Caleb stood in the open doorway, one hand rested on the door frame as he looked past to the room before him. He was standing between the living room and the dinning area, one foot on the threshold. His feet suddenly feeling like lead. He thought he was ready but was now having second thoughts.
"You don't have to do this." A voice whispered in his ear. He felt a hand, soft and small, touch his shoulder reassuringly. He recognized the owner of that voice and hand at once. Rusty.
The red haired omega who, in just over a day, had become the closest thing to a friend Caleb had in Black River.
Caleb shook his head but his words caught in his throat. Hot tears welled up in his eyes and for a moment he thought he might actually turn and run away. "I can do it." He whispered back. "He was my mate. It's an honor to do this for him."
Rusty nodded, then took Caleb's hand and, when he was ready, led him slowly into the room.
The room looked so decadent. Though Caleb had never been inside Quinton's house before he could imagine what the room was supposed to look like, judging from the rest of the house. Someone had taken great care with the place. It wasn't a huge mansion like what Seth Bowden and his mate shared, but it wasn't tiny either. It was a family home and one that Caleb suspected had seen it's share of pups running through the rooms.
The decor wasn't something you'd expect from a bachelor though. It definitely had a woman's touch. The designer was probably Quinton's mother. Caleb didn't know much about her, only that Rhys was still an infant when she passed to the Moonlands. Their father passed when Quinton was seventeen and Rhys just twelve. Had the house been kept the same since their mother had passed, twenty-one years earlier?
Maybe some things were different. Furniture perhaps. Things that needed replacing over the years more than likely, but Caleb couldn't imagine that much else had been changed. Pictures lined the walls showing the normal progression of age for both boys from infancy till graduation. The older photographs of Rhys had been hung by his father and then, probably, Quinton.
In the living room, above the mantle was a large family photo. Mother and father seated side by side, a five year old Quinton at their feet, and a pudgy, raven-haired baby with large blue eyes, cradled in his mothers arms.
The baby of course was Rhys. Caleb could see that at once. It was astonishing, looking at the image of his mate as a pup. He was almost indistinguishable from Rhylan. The two could have been twins.
Caleb walked past the image, around an oval shaped, mahogany coffee table, past the couch and into the other room. The dining room. This room should have been fully furnished like the last room but all the furniture had been moved out. In it's place, a grey, steel, folding table had been erected and covered with a white sheet. A pillow had been placed at the head of the table, and then Rhys's body laid carefully on top. His head resting on the pillow.
Another sheet covered him up to his neck and his eyes were closed. He could very well have been sleeping if he wasn't so still. Caleb walked slowly to Rhys body and gently placed a hand over his heart. He remembered the first time he'd done that. It was in the motel room and Rhys had been terrified that Caleb was a witch, controlling his mind.
Caleb tried to force a smile at the absurdity of the memory but the smile refused to come. He remembered feeling Rhys emotions when he'd touched him. All he could feel now was the cold, stillness, of death. He gasped, pulling his hand away sharply, placing it over his own heart. No. It was too real. Too final. What on earth ever made him think he could do this?
He wanted to run suddenly. Not to anywhere in particular, just away. As far away as he could get. Someplace warm, and pure, and filled with the scent of fresh flowers and honeysuckle. Someplace where the sun could warm his skin and maybe, just maybe, Rhys would be waiting there for him and he would know that it had all been a mistake. Rhys wasn't really gone. He was alive. Maybe he'd been searching for Caleb this whole time, wondering where he was.
Caleb could run into his arms and they would hug and kiss and everything would be alright. They would gather up their pup and then the three of them could be together. They could find a little house. Rhys would retire from the bounty hunting business because it was just too dangerous. He could work along side Quinton and help manage the pack. That was the life that Caleb wanted. Just him, Rhys, their pup and anymore that they happened to have down the road.
They had years ahead of them. Years of first words, and first steps, first days of school, and first loves. There would be countless birthday celebrations as well as Christmas's, Thanksgivings, and all the other holidays that families celebrated together. Maybe Quinton would eventually find a mate and have pups and they could invite them over for family dinners.
Caleb would finally have the kind of family he'd always dreamed of and it would all be because of Rhys. Rhys who had chosen to save him, and mate him. Rhys, who had promised to always take care of him. They would be happy together if...if Caleb could just escape this nightmare. Run. He told himself. Just run. Then everything will be better.
"Caleb?" It was Rusty again. He put an arm around Caleb and was trying to pull him away, back out into the other room. "Come on." He was saying. "The other omegas are here. They can..."
"No." Caleb pulled away. " I can't. I...I Can't leave him. I never should have. When he told me to run I should have stayed..." He couldn't hold back the tears any more and they came, pouring down his cheeks like a flood gate opening. "Oh God, Rhys, I'm so sorry." He sobbed. "I'm so sorry, it was all my fault."
Caleb felt dizzy. The room was spinning, and then he felt himself falling. He readied himself to hit the floor. He expected it. But then he felt big, strong, arms wrap around him and the last thing he remembered was Quinton's face, looking down, his brow knit together as lines of concern washed across his face, so similar to Rhys.
"I've got you." Quinton told him, and then everything went black.
***
"I told you he wasn't ready for this."
"I think he's in shock."
"Will you just stop crowding and give him some air!"
Caleb slowly opened his eyes and looked around the room. A chorus of eyes were staring down at him, and all of them looked worried.
