Page 191 of His Forsaken Alpha

“I have a system.”

Wynter looked over his shoulder, one brow rising.

“I do,” Cav argued.

“It looks to me like you need more space.”

Cav sighed. “I do. I enlarged this room when I rebuilt it, but it’s still not large enough. Between my reference library, my pleasure reading, copies of my own books, and then all of the many pieces of paper—notes, scribbles, ideas, and what have you—I need better organization. Only I don’t know how to do that in here.”

“I can’t imagine this helps your productivity.”

Cav shook his head. “It doesn’t.”

“Is there room to add an addition to the house?”

Cav fought a smile. “Already trying to rearrange my life?”

“Not hardly. You just said this wasn’t working for you, so we need options.” Wynter frowned and turned to fully face Cav. “You know, we’ll both need to rearrange a little to make room for one another.”

“I was only kidding,” Cav said, ending his battle with the smile. “I know living together will bring new challenges.”

“I’ve never truly shared my life with anyone before.”

“That’s not exactly true,” Cav murmured.

“He had his rooms in the wing opposite mine. We lived as apart as two mated people could possibly live. He did his thing, and I did mine—unless we were forced to pretend we were actually a couple.”

Cav knew he shouldn’t have found pleasure in that. It spoke of the loneliness and solitude his mate had clearly experienced—yet knowing Wynter hadn’t shared much of himself with Warden gratified him immensely.

“Well, I suppose I could look into an addition for a new office.” He leaned on the doorframe. “Maybe this could become your… closet.”

Wynter eyeballed him. “Closet?”

“Is it not large enough?” Cav asked, grinning wickedly.

“Come on,” Wynter said. “I don’t need all this. Especially out here in the mountains.”

“You forget. I’ve seen how you pack for a week-long trip where you’d not need much clothing,Mr. Four Suitcases.”

Wynter’s smile fell. “I was pretending I was running away.”

“In some ways you did.”

The smile returned, but perhaps not as bright as before. “I suppose so.” He glanced around the office again. “I do have a lot of clothes. A lot of shoes. A lot of jewelry. But it was all bought to punish Warden. At first, I could’ve cared less about any of it… shopping was simply something to do to get out of the house on the days I was capable of getting out of the house and a way to damage his bank account.”

Wynter’s gaze drifted, unseeing anything. “But it was also a rush. Buying something made me feel better. It barely mattered what it was. When I was low, I could go on a shopping spree, and it would give me a high that I desperately needed. After Warden lost it once and found several bags with all the tags still on them, which he returned, I began wearing every piece to prevent him from returning anything else. That started giving me a rush, too. A smaller one, but a rush all the same. When I looked in the mirror and saw how nice I looked—or slid into something silky and delicious—it helped chase away the blues a little bit. I’d have a fashion show with Jamie on occasion, and we’d play dress-up, changing into a million outfits. Adding hats and furs and bangles.” Wynter smiled to himself. “I miss those days. His smile was infectious.” Wynter chuckled. “And his belly laugh? It was the best thing I’d ever heard.”

Cav drew Wynter closer, hugging his omega close. “I’m sorry he’s gone.”

“Me, too.”

Cav wasn’t sure how long they stood there, but he didn’t let go until Wynter pulled away. “Sorry. I know I keep lowering the tone. You brought me here to have fun… not deal with my drama.”

“It’s not drama. You lost a child, and you grieve him.”

Wynter nodded, dabbing at the corner of one eye. He inhaled deep and released it long and slow. “So what else is there to see on this tour?”

“Wellll…” Cav said. “Not all that much. The mudroom out back looks very much the same. There is a deck out there that looks over the valley below, though you never went out there last time… and it was more a stone slab than a deck when you were here last.”

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