Page 19 of His Place in the World
“Del?”a voice asked from behind him.
Del screwed his eyes shut.He wasn’t sure he was ready to talk to Angus, but apparently, he wouldn’t have a choice.He didn’t want to yell at Angus, even though that was his first instinct.He needed to look at this rationally, the way everyone else had.
After sucking in a breath, Del turned to face Angus.“I don’t like any of what just happened,” he said.
Angus nodded.He stepped out onto the porch and closed the door behind himself.It gave them some semblance of privacy, although Del could hear people talking inside the house.
“I wouldn’t like it if our positions were reversed either,” Angus said.
“Because I’m a weak human?”
“It has nothing to do with you being weak or human and everything to do with you being my mate and me worrying about something happening to you.I know you feel the same, which is why you tried to go with me, right?”
Del huffed.“I know it was a bad idea.I won’t insist.I don’t understand why my father is deemed good enough to go while I’m not, though.”
“It’s because your father doesn’t worry and care about me as much as you do.”
“We don’t even know each other well,” Del muttered.
Instead of offending Angus, it made him smile.“We don’t, but I know you better than I know your father.I’d never even met him before today.Besides, this has nothing to do with knowing each other and everything to do with our bond.It doesn’t matter how long we’ve been together.The bond between us is strong, and it’ll push you to do something stupid if it means helping me.”
Del would have to take Angus’s word for that.As a human, he couldn’t feel the bond between them, and it had no effect on him beyond making him want to spend as much time as possible with Angus.He didn’t care much about it, just like he didn’t care about whether or not the bond was pushing him to fall in love with Angus.He just knew he was and didn’t want anything to happen to his mate.
“You can’t forbid me to do things, though,” Angus said.“I understand the bond between us is strong and that you’re worried, but I’m still an adult.I can make my own decisions, especially when it comes to this.This situation, the mission and finding the shifters and the people auctioning them is important to me.I need to see it through.”
Del rubbed his face.He should have known better than to tell Angus he couldn’t do it.He’d have told Angus to fuck off if Angus had tried doing the same with him.The only person who’d ever been able to tell Del what to do was his father, and with Del being twenty, he hadn’t done that in a while.
“I apologize for that,” Del said.“I shouldn’t have, and I don’t think I would have normally.I panicked.I don’t want to lose you, especially not so soon after finding you.”
Angus stepped forward.“I accept your apology, and I understand.We both said things we might not have said otherwise and didn’t mean.The situation is putting everyone on edge, including both of us.”He reached for one of Del’s hands and linked their fingers together.“As long as you don’t try to order me around again, we can forget all about this.”
But could they?Because Angus was still in danger, and now, so was Del’s father.
Del was still panicking.He loved his father and was terrified of something happening to him, and he was falling fast and hard for Angus.He didn’t understand why or how it worked, but he didn’t want it to stop.He wanted so much more with Angus, and none of that would happen if the mission went wrong.
He cleared his throat.“How about we agree that neither of us can order the other to do or not do something as long as we talk about big decisions like this one?”he suggested.“I understand why you want to do it, and my reaction was knee-jerk.I should have allowed you to explain better, although I’m not sure that even if you had, I would have agreed to this.I don’t, and I’m sure you’re aware of that.”
Angus grinned.“You made it pretty clear.”
“You’re still going to go through with it.”
“I am.I need to do this.”
“Then I’ll stop bitching about it and support you.Just, next time, maybe talk to me first?I broke down in front of everyone, and I hate that.”
“I promise that I’ll talk to you first next time.”Angus moved even closer.Del was pretty sure this was closer than they’d been since they’d met.His heart raced.It wasn’t because of fear this time, but rather because of anticipation and want.
“And you’ll talk to me before making big decisions,” Angus continued.“That includes moving and what you want to do with your life and your future.”
Del had hinted at the fact that he wasn’t sure college was still for him, and Angus hadn’t judged him for it.He’d given him support, which was what Del had needed and still needed now.
“I’m not used to talking with anyone,” Angus murmured.“I don’t have family, and I barely have friends.I’ve always been independent because I had to be, so sometimes, I might forget that I promised to talk to you.I hope you won’t hold it against me.”
“How could I?We’ll both do our best with this relationship, and that’s all I expect.”And for Angus to stay behind, but that wasn’t going to happen.
“Learning to be in a relationship with someone is hard, but I think especially so when that someone is your mate.There’s so much that could break between us and ruin everything that I’m almost afraid to do the things I want the most.”
“Like what?”Del was pretty sure they weren’t talking about the mission anymore.
