Lexus and I were seated in two chairs across a desk in Giles's study. The man in question seemed to have a poker face on as his intimidating yellow eyes shifted from one face to another. The silence in the room had extended for several minutes. But, Lex and I had conversed mentally back and forth the entire time.

::

“You sure you have no idea what he wants us for?”

“I could only make guesses…”

“He hasn’t said a thing in at least five minutes.”

"It's one of his parenting tactics. Whenever I messed up as a kid, my anxiety while waiting for him to talk was always more of a punishment than anything he said."

“Really? My mom would just ground me from everything I liked…no desserts, no games. In retrospect, it didn’t work as well as it should have over the years with how many fights I kept sparking up…”

::

“Lexus,” Giles spoke aloud, startling me from our shared inner thoughts. “Your mate seems to be a handful. I urge you to order him to remain by your side until you can order him to remain indoors in your new home.”

He wanted me to stick to Lexus like glue? What next? One of those child leashes?

“What?” Lexus questioned with a frown. “And deprive him of the rest of his college education?”

“No one’s gonna keep me from getting my degree,” I grumbled.

“If you care so much about him, you’ll do what must be done for his safety,” Giles responded.

“Sir, you may have always had a controlling nature,” I countered. “But, Lexus isn’t like that-”

“Listen, Omega," the aged Alsatian growled, cutting me off. "Whether I like it or not, you have become indispensable to my son," Giles stated as he motioned towards Lex. "I never want to see my son broken again, and he won’t ever fully recover if these kinds of things keep happening and you’re one day killed in the process.”

I felt like he had pelted me in the face with a snowball and physically ended up jerking back. My first instinct was to bark back with something clever, but as I gazed over at Lexus, I saw something that kept my mouth shut. The blue eyes I liked so much had a touch of tenseness, pain, and fear.

It was that pain along with the stray thoughts he subconsciously broadcasted that made my heart clench.

He’s hurt, but alive. He’s alive, and that’s all that matters. He’ll be fine...we’ll be more careful from now on.

That was when I realized that Lexus had been hiding his frantic feelings from me. When he had found out I was gone, he had just about lost it. His father saw him at his worst, Giles had been a first-hand witness.

“Lex…” I whispered as I reached out to place my good hand on his arm. “I wasn’t joking about that therapy.”

When the blue eyes turned their gazes to me, they held a touch of strength and determination. But, most importantly, they held a warmth that seemed to comfort me from the inside. I could only hope that he’d trust me with his insecurities more in the future.

“Neither was I, Avi,” he responded. “I’ll make some appointments for us at your earliest convenience.”

“Therapy alone isn’t going to keep your mate safe!” Giles interjected. “As an Alpha, it’s your duty to keep him away from any dangerous situations.”

“You’re right,” Lexus agreed. “Self-defense courses for different scenarios wouldn’t hurt. I could use a few of them myself.”

I couldn't help the smirk that tugged on the corner of my lips. Lexus didn't need much help to fend off any attackers. But, I still liked the idea of him learning side by side with me. As much as sticking by his side 24/7 wasn't reasonable; I really did want to spend more time with him in general.

“Why do you insist on ignoring your instincts as an Alpha?” Giles argued as he suddenly stood up in a huff. “Alpha Commands have been used for centuries. You won’t be able to keep them bottled up inside forever!”

“You’re right,” Lexus once again agreed. “I won’t be able to keep from using an Alpha Command. It’s instinct.”

From the corner of my eye, I could see the smug expression that formed on Giles’s face in response to Lex’s words. As much as I tried, I couldn’t quite read my mate’s eyes. Just where was he going with this?

“Avion Dominic Arter…”

The Alpha Command hit me hard in the gut. Lexus hadn’t even fully completed it, but I felt the force of it constricting around me heavily like a cocoon. In spite of the weight, I still trusted him not to order me to do anything stupid.

“As your mate and Alpha, I declare that you have the choice as to whether or not to obey ANY of my commands for the rest of our lives!”

My mind reeled. The cocoon that nearly suffocated me a moment before seemed to release like a magnificent cape fluttering along behind me. I felt like some kind of snow queen from an animated movie…as if Lexus was a king and he had somehow named me regent. A freedom that I couldn’t quite explain filled me right up.

Giles slumped back down onto his desk chair with a groan as he rubbed at his temples. "You will surely regret doing that, my son,” he sighed.

"I'll make sure that he won't," I responded with a grin, unable to hide my joy.

::::::::

In the weeks that followed, there were no other disturbing events. Lexus, Morgan and I did go to therapy sessions once a week. Sometimes individually and sometimes as a group. My mate also signed us up for self-defense classes, though I was only able to observe for the first few weeks due to my arm.

Morgan and Sabine were officially mates, as was made evident by Morgan’s family emblem on her shoulder. My arm eventually healed up completely, and I was ever so grateful that it wasn’t my dominant one. If it had been my dominant arm, I wouldn’t have been able to survive the onslaught of college assignments we were given. Once again, I considered myself lucky.

To provide Morgan and Sabine some privacy, I moved out of the apartment, and she moved in with him. Lexus couldn't have been happier to have me join him. In a blur of final exams, one semester ended and another began. During lunch, we were finally all finally able to gather together. Derrick and I developed a closer friendship, and Morgan didn't hesitate to welcome him into the fold. The three of us shared a history class in the new semester, and we found that the three of us were excellent study buddies.

Nestor was true to his promise of getting information out of Ashur. Morgan had urged him to give a report on everything that the twisted young man had told him. Though the authorities were not able to capture them all, they managed to uncover some of the criminals that had held us for ransom. When Morgan and I were called in to identify them, we both were easily able to recognize the commander by his heterochromatic eyes and height. We were both able to rest well that night.

The more that my arm healed, the more I was able to take part in the self-defense classes with Lexus. Those lessons usually ended up with the two of us showering together in his apartment afterward, something that I always took full advantage of. Just as we learned more and more about one another’s bodies, our minds naturally opened up more and more to each other’s thoughts.

Our developing relationship wasn’t always smooth sailing. Whenever we were both stressed out at the same time, whether over classes or due to family, we argued. There were times when we couldn’t make our schedules line up and the time apart put a strain on our bond. But those moments weren’t commonplace, because whenever only one of us was feeling pressure and stress, the other was there for support.

In that manner, a semester became a quarter. A quarter became a year. Lexus, Derrick, and Deziray graduated first. And the next thing we knew, Morgan, Sabine, and I followed.