KEEGAN

How did I end up in a room surrounded by only my family? All eyes were on me, and the tension felt like it was an intervention. Dinner had gone awkwardly. After Bunny took his chair, no one had dared to ask a question. But once dinner was over, Bunny had left, and my family had taken me to the living room. I could tell they had questions, and so did I. When I scheduled this vacation, I never expected to find my fated mate, whom I couldn’t stop thinking about. I had never been particularly interested in omegas. Yes, I had hooked up with people, but nothing serious. Now, I couldn’t stop thinking about the beautiful omega hiding somewhere in the house. I could still feel his scent in my nose. 

“So Bunny is your fated mate?” Dad broke the silence in the room. 

“Yes.” I answered with a nod. 

“Are you sure?” Papa was the one who asked this time.

“Yes. He smells like honey.” I said. The whole room gasped. For bear shifters, fated mates always had the scent of honey. 

“Oh, wow. So it’s true then.” Owen said, shock and curiosity showed in his eyes.

“I don’t think Keith would lie to me.” I mentioned, and then added. “And he is still screaming in my head that Bunny is our mate.”

“And what are you going to do about it?” Maverick asked with curiosity.

“I don’t know.” I answered with sincerity. I had to think about all the possibilities of Bunny being my fated mate.

“Well, I hope you don’t reject him because he is my best friend and I don’t want you to ruin that for me.” Emil was the first to answer. He was looking at me with a frown. He meant what he said.

“For all of us, actually. Bunny is basically family to us. You better not harm him, Keegan.” Maverick said in a serious tone, and I felt the seriousness of my big brother in his voice. 

“I’m not going to hurt him, but it’s not like I can just accept the bond. I live in New York, he lives here. It’s something we need to talk about.” I said with a deep sigh.

“Over my dead body will we let you take Bunny with you back to New York. He hates big cities, that’s why he came to Bramville.” Jeremy was the one to answer now in a serious tone. I was confused by why my family was reacting so possessively. It seemed to me that they cared more for the omega than me, their own blood. It was frustrating me.

“I wouldn’t take him away from you. It’s complicated, okay?” I let out a huff of frustration and then added. “And I’m tired and too jet-lagged to think about this right now.” 

“Honey. We are happy that you found your fated mate. We want the best for both of you. You are both important to us. I hope you understand that.” Papa was the one to talk next after noticing the tension in the air.

“I do, Papa. It’s just a lot right now. I’ll have to sleep on it.” I sighed.

“Okay. We will let you go rest now.” Dad said with a gentle nod.

“But Dad—” Emil started, but was quickly stopped.

“It’s late and he is tired. Let him be.” Dad said in a serious tone that was familiar. It was a tone that meant the conversation was over for now. He turned to look at me. “You can go, son.”

“Thank you, Dad.” I said with a smile, and before I left the room, I said. “Good night.”

As I walked outside the living room, leaving my family behind, I walked to my room. I expected to have a guest room, but to know my parents kept my old room untouched was nice. On the way to the room, the scent of honey hit my nose, but instead of following where it came from, I kept walking until I was finally safe from that scent behind the closed door of my bedroom. I let out a deep sigh. 

A lot had happened today. Many emotions swirled through my body, but most of all, I couldn’t shake away the feeling of happiness and warmth of seeing my family again. And also, even if it was unexpected, finding my fated mate made me happy. I had never thought of it before, but after seeing my brothers all happy with their mates, made me want something similar in my life. But with me in New York and Bunny here in Bramville. 

How was I supposed to do this?

BUNNY

Never in all my years of living with the Beackmans had I ever hidden in my room right after dinner was over. Usually, I played with the kids for a while before it was time for them to sleep. But today had been different. My mind was still numb from the intoxicating scent of Chardonnay that came from none other than Keegan Beackman. I had wished to find a mate one day, but I didn’t expect him to show up in front of me like this. Dinner had gone awkwardly, and I couldn’t help but wonder what was going on in everyone's minds. Mir wasn’t helpful either, as he wouldn’t stop yapping in my mind about our fated mate’s sudden appearance. 

‘He is so hot, Meadow. Why did you have to run away? I wanted to see him more.’ Mir said, almost in a scolding tone, but my animal self was in awe of the alpha. ‘And that beard too. He is a big business guy, so I wonder what he looks like in a suit. Probably hot.’

That image came to my mind and made me tremble. I understood well why Mir was talking about Keegan like that. The man was handsome. He had the Beackman genes after all. Honey skin, like his twin brother, his hair was brown, and to pair with, beautiful brown eyes that had looked at me with shock. I wondered what he thought of me.  A knock on my door broke me away from my thoughts. I grew anxious thinking it would be Keegan, but the voice that came from the other side let me know it wasn’t.

“It’s me.” Emil’s voice came from the other side of the door, and I let out a deep sigh.

“Come in. It’s not locked.” I said, still sitting on my bed. The door opened, and Emil walked in. 

“I can’t believe all this time you could’ve been an official member of our family if Keegan had just come back home sooner.” Emil said as he walked in and sat next to me on the bed.

“Hi, Emil. How are you? Fine? Me? Oh, I’m fine. Just freaking out about finding my fated mate, that’s all.” I said, having a whole conversation with myself.

“I know you are fine, but freaking out. I’m still shocked, you know.” My friend said with a sigh. “Everyone is.”

“Everyone? Oh, God/dess…” I said. My anxiety grew thinking that all the Beackmans were having a hard time with the sudden revelation. What if they didn’t like it? What if they fire me? I made all kinds of crazy theories in my head, but Emil’s hand in mine broke me away from them.

“Hey. It’s okay, Meadow. Not bad reactions at all. Just shocked.” He said as if he had read my mind. I took deep breaths, and when I finally calmed down, Emil continued. “So do you want to go to Poundtown with my brother?”

“Poudtown? Really?” I said with an arched brow at him, trying to hold back from laughing.

“Just answer the question. You know we could become family like this.” Emil said with a curious smile.

“Yes, but isn’t Keegan a big shot in New York? He is here temporarily.” I mentioned.

“So? What’s the problem with that?” Emil asked.

“The problem is he doesn’t live here, and I have no intentions of living in the city. You know I hate big cities. I would feel suffocated, and I can’t take Chardonneigh with me.” I explained. Just thinking about living in the city made me feel dread.

“You are right. We can’t let you leave like that. Not when you help so much around here.” Emil said.

“And it’s not like Keegan would come live here again.” I added, and Emil let out a sigh.

“What about long distance?” Emil asked, but then shook his head. “No, that would be hard. We saw what happened last time he left.”

“See the issue now?” I asked with a sigh, and he nodded.

“Yes, but do you still want to try it with my brother?” Emil asked out of curiosity.

“He is quite handsome. But I don’t want to make things awkward here.” I admitted.

“Okay, I understand. But if you end up doing something with him, don’t tell me. I don’t want to know. I don’t want those images in my head.” Emil cringed.

“I doubt something will happen, but okay. I promise not to tell you.” I reassured him.

“Thank you, Meads.” He said with a smile.

“You know. I always thought you were going to find your fated mate before me.” I mentioned.

“Why is that?” He asked, looking into my eyes. Something was different about them.

“Because you travel a lot and hang out with a bunch of people.” I said with a smile.

“Well. Even like that, I haven’t found him.” He said, but I sensed him tense a bit. I wondered why, but before I could ask, he stood from the bed and walked to the door. “Okay. I’ll leave now. Sleep well, Meads.”

I was alone once again in my room. I feared Emil was hiding something from me, but that was a problem I had to put aside for a moment. There was a bigger issue in my life right now, and his name was Keegan Beackman. How was I going to face him? What was I going to say to him? 

‘Mate with me. Duh.’ Mir said in my mind, and I just let out a sigh. I was too tired to fight my animal self. 

Tomorrow was going to be a long day.