other."

"Forever," I say, pressing a kiss against his shoulder.

"Forever."