Chapter 54: 52, Flying home

Sean’s POV

Sean and Adina had gotten their bags ready and were now standing just inside the apartment door. It was time to say goodbye to Colin and head to the airport. All three of them just stood there, not knowing what to do, reluctant to take the first step.

Finally, it was Adina that stepped up to Colin and embraced him. He responded by pulling her closer and nuzzling her neck. Sean walked up to them and put a hand on Colin’s shoulder. Colin looked up, and they exchanged a look.

Colin drew Sean into the embrace, so the two of them sandwiched Adina between them. Sean leaned his head on Adina’s other shoulder. They stood like that for almost five minutes before Sean took a step back and placed his hand on Adina’s back. She kissed Colin and then ran her fingers over his white lock of hair. A new habit of hers.

“There are pillows with my and Sean’s scent on them, and don’t be too proud to rummage through our closets if you need it,” she told Colin.

“Don’t worry about me, baby. I will miss you, but I’ll be fine,” Colin reassured her.

“We will call you as soon as we land,” Sean said.

“I’m counting on it,” Colin told him.

“Ready?” Sean asked Adina.

“Yes,” she sighed and turned to walk through the door.

“Wait,” Colins said, pulling both of them into another hug.

“I don’t think we need the rule about being intimate only when all three of us are present,” he said to them.

Both Sean and Adina looked at him.

“No, Colin. That is unnecessary,” Sean told him. He didn’t want Colin to feel he needed to push his comfort zone past where he was comfortable.

“Sean is right. We don’t need that,” Adina agreed as she stood between the two men.

“That rule was put in place to keep us from becoming jealous. I think we all are past that point—that first day when we decided to do this. I don’t think none of us understood how deep this connection would evolve. I don’t mind if you two have a good time when I’m not with you. You and I had had a lot of alone time before we invited Sean,” Colin smiled.

Adina kissed him again, and as she took a sidestep to get out from between them, Sean moved his hand from Colin’s back to his neck.

“I’ll bring her home safe,” he told Colin.

“I know you will,” Colin told him, mirroring his touch. They placed their foreheads together briefly and then separated as Colin picked up Adina’s bag, and Colin took his own. Colin put his free hand around Adina, and Sean took her hand as they walked down to the waiting car.

The car ride to the airport was silent. The four warriors were focused on the mission, and Sean and Adina had their minds full of thoughts. Sean was holding her hand, and she had put his hand into her lap.

As they boarded the plane, Sean and Adina sat in a seat next to each other instead of opposite each other, as they always used to do. When they took off, Sean felt Adina squeeze his hand. He shifted them as soon as he could so that Adina sat in his lap.

“How are you feeling?” he asked as he stroked her back.

“I’m okay,” she said in a thin voice. He tugged on her ponytail, and she looked up at him.

“I miss him too,” he told her with a smile. She nodded.

“I just don’t want you to think…” she started but trailed off.

“You don’t want me to feel like I’m not enough since you miss him,” Sean helped her. She nodded.

“It’s okay, baby cake. You are allowed to miss him, even if I’m here. I miss him too, and that doesn’t mean I don’t love you,” he said.

“I love you too,” she sighed. She sounded relieved that he hadn’t taken it the wrong way. It made Sean smile; she was worried about his feelings.

“Why don’t you sleep for a couple of hours?” he suggested.

“Can I still sit in your lap?” she asked.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” he said. He kissed her and reclined the seat so she would be more comfortable.

Adina snuggled into him, putting his arms around her to hold her in place. He knew it took her some time to fall asleep. But as she did, his focus shifted from her to what was waiting on him at the end of this flight.

He hadn’t seen his family, except his father, since his father had handed him over to the council to be trained. He had spoken to his brother a couple of times over the phone, thanks to Adina. Over the years, he had had a couple of phone calls with his parents, mostly when they wanted to let him know important news and once to congratulate him on turning eighteen.

He had mixed feeling ongoing on back home. Part of him looked forward to seeing the place again, to meeting his mother and brother. But another part of him still felt betrayed and abandoned by them, by his old pack.

He thought about the fact that Adina, Colin, and he all had a background of losing their families at a young age. It was another thing that made it easy for them to relate. Sean was the only one of them that had family that was still alive.

Of the three of them, he was the only one that didn’t look back at his family as a happy one. Even though both Colin and Adina had lost their families, they both felt love towards them. Sean’s feelings towards his family were neutral at best.

It hadn’t all been bad. For the first part of his life, he had considered himself part of a happy and loving family and pack. But his view had changed as he was being shipped off, and no one stood up and objected.

With a sigh, he pulled Adina closer and let himself enjoy her scent. It calmed his emotions. Maybe he should give his family a second chance, Sean thought. At least he had the opportunity to do so. He should take advantage of that. He felt Adina stir and look up at him.

‘Did I wake you?’ he asked via mind link as the warriors had fallen asleep.

‘It’s okay,’ she smiled at him.

‘Go back to sleep. We still have a couple of hours before we land,’ he told her and kissed her temple.

‘I’m fine. Have you gotten any sleep?’ she asked. He shook his head. There was no point in lying to her.

‘Too many thoughts?’ she asked.

‘Yes,’ he admitted.

Adina smiled at him and let her hand play with his hair. He had left the white lockout of the small braid that held back his hair on the sides on purpose. Sean knew she liked to play with it. He relaxed as he felt the sparks travel over his scalp.

‘Want to talk about it?’ she asked.

‘What is there to talk about?’ he sighed.

‘That you are going home for the first time since you were eleven years old,’ she said.

‘That place isn’t my home. The Black moon pack is my home. You and Colin are my home,’ he objected.

‘I know,’ she said and kissed him. It was a gentle kiss, and he let himself focus on the feeling of her soft lips.

‘But you are still going to the place that was your home for the first eleven years of your life. You will meet your family for the first time since then,’ she said. Sean had to smile at her stubbornness.

‘Do you think I should forgive them and move on?’ he asked.

‘I think you already have forgiven them. I don’t feel the anger and resentment that you always had when we were younger,’ Adina told him.

‘I don’t think I have, Adina. I still can’t see myself having a normal family relationship with them,’ he confessed.

“Forgiveness doesn’t mean you forget or think what they did was right. Forgiveness is letting go of hatred, resentment and all the negative emotions you have towards them. You don’t forgive people to benefit them. You do it so that you can move on without having to be pulled down by all those emotions,’ Adina told him.

Sean thought about that for a moment as Adina continued to play with his hair. Somewhere along the line, he had let go of a lot of the anger and resentment—the last of it is when he talked to his brother after his father’s death.

‘Maybe you are right. I still don’t want to have a relationship with them as my family,’ he said.

‘I’m always right,’ she smiled and poked him in the side.

‘And you don’t have to have a relationship with them if you don’t want. But if you do, it can be whatever type you want,’ she continued.

‘Remember, I’m here for you, and if they so much as try to make you feel bad or do something that makes you feel uncomfortable, I will crush them like ants,’ she told him, sounding fierce.

Sean smiled down at her and kissed her again.

‘Thank you,’ he said.

‘Any time. I know you are used to protecting me, but our agreement goes both ways. I promised to protect you as well. And now that you are my mate, that goes without saying,’ she smiled back.

‘Now sleep,’ she told him and snuggled into him again. Sean relaxed and snuck a hand under her sweater to rest on her bare back. The sparks soothe him as he listens to Adina’s breathing evening out.  

He didn’t fall asleep. Instead, he let his mind wander again. He wondered what his mother and brother would think about him being mated to two wolves. He hadn’t told them. It didn’t seem important for them to know. He knew that even though both their packs had accepted their relationship, not all packs would be as open-minded.

The vampires and dryads of the White Rose pack had even seemed to respect them more for their decision. The two species both had flexible views on mating, and relationships involving more than two persons were more a norm than not. Sean guessed that a bit of variety would be nice when you theoretically could live forever.

Sean could hear the warriors around them stirring. He looked at his watch. They would land within thirty minutes. He kissed Adina to make her wake up as he rubbed her back.

“We will land soon,” he told her.

“Did you get any sleep?” she asked as she sat up, allowing Sean to straighten their seat.

“No, but it’s okay. I’m fine. I rested,” he said.

She looked at him with a worried look and put her hand against his cheek. He smiled and turned his head so he could kiss her hand. She sighed and shook her head before she got up to sit in her seat.