Page 20 of Doyle

Zane looked at me thoughtfully, his earlier hostility replaced with curiosity.

"Michael, you’re welcome here. I’m sorry if it didn’t appear that way at first. Doyle seems to trust you, and that means a lot,” Zane said.

"Thank you," I said, genuinely touched by his words. "But I’ve overstayed my welcome. My dad’s picking me up later."

There was a lump in my throat after that admission. Zane looked relieved.

"I’ll leave you two to it,” Zane said. “Doyle, I’ll be in my study if you need me.”

“Have the bears reached out?” Doyle asked.

“I’m having that conversation with Venom now. I’ll update you later,” Zane said before leaving the kitchen.

Once we were alone, Doyle turned to me with a smile.

"How about I make you some breakfast?" Doyle asked.

"That sounds great," I replied, eager to spend as much time as possible with Doyle.

Doyle moved around the kitchen with ease, gathering ingredients and setting up the stove.

The aroma of sizzling bacon and fresh eggs soon filled the room, mixing with the comforting scent of coffee brewing.

As he cooked, I watched him, feeling a sense of warmth and belonging that I hadn't felt in years.

"How do you like your eggs?" Doyle asked, glancing over his shoulder.

"Scrambled, please," I said.

The intimacy of the moment, the simple act of him cooking for me, felt almost surreal.

As Doyle finished preparing our breakfast, he set the plates on the table and gestured for me to sit.

"Here you go, scrambled eggs and bacon. I hope you like it,” Doyle told me.

I took a bite, savoring the rich flavors.

"It's delicious. Thank you, Doyle,” I told him.

He smiled, sitting across from me.

"You're welcome, Michael,” he replied.

We ate in comfortable silence for a few minutes before I finally gathered the courage to ask the question that had been gnawing at me.

"Doyle, who is William?” I asked.

“William is, was my mate,” Doyle eventually answered.

Instinct told me to retreat, to drop this topic.

Doyle suddenly looked guarded and it was easy to see he didn’t want to talk about it, but still I pushed.

“How did you...how did you lose William?" I had to ask.

Shifters normally only had one mate in a single lifetime. If their mate died, the remaining half usually followed.

It made me even more curious about Doyle and how he managed to survive this long if his true love was gone.

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