Truth

by Maggie Walsh

  Hazel’s eyes lit up and she wrapped her arms around Noah in a tight embrace. Noah stiffened for a moment, but then relaxed into the hug. He lifted his own arms and wrapped them around Hazel, hugging her back. He jolted back when a vision hit him. He looked at Hazel questionably, and cupped her cheek. He tilted his head and placed his other hand on her other cheek. He looked into her eyes and then closed his.

  Storm and Bass watched Noah with Hazel. They turned their curious eyes on each other in question, and Bass shrugged his shoulder. They looked back at Noah and Hazel. Hazel’s eyes were wide in confusion. Noah pulled his hands away and stepped back. “Talk?” he asked in a quiet, calm voice. Hazel opened her mouth and Storm gasped in shock. Hazel had a tongue. She closed her mouth and swallowed and then opened it again and spoke in a soft whisper.

  “How? How is this possible, Leader Winthrope?” she asked.

  Storm just stared at her for a moment and then shook his head. He looked to Noah in awe. Noah smiled a small smile at him and then looked down. “Heal,” he whispered.

  Hazel grabbed Noah and squeezed him tight as she cried tears of joy. Noah giggled nervously. Hazel stepped back and held his hands. “You are a miracle worker, Noah. Thank you, sweet boy, thank you,” Hazel said and then hugged him again. “I can never repay you for this.”

  “No,” Noah said and smiled at her. Hazel looked to Storm and Bass.

  “He means no thanks are necessary. Is that right, Noah?” Bass asked. Noah smiled at him and nodded. Sebastian smiled back at Noah and stepped closer, taking Noah’s hand in his. Bass brought Noah’s small, delicate hand to his lips and kissed the palm of his hand. Noah blushed and melted into Bass. Bass wrapped his arms around Noah and hugged him.

  Storm felt left out as he watched the sweet exchange between his two beautiful mates. He stepped back and started to turn when he felt a small, warm hand on his arm. Storm turned back and found Noah holding his arm, smiling up at him. “Mate,” Noah said. Storm gave him a small, sad smile, and nodded his head. Noah reached up and touched Storm’s face. “Sad?” Noah asked.

  “No baby, just feeling a little left out, that’s all,” Storm said and brushed a stray hair from Noah’s face.

  Noah grabbed Storm’s hand and then reached back and grabbed one of Bass’s hand. He pulled them all together. “Mates,” he said as he smiled and looked between the two of them.

  “Yes, cutie. We are all mates,” Bass said and squeezed both his mates’ hands.

  Hazel cleared her throat behind them. They all turned to look at her. “I don’t mean to interrupt, but Master Noah looks like he could use a good meal,” Hazel said. Noah started to shake, he dropped his mate’s hands and started to walk away backward. Tears started to pool in his eyes and he shook his head. Bass, Storm, and Hazel all looked at him in confusion.

  “Noah? What’s wrong, sweetheart?” Sebastian asked as he cautiously took a step toward Noah. The tears started to run down his cheeks as his breath came in quicker pants. Noah’s lips started to quiver and he looked between his mates and then he turned and ran. “Wait, Noah,” Storm called after him, but Noah wouldn’t listen, he just ran.

  * * * *

  Noah didn’t know where he was going. He just ran. He took off down the long hall, until he came to the end and then turned right. It was a short hall that turned to the left. Noah turned and found a door. He grabbed the knob and was happy when it turned. He opened the door and ran inside. He froze when five sets of eyes turned and looked at him. He started to tremble in fear. “Noah, right?” He turned to look at the voice and came face to face with the most beautiful man he had ever seen. Well, next to his mates of course. This man was a little taller than his five foot five inches. He was slim, but had some muscle tone. His skin was as creamy smooth as milk in silk. His eyes were a mesmerizing icy blue, and he had black make-up around those eyes. His hair was a dark blond with purple streaks in it and it was so long and silky. It reached down almost to his butt. His beautiful eyes lit up as he smiled at Noah, and Noah felt himself drawn to this man. He took a small step toward him and the beautiful man stood up. He walked to Noah, the beautiful smile never leaving his face. The man held out his hand. “Hi, Noah, I’m Jesse. It’s so good to finally meet you. Sebastian said you were a cutie, but you are adorable.”

  “Bastian,” Noah said as he reached out and shook Jesse’s hand. It was so soft. Noah didn’t want to let it go.

  “Yes, Sebastian. He used to be a part of our pack. The Angel pack. Until he met your other mate, Storm, not too long ago. Then he moved here,” Jesse said as he gently led Noah further into the room. They stopped when they reached the center of the room. Noah liked that Jesse stopped and didn’t force him to get closer to these strangers. “Let me introduce you to your new family,” Jesse said and Noah’s eyes opened wide in shock. “Yes, Noah, we are part of your family now. Sebastian was a part of my mate Micah’s pack for close to three hundred years. So they are more like brothers.” Jesse motioned toward a man with long brown hair and Noah recognized him. He was the big man from the vineyard. The one that changed into the really big wolf. Noah took a step back, but Jesse held his hand firm. “It’s okay, Noah. Micah would never, ever harm you. He may be big and look a little scary sometimes, but he would never hurt a mate,” Jesse said softly, and his voice sounded like music to Noah. He found he really liked Jesse’s voice. He liked listening to it and Jesse made him feel like he could trust this man. He looked back at the big man Micah. “Mate?” Noah asked in a whisper.

  “Yes, Noah. I am Jesse’s mate. I am Alpha Micah Angel. This is one of my enforcers, Gabriel Angel. Who also happens to be my cousin, and Sebastian’s best friend.” Noah looked to Gabriel with excitement. “And the over-the-top diva there is Taylor. He is Gabriel’s mate,” Micah said with a smile and mischief in his eyes. He could tell that Micah adored Taylor. His words weren’t meant to be mean, just to tease. He liked that, he wished he had a family like that.

  “You do now, you cute little hottie you,” Taylor said and smiled. Noah’s eyes went wide. Taylor knew what he was thinking. “Yes, I do. It’s part of my gift. I’m learning how to turn it off and on, but I don’t always have control over it. It’s okay, I promise you can trust me. If I hear something that you don’t want everyone to know, I can keep my mouth shut. Your thoughts are safe with me.” Taylor smiled at him.

  Noah smiled back. He really liked this one. “I like you, too, cutie.” Taylor chuckled. Noah blushed and looked down. “We met before, Noah,” Taylor continued and Noah looked up at him in confusion. “At the vineyard. You liked my wolf. I was the blond wolf,” Taylor explained and Noah’s eyes got wide, and happiness shown in them. “Gabriel here was the big wolf that wouldn’t leave my side, and Micah was the really big wolf.” Noah nodded his head to let Taylor know he remembered. Then Noah looked at the bed, to the fifth man in the room and saw that it was Raffy, his friend. He drew in a quick breath and ran over to the bed Raffy lay in. He sat down on the edge and grabbed Raffy, holding him tight.

  “I’m okay now, Noah,” Raffy whispered. “Thanks to you. You saved us. Thank you.”

  Noah pulled back and looked into his friends eyes. He could still see a lot of fear and pain there, but he also saw some happiness. He smiled at his friend and sighed as his shoulders dropped and he relaxed for the first time in over six years. He could feel that he was safe with this group of men. He trusted them for some reason. Like his mate’s, he knew he could trust them and that they would keep him safe. “Yes Noah, they will. And yes we will. Thank you for your trust in us,” Taylor said softly. Noah smiled shyly at Taylor. Noah heard someone clear their throat from behind him and he turned to look in that direction, as everyone else did. His mates were standing in the doorway. How long have they been there? Noah thought.

  “They came in about a minute after you.” Taylor smirked. Noah looked at the floor again. He hoped he hadn’t made his mates mad by running, but he didn’t want to be a Master. He just wanted to be with his mate
s and find some happiness, some peace. “They don’t expect you to be a Master, Noah,” Taylor said gently and softly placed a hand on Noah’s shoulder. Noah looked up at Taylor with hope in his eyes.

  “Gods no, Noah,” Sebastian said and stepped into the room. He walked closer to the bed and then knelt down on the floor so he was eye level with Noah. “Never, Noah. Storm and I would never want you to be a Master. Or make you do anything you don’t want to do,” Sebastian said and gently cupped Noah’s cheek. Noah liked the feeling of Sebastian touching him. He closed his eyes and leaned into the touch. He took a deep breath, then opened his eyes and looked at Storm. He had moved into the room, too, and was now standing behind Sebastian. “Master?” Noah asked. Tears filled Storm’s eyes and he knelt down next to Sebastian, so he was eye level with Noah as well. “No, baby. There are no Masters here. I am the leader of this pride, and everyone listens to me, but I am not their Master. Hazel didn’t mean Master in the way you know of. She meant it as a title, like my leader title, or Micah’s Alpha title. Because you and Sebastian are my mate’s she has given you both the proper title as Master Noah and Master Sebastian. But I will inform her never to call either of you by that name. You have both had horrible experiences with a Master, and I don’t want either of you to have to be reminded of that,” Storm said with so much compassion that it brought tears to Noah’s eyes. He moved off the bed and sat in Storm’s lap. Noah grabbed Storm’s face between his hands and lightly kissed his lips. Storm drew in a quick breath at the contact. It was the smallest, gentlest of kisses Storm ever received, but it set his body on fire. Noah turned his head and looked at Sebastian. “Bastian?”

  “Yes, Noah?” Sebastian asked.

  “Master?” Noah asked sadly.

  “Yes, sweetheart. I had a Master, too, a long time ago,” Sebastian explained and looked down.

  “No sad,” Noah said and Sebastian looked up at him with a soft smile. “Bastian safe,” Noah said with conviction, his chest pumped out and his head held high.

  “Yes, sweetheart. I’m safe now. Thanks to Micah and Gabriel.” Sebastian motioned to the two. “They saved me a very long time ago.” Noah reached over and wrapped his arms around Sebastian’s neck and pulled him closer. He hugged Sebastian and then pulled back and gave him a soft, gentle kiss on the lips as well. Sebastian smiled at Noah and then hugged him back.

  “I don’t mean to break up this sweet scene, but we need to finish talking to Raphael before he gets too tired. My brother has been through enough already and I want him to rest,” Gabriel said gently.

  Sebastian jumped back from Noah and Storm and looked at Gabriel. “Raphael? I thought your brother’s name was Balthazar?” Gabriel nodded. “But not anymore for some reason.” Gabriel looked to Raffy. He looked down as if in shame. “That’s why I kept smelling you whenever I went out there. The scent wasn’t as strong as yours. It was slightly different, but the same.” Then Sebastian looked at Noah. “This is your friend Raffy?” he asked and Noah nodded. “Wow. Talk about a small world. Come on, sweetheart,” Sebastian said standing up. “Why don’t you let Storm and I get you something to eat, then maybe a shower and a nice warm bed. We’ll let Raffy and Gabriel catch up,” Sebastian said and held out a hand for Noah. Noah took his hand and let Sebastian pull him up off Storm’s lap. Storm stood up and the three of them headed for the door, holding hands, with Noah in the middle. He liked this. He felt safe between his two big, strong mates.

  “He likes that, Bass,” Taylor called out from behind them. They stopped and looked back at Taylor. “Noah is thinking that he feels safe there between the two of you, and he likes how it feels,” Taylor said, a big smile on his face. Sebastian smiled at Taylor and then he looked down at Noah and smiled. “I like it, too,” he said and the three of them left the room.

  Chapter 7

  After taking Noah to the kitchen to get something to eat and Hazel apologizing for the misunderstanding, Bass and Storm led Noah to Storm’s bedroom. Storm opened the door and walked into the room. When he got halfway in he turned to speak to Noah, but found Noah and Sebastian still standing in the hall. Noah was just looking into the room with fear in his eyes and Bass was standing next to him, rubbing a hand up and down Noah’s back in comfort.

  “It’s okay, sweetheart. No one’s asking you to do anything you don’t want to do,” Bass was speaking softly to Noah.

  “Scared,” Noah said and turned away from the room to look at Bass.

  “What’s scaring you, baby?” Storm asked as he stepped back to the doorway.

  Noah turned to Storm and then his eyes glanced at the big bed in the room. Noah started to bite his bottom lip. He dropped his eyes to the floor and hung his head. Storm placed a finger gently under Noah’s chin and lifted his face to his. Storm remained quiet until Noah met his eyes. “It’s okay, baby. All we want is for you to get some rest. Just sleep,” Storm spoke softly.

  Noah stared at him for a minute, then turned his head to look at Sebastian. Bass gave him a smile as he continued to run his hand up and down Noah’s back. “This is Storm’s room, but no one expects you to do anything but rest, sweetheart. You can go take a shower and then climb into that big comfy bed and just sleep. You’re completely safe here, Noah. Storm and I will just sit here with you, so that you can sleep in peace, or if you feel more comfortable, we can get you your own room. We can stay in the room or out in the hall, whatever you want, cutie.”

  Noah grabbed Sebastian’s hand as his eyes opened wide in fear. “Stay.”

  “Okay, sweetheart. Come on,” Sebastian gently tugged Noah into the room and Storm closed the door behind them. Sebastian led Noah to the bathroom and turned on the light. Noah looked into the big bathroom and thought he found heaven. There was a tub big enough to fit about six people. And the shower was huge. You could fit a sports team in there. And it looked like it had a lot of sprayers, not just one. The floor was a beautiful sandy-colored stone and the walls were beige. The tile around the tub and shower looked like the same sandy stone on the floor. There were three sinks, side by side by side. Noah turned and looked at Storm. His brow raised in question.

  “I knew I would have two mates, so when I had this house built, I had my mates in mind. I didn’t know who my mates would be of course, but I wanted to make sure that my mates were comfortable and cared for,” Storm explained quietly.

  This big strong man looked so unsure that it pulled on Noah’s heart. Noah stepped in front of Storm and stood up on tiptoes. Storm got the hint and bent down. Noah lightly kissed his lips, then pulled back. “Thank you.” Storm smiled shyly at his little mate.

  “So, sweetheart, what would you like?” Sebastian asked. “Stay here and get cleaned up and some rest, or go to another room and get some rest?”

  “Here,” Noah said and smiled.

  Storm and Sebastian both smiled at Noah. “Okay, baby. You go ahead and make yourself at home. Everything you need is in the cabinets or the closet there. Take a bath or a shower. Whichever you want. Bass and I will be out here. I’ll get some clothes that fit you,” said Storm as he stepped back into the bedroom.

  “Bastian.”

  “Yes, sweetheart?” Bass asked.

  “Like,” Noah said with a smile.

  “It’s a beautiful room. I like it, too,” Bass said and returned Noah’s smile.

  Noah’s smile fell and he shook his head. He breathed out in frustration. “Like…Bastian.”

  Bass smiled. “I like you, too, cutie.”

  Noah shook his head again. He placed his hand on his chest. “Noah.”

  Storm and Bass looked at him in confusion, then looked at each other for help. Noah let out a frustrated sigh then pointed at his chest. “Noah.” Then he pointed at Storm. “Storm.” Then he pointed at Bass. “Bastian.” Bass tilted his head in confusion. “No Bass...Bastian.”

  Suddenly it dawned on Bass. “You don’t like when people call me Bass. You like Bastian,” Bass stated. Noah smiled at him and nodded his head enthusiastical
ly. Bass laughed softly. “Okay, sweetheart. From now on I will make sure everyone calls me Bastian,” he said and kissed Noah’s cheek. Noah smiled shyly.

  “He’s right. I like Bastian, too. I’m not thrilled with Bass, makes you sound like a fish,” Storm said teasing.

  Bastian looked at him with narrowed eyes. “I thought cats liked fish?” Bastian said with a smirk. Storm laughed and moved in front of Bastian and reached out and cupped his cheek.

  “I do like fish. But I love you,” Storm said and kissed Bastian. It was a soft, gentle kiss. Their tongues brushed together once, then twice, then they pulled away. “I like Noah’s suggestion. I like Bastian. It fits you better.”

  “Okay. If it makes my mates happy, than Bastian it is. I like it, too,” Bastian said and turned to look at Noah. He was looking at both of them intently, biting his lip. The look of longing in his eyes made Bastian smile. “What is it, Noah?”

  Noah looked at him, then Storm. “K-kiss,” he stuttered.

  “You like when I kiss Bastian? Or would you like a kiss?” Storm asked.

  “Both,” Noah said with hopeful, innocent eyes and then looked down.

  Storm lifted Noah’s chin, then cupped his cheek. Storm looked into Noah’s beautiful blue eyes and smiled. He lowered his head until their lips were an inch apart. Noah’s eyes got wide and he drew in a breath. “You never have to ask, baby. You can kiss me whenever you want,” Storm said and then pressed his lips to Noah’s. It was gentle at first. Then Noah tilted his head and Storm flicked his tongue out and ran it across the seam of Noah’s lips. Noah parted his lips slightly and Storm swept his tongue into Noah’s mouth. Noah drew in a gasp of air and stiffened. Storm ran his thumb over Noah’s cheek, and wrapped his other arm around Noah’s waist, pulling their bodies together. Storm wanted to take the kiss further, deeper, but he didn’t want to scare his little mate. Storm’s tongue glided over Noah’s tongue, controlling him. Noah moaned and his body relaxed against Storm. His small hands reached out and grabbed onto Storm’s arms. Storm swirled his tongue around Noah’s and Noah started to match his movements. Storm gave a last lick across the roof of Noah’s mouth and then slowly withdrew. He pulled back without releasing Noah. Storm opened his eyes and smiled. Noah still had his eyes closed and his lips parted slightly. He was breathing heavy. Storm gave him one more quick peck and then released him. Noah stumbled a little and opened his eyes. He stared at Storm for a moment and then looked at Bastian. “That was so hot,” Bastian said with a smile. Noah smiled back.