“Looks like everything.” Tristan grabbed his art bag from the bed and followed Hunter to his truck. There were a few soldiers outside, Zeus’s orders, waiting on them to pack. Quinn had packed the night before, having left this morning to go to work. His construction worker pretended everything was fine, but Hunter could see past that. Quinn was upset. If only he would talk to them about the situation.
Every time he or Tristan brought it up, Quinn quickly changed the subject. It was frustrating as hell, but he had caused this, so what did he expect?
“Quinn said he’ll meet you two there after work,” Sully said as he grabbed the bags from Hunter and tossed them in the truck. “He probably told you before he left for work, but asked me to tell you. I told you, we’re good now.” Sully chuckled.
Quinn hadn’t said anything, but Sully didn’t need to know that. “You guys following us?”
“Right behind you,” Sully said over his shoulder as he walked to his vehicle, Torem and Avanti waiting by the soldier’s truck.
The hairs on the back of Hunter’s neck stood up. He dropped the bag into the bed of the truck, looking around. There was nothing out of the ordinary, but he wasn’t taking any chances. Someone was watching them. “Let’s get moving, rainbow. Someone’s watching us.”
Tristan jumped into Hunter’s truck, his art bag clutched to his chest. Hunter locked the doors, pulling from the drive. He scanned the neighborhood as he drove through it, keeping an eye out for anyone paying too close attention to them.
They made it to Zeus’s house, but Hunter bet his life that they were still being watched. He quickly helped Tristan inside, informing the soldiers of his gut feeling. Avanti and Sully headed out, going to look for his gut instinct. One of the Alpha’s mates, Jasper, showed them to a room. “Let me know if you guys need anything.”
“Thanks.” Hunter set the bags by the dresser, checking out the room they were in.
“This is nice.” Tristan set his art bag on the bed. Hunter was going to have to ask if they had a drawing table in this place. If not, he’d go get Tristan’s from the house.
“I guess this is our hotel until Xavier is caught.” Hunter walked into the bathroom, checking, for what, he wasn’t sure. The look of utter defeat on Tristan’s face was too much for him right now. Hunter didn’t know how to fix it, he didn’t know how to fix Quinn, and he didn’t know how to fix any of this fucking mess. What kind of mated shifter was he if he couldn’t help his mates? He was the Alpha of the three. This should come easily to him. But it didn’t.
Hunter sat on the toilet seat, wondering what he was going to do to get back to where the three used to be, like that evening in the living room when they danced around, not caring about the world outside. How easy it was to forget the good when you fucked up.
“Hunter?”
Hunter blew out a long breath and stood, running his hand through his hair as he exited the bathroom. “Yeah, rainbow?”
“Is Quinn really going to be here?”
“I wish I knew.” Hunter grabbed his mate in his arms and held him close. “We can’t give up on him. No matter how much he hates us right now.”
“I don’t hate you.”
Hunter and Tristan spun around to see Quinn standing in the doorway. His instincts were to pull Quinn into their arms, but the look on his face stopped him. Quinn wasn’t ready. Give him space.
“Are you sure? I miss us.” Tristan took a step in Quinn’s direction, but their mate shook his head.
“I’m not sure about anything right now, but I can assure you I don’t hate either of you. I’m just very pissed and hurt right now. If what I’m told is true, then mates are for life, and you start ours off with a lie?”
“We didn’t lie,” Hunter said.
“No, but you omitted the truth. It’s the same thing in my book. How do I know I can trust you now?”
Tristan stood there shaking. “Trust? I made a bad judgment call. I won’t say it’s the smartest thing I’ve ever done, but it was in good intention. If you want to talk about trust, think about how much I’ve given both of you. Do you know how much courage it took me to give both of you my trust? I fucked up and I’m sorry, but don’t punish us, at least not at a time like this.” Tristan’s voice broke, his scent smelling of fear and anger.
“Tristan.” Quinn took a step into the room. “That was something major you chose to keep from me. How do I know you won’t do it again?”
“I might. I make bad mistakes. Look at Xavier. But mates forgive each other. Hell, partners, lovers, and friends forgive each other as well. I didn’t withhold the information being malicious. I did it out of fear. Fear that you would leave us if you found out. All I’m asking is that you understand why I did it.”