Pax woke up to a slight weight on his chest and over his right leg. Having gotten used to sleeping with two other men, the weight wasn't a problem. It wasn't until the golden-eyed werewolf took a deep breath that he realized the scent he was taking in wasn't Mateo's or Eli's. He turned his head slightly as his eyes fluttered open. The room wasn't completely pitch black; a small night light plugged into the wall provided light since no sunlight shone through the thick curtains. So, his eyes adjusted quickly enough to recognize January's lovely, sleeping face.

His following breath of air felt a lot heavier, but he knew it was more of a mental than a physical weight. Only a couple weeks had passed since he was first found by Eli's stone, and now their new mate was a vampire. He was the most vulnerable and beautiful vampire the silver-haired werewolf had ever seen, not that he knew many vampires. When Jany wept, something ached deep inside Pax, and he knew his other mates had also felt it.

Just how the hell were they gonna bring him home?

With a shaky sigh and a slight groan, Pax carefully slipped out of the impressive bed and walked over to the kitchen, buck naked. As he began to look around, he was surprised to find so much food. A container of a mixture of all kinds of berries was in the fridge, along with a few jars of juice, sparkling water, a carton of eggs, and even bacon. Knowing from experience that his beloved mates would rouse to the smell of food, he began to fry several eggs and strips of bacon on the stove. Everything inside January's house screamed quality and durability. Not a single piece of the eggs stuck to the pan.

As the golden-eyed werewolf cooked, he thought about their future. Khonsu stones were never wrong. He didn't need the stone to feel how January was meant to be with them. The redhead was a part of them, and they were all one. But, how Khonsu's devotees urged the Omegas to report anything unusual made Pax uneasy. What would happen if they found out about Jany?

The scent of cooking bacon snuck through the rooms, finding the wolves asleep on the bed beside their vampire. Eli woke first, his nose wrinkling adorably moments before Mateo blinked awake. "Hnn, bacon," Elias mumbled.

"Mmm," Mateo responded.

They both seemed to realize simultaneously that they were either sprawled across or curled around January. Both jerked away, Elias letting out a soft yip. They looked at the vampire with wide eyes.

"I've never..." Elias swallowed hard. "Never been so close to a vampire." The Omega blushed. "Last night doesn't count."

"I've never woken up with a vamp." Mateo grinned. "There was that one time I banged one my senior year when we all went clubbing. But, there was no actual sleeping involved."

"Pig," Eli giggled, then looked back to January. "He doesn't look dead," Elias whispered. "I thought they were supposed to be dead when the sun is up."

"Yeah, I - Oh, shit, I just saw him breathe." Mateo leaned forward. "Should he be breathing?"

The wolves stared intensely at the vampire, anticipation cranking higher as they waited. After half a minute, the pale chest rose and fell gently. Eli jumped like a gunshot had gone off. Mateo just kept grinning. The larger wolf reached out, pressing a fingertip on January's bare shoulder and giving a little push.

"He's cool but not cold," Mateo whispered. "This is awesome."

"Goddess, don't poke him." Eli frowned. "You shouldn't poke your mate."

Mateo caught Eli's eye and waggled his brown eyebrows. Elias rolled his eyes.

"You shouldn't poke your mate with your finger," the Omega added.

Mat continued his lascivious look.

"Oh, for the sake of Khonsu, You know what I mean."

Mateo chuckled in amusement, watching as Elias hesitantly laid his palm against January's sternum. Eli nibbled his lower lip, waiting until he felt a gentle thump.

"Wow, feel this," Elias said softly, rubbing his hand against January's cool skin. "His heart is beating. It's slow, but it's there." The Omega smiled gently down at the vampire. "He's gorgeous, huh?"

Mateo laid down with his cheek to January's chest, wanting to hear the soft thud of the vampire's heart clearly. Sitting up, he couldn't make it out over the regular tick of Eli's heartbeats.

"Yeah." Mateo smiled, throwing an arm across January's waist as he heard the vampire's slow but sure heartbeat. "He's sexy as hell, but he was very sweet with you while you were all stumbly drunk and crawling all over him."

"Hey, in my defense, I've never been drunk before," Eli pouted, peeking quickly under the sheet covering January before cuddling up on the vampire's chest. The Omega was face-to-face with Mateo, wanting to hear Jany's heart. "I'm glad we found him. He feels lonely."

"Yeah, I'm glad, too."

Pax found them like that, snuggled against January's chest, counting their mate's slow heartbeats and whispering to each other as though trying not to disturb the vampire's sleep. The sight made his heart clench tightly in his chest. Why would the same goddess whose power united soulmates become so wary of change?

Not wanting to worry his mates about his concerns, the silver-haired man schooled his face into a more neutral expression and softly called out to them. "Come have some breakfast," he urged. "I made fried eggs, bacon, and sweet potato hash browns. There's even a loaf of Cuban bread on the counter." His gaze fell on the sleeping man between them. "We can wake him up after we've finished eating."

Pax decided to broach the subject when seated at a round table in the dining room with food on their plates and different drinks.

"Not even a day after the Khonsu devotees told Eli to report any oddities," Pax began. "We find out that we have a vampire mate." He interlaced his fingers and leaned his elbows on the table as he regarded the other two werewolves. "What are we going to do? Should we report it to the Khonsu devotees or sneak January into the house somehow?"

"What will they do if they find out about him?" Eli asked worriedly.

"The God of the vampires, Anubis, is the nemesis of our Khonsu," Mateo said with a frown. "My grandmother used to talk about her grandparents' time when there was much more fighting between wolves and vamps. Did they teach you about it in school, Eli?"

The Omega shook his head, chewing his lower lip. He didn't like where this was going.

"Apparently, things only settled in our town because of a wolf and a vampire who were sick of the fighting and worked together for peace." Mateo leaned forward. "My grandma said great-great-grandpa Cade was close to that wolf, and she said there were rumors that the wolf and vampire were close. Very close." Mat's eyebrows lifted suggestively. "Grandma Cira said the devotees of Khonsu tried to have the vamp killed because of it. Not because of them working together, but because of them sleeping together."

"We can't tell them," Eli blurted, tears gathering. "We have to hide him."

Pax reached out to place a comforting hand on Eli's head. "Even if we must take it up with our goddess Khonsu herself, we will keep Jany safe."

"I'll ask my grandma what happened to gramps Cade and how he avoided getting killed," Mateo added. "There's gotta be something we can do."

"Hmm, for the first time ever, I don't mind catching others talking about me," January greeted with a smile as he walked over and sat in the remaining chair at the table. His red-violet hair was a mess, but it did nothing to take away from his sultry aura. "There isn't much that can wake me up during a bright and sunny morning, but the sound of my name on any of your lips would do it." He admitted with a wink towards Pax, which actually prompted a slight blush to form on the mocha-skinned werewolf's cheeks.

"So, your goddess doesn't like Anubis or his vampires very much, myself included..." Jany surmised. "...and you can't bear to part from me so much that you're willing to smuggle me into your home? Pinch me. I must still be dreaming. I feel weak-kneed at the very thought."

Elias jumped up, rushing over to nearly knock January over with a hug.

"We won't let anybody hurt you," the Omega said fiercely, looking up at the vampire's handsome face. "I will seriously bite the crap out of anybody who even looks at you funny."

The smile that Jany gave the Omega could melt chocolate on the spot. "Has anyone told you how sexy you are when you're being fiercely protective?" He practically purred. "I believe every word."

"So, are we all in agreement not to tell the Khonsu devotees about January just yet and sneak him into the house for now?" Pax asked aloud. Elias nodded, blushing as he stayed close to his vampire.

"If he is alright with that plan," Mateo answered before looking to Jany. "But you have to know that we don't want to have to hide you. We're not ashamed of you or anything like that. And it’s not forever, only until we figure out a plan, yeah?" Mat grinned. "Although I'm not sure how long I will be able to keep it from the rest of my family, my immediate fam can keep it a secret. Some of them might even have some good advice."

January actually felt tears welling up in his eyes at Mateo's thoughtfulness. But he blinked them away and leaned over to the brunet werewolf's ear. "I'm going to have to keep a notepad to track how many blow jobs I'm going to give you, cariño." He whispered heatedly. (cariño= sweetheart)

Oblivious to what was happening across the table, Pax grabbed the three used plates to place them in the dishwasher. "So, should we wait until nightfall?" He asked.

Jany shook his head. "I can travel in the daylight. My skin's just very sensitive to the sun. Five-second sunburn, five-minute skin cancer kind of sensitive. I'll be fine so long as I'm covered from head to toe. I actually have an outfit for such an occasion. Though, the mask is a bit...outdated."

"We'll dust it off, and we can tape over any cracks that might let in light since it's old," Eli supplied. The Omega turned to his wolf mates, green eyes sparkling. "Okay, so we have to get him inside quick, right? And without anybody noticing."

Elias continued hugging January's arm to his chest as he spoke, not noticing the sweetly bemused look on the vampire's face as he looked down at the little Omega.

"We can collect a bunch of blankets and stuff. I'll carry some, too, so it doesn't look suspicious." Eli bounced, warming to his idea. "Mateo, you're super strong, right."

"Umm, yes?" Mat answered.

"Right, so we wrap Jany up in blankets, and you can carry him inside." Elias nibbled his lip thoughtfully. "It will have to be a lot of blankets, so no one can tell Jany's under there. Can you carry a fuck-ton of blankets with him buried under there?" The Omega turned to Pax. "Do you want to carry blankets? Or maybe you can get the door...or I can get the door, and you can carry blankets..."

"If he's in the car, no one will see him," Pax suggested. "And though I rarely use it, I can park in the attached garage, and no one will even see him leaving it." 

"Oh, yeah, of course." Elias looked at the floor, cheeks burning. "Forgot about the garage."

"Hey, we can still use a couple of blankets to hide him in the car to be on the safe side," Mateo said quickly.

"Yes, and I can lay down on your lap during the drive," January added.

"That sounds like a plan. Are we all in agreement?" Pax asked.

Elias perked back up quickly, smiling happily as everyone nodded. The Omega liked that the vampire snuggled up to him for the drive.

"Do you have any boxes?" Mateo asked. "For anything you'd like to bring, January? We could probably fit quite a bit into Pax's trunk."

"I'll grab a small bag with clothes, my phone, and my wallet. That's all I need," January responded. "In fact, I'm going to do that right now." He said. He gave the Omega a soft kiss on the lips and then lifted him right up into his arms. "Want to come help me, Eli, my emerald?"

"Em-emerald?" the Omega asked, blushing pink as he wrapped his arms around January's shoulders.

"Yes, your lovely eyes remind me of the rarest of emeralds," January admitted as he walked back over to his room with the werewolf in his arms. "They're quite beautiful."