Iwoke before Chester, my body conditioned by my recent early morning swims. Even with my closer proximity to the loch, that wasn’t what I was planning this morning.
No. I was going to make Chester breakfast.
It took me a minute or so to extract myself without waking him. He’d spent the entire night using my pec as a pillow, an arm and a leg thrown over mine.
I’d never slept so peacefully.
My wolf was thrilled as we tiptoed downstairs into the kitchen.Provide food for mate. Feed him. Make him happy.
He was definitely more present recently, which made sense given he’d settled on Chester being our mate.
I wasn’t sure what he’d do if Chester decided to go a different way, but I’d worry about that if it happened. Deep down, I didn’t think it would come to that. I might have been clinging to false hope, but didn’t I deserve some? I’d loved Sarah without any—I didn’t want to do the same with Chester. I’d lived without hope for so long and it had got me nowhere. Maybe embracing it would lead to a better outcome.
I wanted to hope. I wanted to believe that this would end happily for us.
I moved around Chester’s kitchen on silent feet. Thanks to the many breakfasts he’d fed me over the past few weeks, I knew where everything was kept. I even knew how Chester took his tea—a drop of milk and a sweetener.
I held the sweetener canister over his mug and frowned. Did Chester prefer this to sugar? Or had he switched because of Matt?
I suspected it was the latter. Tempting as it was to replace it with sugar, that would be just as bad as what Matt had done. If Chester wanted something different, he had to be the one to make that decision.
My job was to give him the confidence to embrace the changes he wanted to make. To live his life authentically by doing whatever it was that brought him joy.
I set about preparing his breakfast while humming a tune in my head. Heady optimism about the day ahead filled me. The man I was falling for was asleep upstairs, and I was finally able to repay him for all the times he’d cooked for me. He’d learned the truth about me and hadn’t gone running.
Yes. Today was going to be a brilliant day. I could feel it in my bones.
Chester’s footsteps sounded on the stairs just as I was adding the bacon to his plate. I turned to see him freeze in the doorway. “Morning, m’eudail!”
He rubbed sleepily at one of his eyes. “Finn?”
I winked at him as I pulled his chair out for him. “The one and only. Come, sit down.”
Chester blinked a couple of times, like he was trying to clear the sleep fog from his mind. Then he shuffled across the room and sank into the chair I was holding out for him. I dropped a kiss on his head in greeting before turning to pick up his tea. “Here. Breakfast will be another minute or so, but this should be the perfect drinking temperature.”
He took the mug from me automatically. “What’s going on?”
“I’m making you breakfast.” I went back to the oven and turned off the hobs. “We’ve got bacon, mushrooms,black pudding,and beans. I was going to do some eggs too, but you’re out.”
While I talked, I plated up Chester’s breakfast. Turning around, I found him staring down at the table, slightly pale. “Are you okay?”
“I don’t keep eggs in the house,” Chester said. I wasn’t sure where he was right now, but it wasn’t in this room with me. “Too many bad memories.”
My wolf howled and snarled as Chester seemed to sink further into the past. He was desperate to hunt down Matt. To make him feel the same level of pain that Chester was experiencing now.
“Sorry,” Chester said, shaking himself and flushing. “I’m making a fuss over nothing.”
“Hey.” I put his plate on the table and touched his chin gently. “Look at me, Chester.”
It took a moment, but finally his defeated gaze met mine.
“It’s okay,” I said, quietly but firmly. “However you’re feeling right now, it’sokay. You don’t have to explain or justify anything, especially not to me.”
He smiled. It wasn’t much, but I’d take it. “Thanks, Finn.”
I nudged his plate towards him, just like I did as Buddy. “Eat up before it gets cold.”
“You didn’t need to make me breakfast.” He picked up his cutlery. “I could’ve sorted some.”