Page 52 of Doyle

I awkwardly patted his back.

“You take care of yourself while I'm not here,” I told him. “Don't stay out drinking with Stan every night.”

“You bet,” he said, giving me a tired but warm smile. “Go on, your mate and his friend's waiting.”

I was midway out of the kitchen when I finally processed his words. My dad had acknowledged Doyle as my mate.

I looked back at my dad, eyes wide. He looked small and sad to me all of a sudden.

“I... I don't know if I'm good enough to be Doyle's mate,” I whispered, embarrassed by my lack of confidence.

“You're my son. The more important question is whether he's good enough for you,” my dad said, walking up to me and gripping my shoulders.

I smiled at that, then, feeling a lot better, I headed out of the house to join Doyle and Ivan.

"Hey, Michael, how you doing?" Ivan asked as I slid into the backseat of his truck.

"Good," I tentatively answered.

I had the impression Ivan didn't like me that much during my brief stay at Zane's house.

"No need to be so formal, considering you'll be sticking around for a while," Ivan said, glancing at me in the rearview mirror.

His tone was lighter than I expected, which made me relax a bit.

Doyle turned around in the passenger seat and gave me a reassuring smile.

"We've got everything we need, right?" Doyle asked.

"Yeah, I think so," I replied, though I wasn't entirely sure.

I had packed in such a rush that I felt I must have forgotten something.

The truck rumbled to life, and Ivan navigated the familiar streets away from my dad’s house.

The scenery passed by in a blur as my mind raced.

It was still sinking in that I was leaving home again, but this time, it felt different.

I was leaving to keep dad and the others safe from members of Liliana’s coven.

"You know, Michael," Ivan began after a moment of silence, "we've got your back. All of us. You're not alone in this."

I looked at him, surprised. I wondered if he said that, because I was important to Doyle.

Ivan caught my gaze in the mirror and nodded. His words were sincere, and it felt like a weight lifted off my shoulders.

"Thanks, Ivan," I said, meaning it.

We continued in a comfortable silence for a while, but my thoughts kept drifting back to the events of the past few days.

The decoy car, Morgan snatching me up, and then being back in the safety of my home, only to leave it again so soon.

The whirlwind of emotions left me feeling drained.

"You okay back there?" Doyle asked, his voice gentle.

"Yeah, just... processing everything," I admitted. "It all happened so fast."

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