gaius

I watch as Onyx's eyes begin to fill with tears and eventually, they begin to fall. My gaze softens and I open my mouth to say something but don't get the chance to when he jumps, or rather stumbles, out of the bed and towards me. His hands grip the sides of my face and his lips meet mine.

First I'm frozen, not sure what to do. Then, my arms find his waist and I pull him onto the bed and into my lap. Gray said he'd been a mess since I'd gone missing and I could tell in the way he's holding onto me for dear life. I lightly bite his lower lip and his mouth opens for me to explore.

Eventually he pulls away and looks at me with a excitement, happiness, and embarrassment all muddied together on his face.

"I-I missed you so much," he whispers.

I notice the slight tremble of his body and move my hands from his waist and run my fingers through his black hair.

"I missed you too," I tell him. "I'm back now."

He leans forward and his head rests against mine. "You're not going anywhere else."

I smile at his words. "Nowhere else. Especially not without you."

He moves back a bit and his hazel eyes meet my brown before he looks at the wall behind me.

"I'm sorry you got captured because of me."

I blink twice. Did he really blame himself? Has he been holding that guilt in ever since I was taken?

"Onyx, Love, look at me," I tell him sternly. Onyx's gaze moves from the wall and towards me. He tries to look down but I grab his face so he can't. "This wasn't your fault."

He frowns. "You were only out there because of me. The councilman couldn't help you because of me. They took you because of-"

"Stop," I cut him off. "My kidnapping wasn't your fault. If you want to be mad, don't be mad at yourself but rather the ones who harmed both you, me, and others."

He nods but there still a frown on his face. I lean closer and reconnect our lips. Onyx quickly reciprocates and his eyes close. Goddess, this is what I've been missing out on for seven years.

A cough has Onyx jumping away from me and nearly falling onto the floor. I move to grab him and pull him on the bed. His face turns red when he remembers the others still in the room and he hides his face within my shoulder.

"Totally ruined the moment," I tell them jokingly and shake my head.

"I'm being really nice considering your mate did slap me," Gray says but the slight smile on his face tells me he's joking.

"Did you actually slap him?" Foster asks Onyx. "Where was I and why was I not invited?"

Gray rolls his eyes and Onyx shrugs as he sits up.

"It was when we found Cloud," he explains and my eyes widen as I turn to Gray.

"You found him?"

The slight smile he had is erased and replaced a unreadable expression. "Yeah, he was at the lab where we found you."

"Is he okay?"

Gray sighs. "Physically? It looks like it, he seemed to be kept in good health like Onyx was when we found him, but he's passed out and hasn't woken up."

The room falls silent after that and Gray runs his hand through his hair. Foster places a hand on his shoulder and offers him a smile when he turns around.

"He'll be okay," Foster assures him.

"What's the relationship between you two?" Onyx asks curiously.

"We're brothers," Gray tells him.

Onyx's eyes widen at that. "You look nothing alik-"

I try to stop him before he can finish, but irritation passes over Gray's face.

"I need to finish up some work and get Layne. Thank you, Vernon and Doctor Heights," Gray says.

The two smile at him and they move to leave. Gray, Onyx, Foster and I remain in the room and Gray moves closer to me and places a hand on my shoulder.

"Welcome home, Beta."

I watch as he leaves and Foster gives me one last smile before following him out, probably to make sure he's okay. Onyx frowns at the door before turning to me.

"What did I do?" He questions.

I shake my head and ruffle his hair. "Nothing, what you said is just...a sensitive subject for them."

It was no secret within the pack that Gray and Cloud were only half brothers. While Gray had black hair, a paler skin tone, and light blue eyes, Cloud had brown hair, a slightly more tan complexion, and complete heterochromia. One of his eyes was a dark blue while the other was brown.

Cloud had been the product of an affair and it was a topic that the whole family liked to avoid.

Especially Gray.

The frown doesn't leave Onyx's face but he nods slowly.

"Don't beat yourself up over it," I say. "Gray's not mad."

He nods once again before he smiles at me. "I'm really happy you're back."

A smile forms on my own face and I stare into his beautiful hazel eyes. Now that I was finally seeing them again, it almost felt like it was the first time all over again. It reminded me of back when he first shifted.

Gray used to hate him, Foster didn't originally want him here, nobody believed that he'd actually change.

And now?

Now here we were, sitting down together, smiling, kissing. Doing everything I thought I'd never be able to do.

"So am I."