In spite of being surrounded by three of the people that I trusted the most, my heart was still pounding heavily inside my chest. I still firmly felt that Ashur was still worse than Nestor, but I couldn't ignore the fact that the Husky had put me in the hospital the last time I saw him. I mean, it wasn't as if I didn't trust my friends and my mate to keep me safe, and I didn't consider myself that much of a coward. And yet, as I clenched Lex's hand a little tighter with my one good hand, I realized that I was still so very apprehensive about all of it.

Just say the word and we can head back.

I heard my mate's offer through our telepathic connection and, though I couldn't quite explain how, it managed calmed me down a bit. Just because I had one arm in a sling didn't mean I was any more vulnerable, right? I swallowed hard as I locked eyes with him. "No, I want to do this. I need to see how much he's changed, if at all," I insisted aloud.

I need to try to lay my fears to rest. I added mentally.

I understand, came Lex's response.

"Your mind's about to be blown," Sabine commented as we neared the door to a simple, one-floor house. "Last I saw Nestor, he was firmly wrapped around his bubblegum mate's little finger."

"Bubblegum?" I questioned as she rang the doorbell.

"Hello everyone! Please come in," greeted Nestor's mate as he all but flung open the door in his eagerness.

His hair was a soft, golden brown that curled around his face like a halo of innocence. His eyes were a slightly darker golden brown hue. Though there were no ruffles in sight, he wore a pink and white striped apron with pockets over his white shirt and jeans.

Morgan and I immediately took off our shoes at the entrance out of habit, and I was relieved when Sabine and Lexus followed suit because the floor seemed downright spotless. We were urged to wear a pair of several "guest" slippers of various sizes. Sabine's feet were still too tiny for most of them but she didn't hesitate to wear the smallest pair she could find.

I couldn't help but gape at the tidy living room and kitchen as we walked in. The colors were soft and in warm hues of creams and browns. They had a few potted plants that seemed to be well taken care of and a few photos were even hung on the wall, though I was a bit too anxious to go take a closer look at them.

In the midst of my perusal, I didn't even realize when Nestor's mate urged us all to sit down on two out of the three sofas they had in their living room. The top layer seemed to be made from suede. My hand began to subconsciously pet the edge of the cushion I was sitting on as if the sensation were somehow therapeutic or grounding.

"I'm Nestor's mate, Alrico," he began as he went around shaking everyone's hands, taking extra care with mine, even though my dominant hand was just fine and it was my other arm that was in a sling. "But you can call me Al." His hand was warm, but not the least bit sweaty. I couldn't say the same about my own. "It's a pleasure to meet you all," he continued. "Nestor has few friends, so you're more than welcome to come visit again whenever you wish."

I felt a slightly queasy feeling in my stomach at that comment, as I recalled a time when Nestor had no shortage of "friends." Very few of them weren't crass. It made me wonder if it had been a conscious choice for Nestor not to continue those friendships. If so, then he had surely matured since then.

"Nes should be back from his meeting in about fifteen minutes or so," Alrico admitted. "But, I have a tray of snacks for everyone and made coffee and tea," he continued as he pulled a notepad and a pen from his apron pocket. "So, just let me know which you'd prefer. Let's start with Sabine…"

I watched, nearly entranced, as the young man went around taking orders as if he were a waiter. When he got around to taking mine, I realized I couldn't really stomach anything, let alone coffee or tea. "Uh, just a small glass of water for me if you don't mind," I responded.

The expression on his face seemed to show some concern before he gave a forced smile. "Then, I'll be right back. Please make yourselves at home in the meantime," he said in parting.

I glanced at Morgan and felt relieved that I wasn't the only one that seemed more than a bit shocked at Nestor's house and mate. I was shorter in stature than I liked. My fragile frame became an insecurity of mine. But, Alrico was smaller by a few inches all around. The only person he seemed to really know was Sabine, so it was impressive the way he played host so thoroughly for a group of strangers.

By the time Alrico began to hand out everyone's drinks, we all heard the sound of the lock of the front door turning. Subconsciously, I had begun to grip my mug a little tighter. Our host wasted no time in rushing over to the door to greet his mate as he entered the house.

We were all riveted as Nestor indulgently bent low, after putting on a pair of slippers, so that Alrico could take hold of his face and kiss him in greeting.

Gone were the longish, messy locks of dark brown hair that Nestor used to have in high school. His hair had been trimmed into a more professional cut. His facial hair was also tidy, which made his face appear more mature. He wore a button-down shirt and black tie with a pair of grey slacks that matched his grey eyes. As he approached us, Nestor placed his hands into his pockets and took on a stance of nervousness that I had only ever seen whenever Lexus used to call him out on his crappy decisions in high school.

He relaxed significantly when Alrico took one of his hands out of a pocket and held it in his own. The look that the Husky Alpha sent down to his mate was unmistakable. It was almost alien in nature to see the glint of love and adoration in those grey eyes. I felt like quite the intruder in their home.

My body tensed in a jolt when Lexus suddenly stood up and extended his hand for Nestor to shake. He even gave him a slight pat on the shoulder with his other hand. "You look well," Lex greeted. "It's been a while."

The smallest of smiles formed on Nestor's face, as if in relief. "Well, you look better," he admitted as he motioned towards one of Lex's arms. "My days of keeping up the bulk are long gone. My mate keeps me just healthy enough."

Alrico made a petulant expression on his face as he pinched Nestor's arm. "You'd be even healthier if you didn't keep sneaking bites from the desserts I make for work," he pointed out.

I nearly spilled my water when Nestor's gray eyes shifted over to me and my slung arm. "Uh...h-hi?" I greeted in a voice that trembled more than it should have.

"I don't know what surprises me more," Nestor admitted with a shake of his head. "The fact that Avion's an Omega or the fact that you two crossed paths again to the point of becoming mates." His expression then became nervous once again as he seemed to force himself to look me in the eye. "Avion, I know I can never make up for my past mistakes. But, I want you to know that I truly do regret them all. I should have apologized to you immediately...hell, none of that should have ever happened in the first place." His gaze fell to the floor as his frame drooped down in shame before locking eyes with me once more. "I'm sorry, Avion. I'm truly sorry for every way that I've wronged you."

The sincerity of his words had me floored. I realized, belatedly, that he had kept a good few feet away from me and had kept as still as possible as if he didn't want to upset me by getting any closer. I briefly glanced at Alrico, but the smaller man's worried gaze was firmly set on his mate's face.

I took a deep breath. Making nice and pretending that nothing happened wasn't something that was ever going to happen. We weren't ever going to be besties or anything. But, there was something I could do in order to take that first step of progress and to hopefully wipe that worried expression off of Al's face.

"Hey man, I'd rather you not hold onto any of that anymore," I responded as I steadily held his gaze. "I wasn't perfect, either. A more rational, collected person wouldn't have acted as recklessly as I did all the time. Back then, I didn't really think about how I worried others when I behaved that way." I admitted as I stood up and walked over. "For what it's worth, I knew you were not yourself that day. It doesn't downplay your actions, but I'm willing to move on from it...aren't you?" I concluded as I held out my good hand for him to shake.

The warmth of Nestor's larger hand around mine as we shook hands, the deep relief I saw in Alrico's tear-brimmed eyes, and the release of tension in the Husky's shoulders, were things I would never forget.

So, this was what it was like to grow as a person.

Who knew?

::::

It was quickly apparent that Nestor hadn't been in contact with Ashur since their days in high school. We spared no detail as we caught them up to speed. I found Alrico's candid reactions to everything that happened quite amusing.

"And that's why your arm's in a sling?" Alrico asked as he handed me a peanut butter cookie, possibly in sympathy.

"Pretty much," I responded before biting into the cookie. The guy was quite the baker. I was starting to see how being mated to someone like Alrico calmed Nestor down.

"We've been trying to track down the person, or persons, who hired that shady group in order to cause Avion grief," Morgan explained. "We were hoping you might know something, but if you haven't been in contact with Ashur at all…"

"But, he can find out, can't you Nes?" Alrico prompted. "You can visit him in prison and try to get him to talk!"

Nestor frowned. "I think my mate is right. Ashur could have easily planned for this before going on trial," he replied. "If I can get him to talk about it, I might be able to get some information out of him."

"We'd be much obliged," Lexus commented. "But, understand that no one's forcing you to do this. It's ok to say no."

The Husky shook his head as he sent me a determined glance. "Don't worry, I can do it. It's the least I could do."

::::

As the four of us left Nestor and Alrico's home, with a promise to visit once more, my mate pulled out his phone and began to frown as he saw its contents.

"What is it?" I asked.

"My father wants to see us," Lexus explained.

I felt my stomach do a queasy flip. "Can we bring reinforcements?" I whispered as I glanced pointedly at Morgan and Sabine.

"I'm afraid not," Lexus sighed. "We'll drop them off on our way there."

All too soon, we arrived back at Morgan's apartment and the two of them were out of the car. A part of me wanted to stay behind along with them. I pressed my hand to the window as Morgan waved and yelled 'good luck' before walking through the apartment door.

I took in a deep breath until I could feel the stretch of my lungs before letting the air out again. After having heard that it was Lexus's father that helped to get Morgan out of that hostage situation, I was determined not to cause the aged Alsatian more aggravation than normal, at least not on purpose. My mother taught me to defend myself from insult or injury, but that didn't mean I had to add fuel to the fire all the time.

The visit to Nestor's opened my eyes to the fact that I needed to curb that kind of behavior. I needed to grow the hell up. Fighting resolved nothing. Negotiation and compromise did. With those things in mind, I braved myself for a confrontation that I was already dreading.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Lexus asked while keeping his gaze on the road.

I must have been so focused on my own misgivings that I didn't realize I had subconsciously closed up my thoughts. "I just don't want to get your dad riled up again, enough to order around your mom or to upset you…" I confessed. "Especially if he had to pay ransom money to rescue Morgan."

"Just because my father got all bent out of shape over the fact that I'm not giving him any heirs doesn't mean that he'd want anything bad to happen to you or Morgan," Lex insisted.

"Didn't you say you had to call in a favor for him to ask around?"

"The favor wasn't for him to ask around, it was to gather the funds they were asking for," Lex clarified with a frown. "I wanted to gradually pay him back, but he refused."

I briefly wondered if Mr. Streicher would try to get me to pay him back somehow…

"If he so much as tries to demand any form of payment from you," Lexus responded. "Then it's the last he'll ever see of us."

As nice as it was to hear the conviction in Lex's voice, that he put us first even before his family...I still felt a sense of guilt. I didn't want to be the cause of a rift between them. No family was perfect.

All too soon, we arrived at the estate. I felt the anxiety building inside me, to the point that Lexus turned towards me before we even took a step inside. When I glanced up at him, he dove to give me quite a thorough kiss. I could have easily refused it or forced him to stop. But, at that particular moment, I welcomed the sudden gift. I could think of nothing else other than the warmth of Lex's tongue against my own and the reaction of my body as it recognized the scent and the taste of my mate.

When he pulled away, I was a little dazed. I mean, it was more than a bit embarrassing at just how much that kiss affected me. But, if Lexus noted it, he didn't mention it in the slightest.

"Ready?" He asked as he took my good hand and gave it a squeeze.

I nodded as I allowed him to take the lead.