Only Omega

Chapter Sixteen.

When I woke up the next day, the sun was just rising over the horizon so I hurriedly pulled on some grey sweatpants, a black sports bra and my trainers. Hayden and I decided to spend the night in the pack house with Holden so I didn’t have to go drop him off with Rebecca before training. I threw my hair up into a high ponytail before quickly going over to kiss Holden’s forehead and peck Hayden’s lips whispering “I’ll see you soon” then I left the pack house, heading for the training clearing where I knew Caine was already waiting.

“You’re late” Caine announced when I was the last to jog into the clearing. I glanced at Brice who was leaning up against a nearby tree with his arms crossed over his chest “Yeah sorry I-.” I didn’t get to finish my sentence when Caine turned his back on me and ordered “Give me a hundred push ups, crunches and pull ups” my jaw dropped but I nodded my head and bowed it to show my respect.

“Yes Alpha” I agreed dropping to the floor to get started on a hundred push ups. Caine wasn’t a father figure in training, he was an Alpha and a trainer who was programed to form us into the perfect soldiers.

“Brice! Liam! You’re up” Caine announced, jerking his head in the direction of the clearing. The Beta and Gamma stepped up and got into position while I was on push ups with one arm behind my back.

“Winner gets a round with Rachel” Caine suddenly added, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye just as I switched arms. Brice shot me one look and I could see the determination in his eyes.

“Now fight!” Caine bellowed when no one moved and in a split second Liam charged forward. He aimed his fist at Brice but the Beta dodged and knocked Liam back with an uppercut to the face. I glanced at the fight every now and then to see who was winning in between my counting. I was at seventy by the time Liam landed a side kick to Brice’s leg, forcing Caine’s Second in Command down onto one knee and giving Liam the perfect advantage to send his fist colliding with the side of Brice’s face.

“Son of a b***h” Brice bit out when he was finished spitting blood and wiped the back of his hand along his mouth. Liam looked determined to win as he waited for Brice’s next attack which was a simple trip then a kick to the stomach causing Liam to roll over and onto his back.

“Hundred” I said then moved onto crunches without breaking my pace. Caine and Drake shared a look as they glanced in my direction then focused back onto the fight. Liam was back on his feet, facing Brice with his hands balled at his sides before he lunged at the Beta using his shoulder to ram Brice into the ground. Brice didn’t even have time to process what was happening when Liam sent fist after fist colliding with his jaw. It was clear that Liam’s strong point was that he was fast while Brice’s was strategy, his ability to think things through in a fraction of a second. Brice quickly kicked up, flipping Liam over top of him and onto his back so that Brice could flip the roles and start pounding down on Liam’s face instead.

“Common Liam!” Drake called but I could see the look in Caine’s eyes. He wanted Brice to win for some reason and Brice noticed when he got distracted by Drake’s words of encouragement. It gave Liam a chance to send a kick to Brice’s chest, forcing him to stumble back enough so that Liam could send his fist into Brice’s gut. I was going on fifty crunches when Brice managed to catch one of Liam’s flying fists and force him to his knees by holding Liam’s arm behind his back. The scene from the time I killed for the first time on Titan territory flashed through my mind but I pushed it back as Brice jabbed his knee into Liam’s back and forced his opponent into the ground.

“Give up yet?” Brice asked grinning down at Liam with a bloody nose, bruised lip, swollen cheek and split brow.

“Screw you!” Liam snapped leaning back to slam the back of his head into Brice’s face, causing him to fall back and release Liam who instantly whirled round to punch Brice again.

“Hundred” I announced getting up to reach one of the tree branches above me so that I could get started on my pull ups. Caine again shot me a look and nodded his head in approval, giving me the strength to finish even though my muscles were on fire. I tried focusing on the fight instead of my aching body to try and distract myself. The fight continued to go from Liam to Brice and back to Liam until Brice eventually managed to get Liam into a headlock, repeatedly punching Liam until the Gamma slumped in his arms so much so that when Brice let go of him, Liam fell in a heap onto the clearing floor.

“s**t” Drake cursed as Caine bowed his head towards Brice to show his respect and approval. Brice returned the gesture and went to grab a water bottle to drench his head in.

“Looks like I’ll be kicking your ass next huh?” I teasingly asked and Brice chuckled lowly, glancing at me on my eightieth pull up while pointing his half empty water bottle in my direction.

“You wish, sweetheart” he shot back, taking a long swing of his water when the younger pack members started filling into the clearing. I noticed a couple of familiar faces including Cameron who was gapping at me still doing pull ups.

“Careful what you wish for Brice” I retorted as Zander came over to set up his equipment and to do a check up on a barely conscious Liam.

“Hundred” I announced letting go of the branch to land gracefully on both feet in a crouched position.

“Five bucks says that Brice wipes the floor with her” Drake bets smirking up at Caine from his place on one of Zander’s medical crates. Caine crossed his arms over his chest and shot a glance towards where I was stretching out my sore muscles before he smirked down at Drake.

“Hundred on Rachel” Drake gapped up at his Alpha, glancing from me to him but eventually caved saying “Alright, deal” clearly not wanting to look like a scared little girl in front of everyone by not taking the bet. As soon as the words left Drake’s mouth, he turned to look at Brice.

“You better not lose this” he threatened and Brice chuckled being his usual cocky self as he smirked at me.

“Oh I won’t” he assured screwing the cap of his water bottle back on then tossing it to Drake. I watched as Brice stepped into the clearing and started stretching his own muscles.

“You shore about this Alpha?” I asked, taking a stand beside Caine who looked as emotionless as ever as he stared out onto the clearing and into the crowd of younger trainees.

“Take no mercy” was Caine’s only reply as he jerked his head towards Brice and turned to look at me.

“Get in there” he demanded and I bowed my head to show my respect and understanding.

“As you wish Alpha” I replied then jogged up onto the clearing to stand across from Brice.

“You ready to loose, sweetheart?” Brice cockily asked but I brushed it off, standing casually with my hands wrapped behind my head to show how relaxed I was.

“No” I said in a monotone tone, shrugging my shoulders and causing Brice’s smirk to widen into a grin that is until I continued “I’m ready to kick your ass” that wiped the smirk right off his face and replaced it with a frown. I on the other hand was smirking happily as Caine stepped up to catch everyone’s attentions.

“Show these kids what a real fight looks like!” without any more hesitation I lunged forward, swinging my fist only to have Brice catch it in the palm of his hand. I thought quickly and pulled my fist back, forcing him to stumble forward and for his stomach to collide with my knee. The action caused him to let go of my fist long enough for me to swing again, sending it into the side of his face followed by a round house kick. Brice coughed up blood about to look at me when I sent another shot to collide with his face, remembering what I learned from Liam and Brice’s fight. Brice thought before he attacked which meant that I couldn’t give him even the slightest room to think. I was about to send my fist into his face for the third time when Brice once again caught it in his palm but this time he brought his elbow down onto my forearm, sending a wave of pulsing pain throughout my body. I cried out in agony, falling to my knees as he still held onto my fist with a bone crushing grip.

“Rachel!” I heard Hayden yell out across the crowd but I gave it no thought as I glanced up at Brice with gritted teeth. The reflection of my eyes could be seen in his eyes as they flashed from blue to black, blue to black until they eventually came to a stop at black and Brice shoved me back by my fist. I clutched my broken arm and squeezed my eyes shut, trying to control my wolf but it wasn’t working.

‘Rachel, get up’ my eyes snapped open to meet with Tate’s rust coloured ones and in what felt like the blink of an eye I thought of how many times Brice had beat the crap out of his adoptive son in training. It was all I needed to get back into the game, reaching up to grab hold of the back of Brice’s head with my good arm then kneed him in the face. Brice stumbled back but before he could recover I swung the elbow of my broken arm into the side of his face, sending a tidal wave of excruciating pain shooting up from my arm. I swung my knee up again to collide with Brice’s face then came round with another round house kick to his jaw, causing him to crumble to his knees. Unable to control myself I swiped the hand of my wounded arm across his cheek, leaving behind a trail of four claw marks then used my other hand to grab hold of his throat, squeezing down on it to cut off his air supply. Blood trickled down from where my claws were embedded into his skin and leaning down I bared my teeth, snarling at him threateningly.

“Rachel, that’s enough!” Caine’s stern voice reached me and compelled my wolf to let go of Brice and take a few steps back, breathing hard.

“Take a walk and calm the Hell down” Caine ordered and shooting one last glance in Brice’s direction I took off towards the tree line already feeling my arm healing at an abnormally fast pace. I ran until I was far enough away from the clearing to vent by repeatedly punching a nearby tree. A low snarl erupted from my chest as I slumped down against the tree, breathing ragged as I dug my claws into the bark. It was becoming harder to control my wolf and with every waking moment I felt her fighting to get free. I threw my head back and let lose an animalistic cry before sliding down the tree trunk and pressing my forehead against the bark. I was trying to calm down when I heard footsteps approaching but from the scent I already knew who it was without having to look.

“Rachel, are you alright?” he asked rushing to my side and dropping to his knees with his hand gripping my shoulder. I squeezed my eyes shut, fighting down the wolf threatening to escape as I listened to my own blood rushing through my ears.

“I-I’m fine Tate” I assured him feeling my eyes flickering from black to blue and back again but when I opened them to lock with Tate’s, I was met with my own reflection. My eyes were a bloody red not black or blue but red.

“Your eyes-.” Tate began, his eyes roaming my face from my eyes down to my extended canines and the veins sticking up from my neck. I cried out again from the pain of battling with myself and Tate instantly snapped out of it, wrapping his arms around me.

“Hey, hey it’s going to be okay, I promise” he soothingly whispered while rubbing circles on my back and trying to calm me down but the pain was unbearable.

“What’s happening to me?” I asked between grunts and groans from the agony ripping through my mind. Tate used his free hand, not rubbing my back, to press my face further into his chest while he slumped back against the tree.

“I don’t know but we’ll figure it out together” he promised leaning his face into the side of mine as my clawed hands dug into the ground and tree bark.

“I’m scared, Tate” I breathed when the pain finally stopped and my hand slipped from bracing my weight against the tree to wrap around his neck.

“Don’t be, I won’t let anything happen to you” he assured, pulling me closer as I clung to him for dear life. My wolf was at bay but I was afraid that she’d try to surface again and the pain was excruciating.

“I’ll always protect you, Rachel” Tate breathed wrapping the arm rubbing circles on my back around my waist in a protective manor “You and Holden, I’ll always take care of the two of you” I slowly raised my head to lock eyes with him at the sincerity in his voice and found nothing but honesty in his rust coloured eyes.

“Tate, you don’t have to-.” he cut me off by lightly cupping my cheek and rubbing his thumb along my cheek bone tenderly.

“I want to” I leaned into his touch, closing my once again crystal clear blue eyes as I listened to the silence around us.

“Thank you” I muttered opening my eyes to meet with his. Slowly I reached up to cup his hand that was still cupping my cheek.

“Anything for you, princess” Tate whispered lowly, reminding me of the night before on the back porch.

Tate leaned forward to press a tender kiss to my forehead before pulling away completely.

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After practice everyone was gathered around the pack house for Rebecca’s prepared lunch. Hayden, Jake, Cameron and Tate were seated on the back porch, talking about practice when I stepped outside with Holden on my hip. Cameron was seated by the table with Hayden on one of the loveseats, Jake up on the porch railing and Tate leaning back against it.

“You want to go to daddy?” I asked Holden when I noticed Hayden talking to Cameron but he stopped when he noticed me and Holden.

“Okay, let’s go say hi to daddy” I cooed when Holden started babbling happily and thrashed wildly to get to Hayden. I laughed at the sight and took a seat beside Hayden, setting Holden down on his lap.

“He’s a real daddy’s boy” I teased, pocking Holden’s nose and causing him to playfully hit me with his favourite brown teddy bear.

“You’re me kidding right? He won’t even sleep unless you put him to bed” Hayden shot back and started playing with Holden while bouncing him up and down on his knee.

“That’s only because I actually hum to him” I argued and Hayden scoffed, looking at me with eyebrows raised up in disbelief “So that’s what you were doing, I thought you were re-enacting Dracula” my jaw dropped and I lightly shoved his shoulder while he chuckled at the playful glare I shot him.

“You’re so mean!” I exclaimed just as Marie and Amy came strolling out onto the back porch, going silent to see what I was on about.

“But you love me anyway” Hayden countered, leaning over to place a quick kiss to my cheek before I could pull away. I swatted at him and he laughed “What? You do” I pretended to be mad at him by crossing my arms and looking away from him.

“Aw common Rachel, you’re not really mad, are you?” he asked reaching across to gently grip my chin and force me to lock eyes with him so he could steal a second to peck my lips “You still mad?” I didn’t answer and only looked at the flower pot on the table behind him, refusing to meet his breath-taking forest green eyes.

“The silent treatment huh?” I managed to keep a straight face that is until Hayden leaned further across the loveseat to whisper into my ear “Guess I’ll just have to show you how sorry I am” it wasn’t his husky voice that got me talking but the way he sucked on my ear that had me jumping to my feet.

“Okay, okay” I caved throwing my hands up in exasperation as everyone laughed including Marie who reached out to grip my shoulder while Amy linked our arms.

“I hate it when Brett does that!” Marie exclaimed followed by Amy who nodded in agreement “It’s like they know what makes us cave” I looked between the two of them, thinking about how happy I was to be back on Tyrant territory with my two best friends.

“I mean Ian knows that I hate it when he kisses my nose because it’s cute-.” Amy was saying but stopped when Marie agreed with wide eyes, glancing across at our brunette friend “Oh my gosh! And I hate it when Brett nibbles my lip, it’s just so hot” the guys exchanged looks like they were caught in some sort of chick flick.

“And apparently I hate it when someone sucks my ear because it’s a major turn on” I put in and Amy froze along with Marie both of them looking at me with questionable gazes.

“Someone? Don’t you mean Hayden?” Marie asked and realisation washed over me of what I’d said. I glanced at Tate who was looking at me with a clenched jaw then laughed nervously “Uh yeah, sorry slip of the tongue” Amy looked at Marie then decided to ignore it and change the topic to Jake.

“So initiation’s tonight” she said letting go of my arm as Marie went over to take a seat across from Cameron at the table.

“Yeah uh I’m not really shore how it works so-.” Amy cut him off, jumping in place and looking all excited as she took a seat on another loveseat next to the one Hayden was on “It’s simple really, the new pack members wear red while the rest of the pack wears white” Marie decided to pip in when Amy forgot to mention the most important part being more concerned with fashion then the actual initiation “Then you pledge yourself to the pack by drinking the blood of the Alpha to insure a bond between you” I took a seat on the porch steps, leaning my back against the railing and sitting sideways to face Marie.

“And after that?” Jake asked but this time it was Cameron who spoke up, leaning back in his seat so that he could look at Jake.

“Then it’s an all-white future until you meet your mate that is” Marie smacked his arm playfully and Cameron chuckled, being one of the few single males in the pack who hasn’t found his mate yet along with Beau and Jake.

“Which means tonight you two get to wear white” Amy exclaimed motioning from me to Hayden with an excited gleam in her eyes. Rebecca just so happened to be washing the dishes in the kitchen when she overheard Amy.

“About time, I mean how long does a mother have to wait for her baby’s wedding?” she asked opening the window as me and Hayden shared a wide eyed look.

“Do you two honestly think that I just want one grandchild? No I want a hundred of them” Rebecca was saying as she shoved the kitchen curtain aside to peer down at me on the porch steps then she shot Jake a threatening look “So make love, make babies!” with that the window was shut again and Jake and I looked at each other with terrified expressions while everyone else looked shocked including Brett and Beau who just stepped out onto the porch.

“Do we even want to know?” Beau asked while Brett looked like a dear caught in the headlights. Jake awkwardly cleared his throat and looked at anything but at the rest of us while I hid my face in my hands out of embarrassment.

“Trust me you’re better off not knowing” Cameron said looking scarred for life while Brett and Beau shared a look then shrugged. Brett took a seat beside Marie, lightly kissing her cheek as Beau hopped up onto the railing beside Jake. Looking at Hayden I found him rubbing at his forehead trying to hide his nervousness until he met my eyes and we both burst out laughing.

“Five” Hayden tried to bargain as everyone looked at us with raised eyebrows and confused expressions.

“Two” I countered but Hayden shook his head not looking interested at all.

“Five” he repeated and I sighed heavily, playfully rolling my eyes as I held up three fingers saying “Three, no more” Hayden looked tempted to argue but when I shot him ‘the look’ he instantly reconsidered and snapped him mouth shut sighing “Fine” I smirked in victory then turned to look at Marie who was as confused as they come.

“Okay, what just happened?” she asked glancing from me to Hayden then back to me. I shrugged my shoulders saying “Three kids, max”

Amy’s jaw dropped as she and Marie shared a look then Marie shot Brett the puppy dog eyes which got everyone laughing when Brett’s eyes widened “What? No!” I threw my head back laughing when Tate suddenly stormed down the porch steps and took off towards the tree line without so much as a glance in any of our directions.

“What did we miss?” Amy asked blinking at Beau who shrugged then they looked at me since I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the spot Tate had disappeared off to.

“Rachel, you okay?” Brett asked when he too noticed my distant stare. I snapped out of it and turned to face the group.

“Huh? Oh yeah I’m fine just wondering what’s gotten into him, is all” I assured and the conversation went on but for some reason I couldn’t get Tate off my mind.

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It was almost nine PM when I’d finished dressing in the simple white dress Amy brought for me as a gift from Rebecca. It was a short dress that went down to mid-thigh with long sleeves made up of white lace and was backless but flowy. My hair was left down in elegant curls with a white flower hair pin holding my hair in a side swept position.

“You look stunning, Hayden’s not going to know what hit him” Amy assured while gently rocking Holden after he just woke up from his nap. He was dressed in a white baby grow with white socks and was wrapped in his white baby blanket.

“Yeah, Hayden” I breathed trying to focus on my mate rather than his future Beta. Amy seemed to hear me because she furrowed her eyebrows up in confusion.

“What was that?” she asked but I waved it off by quickly changing the subject “Nothing, uh we better get going, don’t want to be late or anything” Amy took the bait, nodding as she handed Holden over to me so she could grab his baby bag that was next to my and Hayden’s shared bed.

“Good idea, let’s go before Rebecca starts looking” Amy agreed shivering at the thought of Rebecca tracking us down. The woman was an Alpha female for a reason.

“So how have things been with you and Ian?” I randomly asked as we made our way downstairs and out the front door of the lake house, walking barefoot towards the training clearing.

“Peaceful” she replied staring down at the ground beneath her feet instead of meeting my eyes.

“And by ‘peaceful’ you mean?” I prompted shifting Holden from one hip to the other as Amy looked up to meet my eyes with a small but sad smile spread across her lips “We’re taking things slow” I stopped walking to raise an eyebrow up at her and when she finally noticed that I’d stopped, I asked “And that’s a bad thing, why?” she was clearly trying to come off as happy but I saw straight through her façade and by the time she finally realised that, she dropped it all together, sighing.

“I just feel like I’ve waited long enough, you know?” I nodded getting her point since wolves spent their entire lives from birth to meet that one person that’s meant only for them.

“You want a family?” I asked out of curiosity and Amy nodded, diverting her gaze back to the ground as I went to her side.

“I want the whole fairy tale” she muttered shyly with her hands fiddling behind her back and a dreamy look in her eyes.

“But he wants time to let it all sink in before-.” Amy trailed off her smile dropping at the thought. I reached out to place a soothing hand on her arm “Have you told him how you feel yet?” she shook her head in reply to my question, taking a deep breath then met my eyes with her own “I tried to but we got into an argument and he just stormed off” I saw the heartbroken and scared look in her eyes at the thought of her mate leaving her.

“I don’t know what to do” she managed to say, her voice cracking as she tried to fight back the tears threatening to escape. Wrapping my free arm around her, I pulled her into a comforting hug.

“It’s okay, everything’s going to be okay, you’ll see” I assured her and pulled back when she had calmed down enough to catch her tears before they fell.

“How do you know that?” she asked with doubt clouding her eyes. I shrugged my shoulders, giving her a faint smile.

“He’s your mate” I replied as if it was the most obvious answer in the world. Her eyebrows furrowed up in confusion so I continued “If you tell him what you want, he’ll understand” she nodded taking a deep breath to calm herself down before she met my eyes with a look of gratitude “Thank you Rachel, I don’t know what I’d do without you” I waved it off and started walking again with her tagging along.

“It’s the least I could do, I mean you’re one of the few friends I have” I muttered and Amy smiled at the thought of her, an Omega with an Alpha as a friend or at least that’s what I thought I was, I had no idea what I was since I found out that I’m Hybrid. We eventually reached the clearing just in time to see Jake and Jordan sipping from the same bowl me, Holden and Hayden had at our initiation ceremony.

“Let us celebrate the gain of two new pack members including my adoptive son!” Caine announced over the crowd and just like before the celebration began with drums playing and a bonfire being lit in honour of the new members.

“There’s Ian, I’m going to go talk to him” Amy said and I nodded, shooting her a faint smile as I took Holden’s baby bag from her and lightly squeezed her shoulder.

“Good luck” I breathed and Amy returned my smile, taking a deep breath to calm her nerves before she disappeared into the crowd. Searching the crowd, I spotted Hayden seated at a nearby table, talking to Jake who looked relaxed since the initiation was over.

“Hey” I said kissing Hayden’s cheek when I reached the table and took a seat beside my mate with Holden in my lap.

“Hey babe” Hayden greeted then moved on to coo at Holden by tickling his nose with his baby blanket. Holden babbled happily, loving the attention as I turned to Jake.

“So how does it feel to be part of the family, little brother?” I asked smirking and Jake groaned, running a hand over his face as he slumped down further into his seat, asking “I’m never going to get used to this, am I?” I laughed shaking my head from side to side as I shot him a sympathetic look, trying to hide my amused smile.

“You’re the baby of the family, of course you’re never going to get used to it” Jake shot me a playful glare and I just couldn’t contain my smile any longer as it spread out into a grin.

“Funny” Jake mumbled averting his eyes to the dancing crowd instead of looking at me with his arms crossed over his chest. I was about to say something when my eyes caught sight of something behind Jake. Tate was leaning up against a tree, dressed in only a pair of white pants like every other guy at the initiation apart from Jake.

“Um I’m going to go drop Holden off with Rebecca so we can show everyone what terrible dancers we are” I lied smiling at Hayden as I stood up, shifting Holden to my hip and adjusting his baby bag to sit more comfortably on my shoulder.

“You’re not that bad, it’s me I’m worried about” Hayden said grinning as I laughed, shaking my head at him and placing a quick kiss to his lips.

“See you in a few” I assured then took off into the crowd so that Hayden would lose sight of me as I made my way over to where Tate stood, hidden in the shadows.

“Hey” I breathed when I reached him but his eyes were trained on the crowd, refusing to look at me.

“You ran off so fast earlier that I didn’t even get a chance to realise what I did wrong” I muttered shifting Holden slightly and causing him to babble which caught Tate’s attention since he glanced in Holden’s direction.

“I brought Holden as a peace offering” I said which was enough for Tate to look at me with his jaw clenched and his fists balled at his sides when they dropped down from across his chest so he could take Holden from me.

“So about what I did wrong-.” I began as Tate tickled Holden’s side, causing the six month old toddler to laugh joyously and kick his legs around, thrashing wildly.

“It was nothing, I shouldn’t have lost my temper like that” he deflected but I wouldn’t drop the topic and instead tried pocking around for more “But why exactly did you lose your temper?” Tate froze for a second, looking up to meet my eyes with his rust coloured ones that held so much love and adoration as they looked at me.

“Because I couldn’t stand the thought of you and him-.” he trailed off in pain as he shook his head and diverted his gaze. I could sense the agony he was experiencing “But I realise now how stupid I was, he’s your mate and I can never get in the way of that, it’s just-.” I didn’t let him finish as I shook my head and took a step closer to him “You don’t have to explain yourself to me, Tate” he looked at me for a minute with a gaze set in stone before he nodded and dropped the subject.

“Good-.” I began grabbing hold of his free hand to lead him deeper into the woods.

“Now let’s go spend some time with Holden, just the two of us” I offered as I dragged Tate along and felt his fingers intertwine with mine. Glancing down at our hands I found myself smiling at the sight.

“Where are we going?” Tate asked out of the blue when he noticed that we were just walking in a random direction.

“I don’t know, away from the crowd I guess” I said shrugging my shoulders just as we broke through into a smaller patch of open space surrounded by trees “Or, well here” I added smiling at Tate before dropping Holden’s bag down by a tree and letting go of Tate’s hand to run off into the tall grass of the small area. Tate stared after me, seeming to be in some sort of trance.

“You coming?” I called snapping Tate out of it and causing him to jog up to me with Holden on his hip. By the time they reached me, Holden was laughing and babbling more than I’d ever seen him since I found him that day in the woods.

“You like that huh?” I asked Holden pocking his tummy as I kissed his forehead, making a funny noise that had him laughing some more. I laughed along, glancing up at the stars to find thousands of them scattered across the sky.

“It’s so beautiful” I muttered standing up on my tip toes and stretching my arms out towards the sky as if I could touch them. Tate looked at me in awe saying “Not as beautiful as you” I dropped down to the soles of my feet again, tucking a stray strand of hair behind my ear as Tate turned to look at Holden.

“Don’t you think your mommy’s beautiful?” he asked and Holden babbled thrashing around some more as I glanced back up at the sky.

“See, even he thinks you look breath-taking” Tate said and I averted my gaze to stare down at the ground that is until Tate’s hand reached out to cup the side of my face and forced me to look up into his rust coloured eyes.

“What’s wrong, princess?” he asked when he noticed that I was trying to avoid his gaze but I just shook my head, reaching up to tenderly cup his hand in mine like I did earlier, leaning into his touch.

“Tate” I breathed when I felt his lips place a tender kiss to my forehead before he leaned his own forehead against mine.

“Yeah?” he whispered as my eyes snapped open to meet with his rusty ones. Before I realised what I was doing I quickly pressed a kiss to his lips then pulled back completely when I noticed the shocked look plastered across his face.

“Rachel-.” Tate began but I cut him off by shaking my head in protest “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that” Tate looked like he was about to interrupt but I didn’t give him the chance as I took Holden from him and started towards the clearing again “I should probably go, Hayden’s waiting for me” with that I took off, snatching Holden’s bag up on the way and leaving Tate behind so that I could go find Rebecca.

His lips still lingered on mine and I found myself unconsciously touching them, thinking back to the way it felt to kiss his soft mouth as I fled into the night.