I loved our little bubble. I never wanted to leave our little bubble. The outside world didn’t exist anymore. I was fine with staying in my house with my little Rene by my side, making Francis run the business and my errands for me. It was peaceful.

And to be fair… I wasn’t sure if I wanted to return to my old life as a mafia leader anymore. Not only was I much happier watching Rene and giving my full attention to helping him grow strong, but I was getting old, slow, and tired. My fifties were fast approaching, and our glory days were far gone. And Rene… He didn’t need to have anything to do with that kind of life.

So… I actually started reconsidering what I wanted to do with my life.

I stared at the television without paying any attention to it. I had a little baby alpha curled up in my lap, snoozing away, and my mind was occupied by his soft hair and thoughts about our future. It was weird to even consider abandoning the mafia. It had been my life for the past… thirty years? Thirty-five years? I was a teenager when this life had sucked me in.

I never really looked back. There was nothing to look at, really. Just a little teenage Michael who got a bad hand dealt at birth, lurking behind the dark corners, trying to sell a little bit of weed to earn two bucks. I was glad I never learned to feel bitter about how my life turned out to be. There were times when I’d felt jealousy, yes, but never bitterness. It was no one’s fault my parents were drug addicts, and I ended up in the system, then on the streets, and then…

I looked around in my luxurious house, with my newly found mate sleeping in my arms. I made a life for myself. A life I didn’t regret. I was the Michael Mercer, after all. The Boss.

But perhaps it was time to be someone else. Someone new.

I looked down at Rene when he moved, his breathing changing. I smiled as I watched him waking up. He opened his sleepy eyes, took one hasty look around, and found me. He smiled drowsily when our eyes met.

“Hey, baby boy…” I murmured, brushing my hand through his hair. “Did you have a good nap?”

“Uh-huh…” he nodded, closing his eyes, and curling up under his blanket.

“Need a moment longer?” I asked.

“No…”

“Uh-huh…” I chuckled. I was sure he’d fall back to sleep, but his stomach growled demandingly. “Sounds like you could use a little snack.”

He laughed lightly, stretching his body. “I just ate.”

“It’s actually been… almost three hours,” I said, checking the time. “Your body needs fuel. Lots and lots of fuel.”

He let out a cute little growl, but it got drowned by the sounds of his stomach. He wrinkled his nose and opened his eyes.

“I guess I could eat,” he said, smirking.

“Come on then. I’ll make you something,” I said, gently petting his shoulder.

It was wonderful, really. In the past few days, his appetite had grown so much it was basically a job to keep him fed. He was constantly hungry, and it was showing. He was gaining weight, and even though it still was subtle, his physique had already changed for the better. His sharp curves were softening, and when I held him, my fingers didn’t sink between his bones. He would look so much better in mere weeks.

“What would you like?” I asked him when we stepped into the kitchen.

“I don’t know… Everything?” he said, stopping by the kitchen island while I made my way to the fridge.

“Well we have… How about sandwiches? There’s plenty of toppings,” I asked, staring into the full fridge, but Rene wasn’t answering. “Baby?”

I turned to him. He was staring out the window, into the darkening yard. He seemed focused.

“Baby?” I tried again, closing the fridge.

He glanced at me, then turned his back to the window, his expression blank.

“What’s the matter?” I asked quietly, making my way to him.

“It’s my alpha again…” he mumbled. “I don’t get it… Why doesn’t it like the yard?”

“Did it get worried again?” I asked, putting my hands on his lower back.

“Yeah…”

“Your alpha just needs time,” I said reassuringly, giving him a soothing smile.

“I can’t even look out the window without it getting worried,” he said.

“Baby… These things take time. You both are doing great,” I said, caressing him. “And we have all the time in the world.”

He let out an annoyed sigh. “We’ve been stuck indoors for almost two weeks. Aren’t you getting bored?”

“With you, never,” I said sternly, leaning in to rub his nose with mine. “You don’t worry about this old mafioso, okay? My lazy ass is thrilled about this break.”

He chuckled lightly, then leaned his head against mine, breathing in my scent. “I just don’t want you to–”

“No. Stop. None of that, okay?” I told him. “You’re my baby boy. You’re the rest of my life. No matter how long it takes, weeks, months, years, I’ll be happy to stay with you inside these walls until you get better.”

He let out a little happy hum, his smile growing wider. He rested his hands on my cheeks and closed his eyes, melting my heart.

“The rest of your life, huh…?” he whispered.

“The rest of my life,” I whispered back just as quietly.

Even though it broke my heart knowing that the rest of my life was much, much shorter than his…

“Can we… After we eat… I want to go outside. Just for a moment,” he said carefully, saving me from the heartache of thinking about him all alone once I’d be gone.

“Of course. Anything you want,” I said, wiggling my nose against his.

Later, after we finished eating, we headed outside. We’d had a couple of short walks around my garden in the past few days, but Rene’s alpha was slow at getting used to being outside. When we stepped outside, Rene stopped to stare at the shadows, his alpha again on high alert. He inched closer to me until he had glued himself to my side. I put my arm around him while he slowly took a hold of my clothes, his eyes wide as he looked around. It hurt to see him so scared. I assumed the dim light of the setting sun was making things worse, since he wasn’t calming down at all, no matter how long we stood there.

“I…” he began, his voice weak and shivering. He turned to stare at yet another bush, pressing himself tighter against me. “I, uh…”

“It’s all right, baby boy. Maybe we should try again tomorrow. It’s getting too dark,” I told him soothingly, battling against my own alpha – Rene’s distress was really working it up.

I wasn’t sure if he even heard me. He turned back around and stared at the gates looming in the distance. He fell completely immobile. It didn’t seem like he was even breathing as he listened. All my senses were in overdrive while I tried to detect anything out of the ordinary. There was nothing, but my alpha didn’t like this. It didn’t like this at all.

“Let’s get inside,” I said, and almost pushed Rene through the doorway.

“I don’t get it…” Rene whispered while I closed and locked the door. “It’s like my alpha is getting worse…”

“It was dark outside,” I said, still peering into the yard while pulling the curtains closed.

My alpha was really worked up…

“I’m sorry…” Rene whispered.

“Hey, baby… It’s all right. These things take time,” I told him, smiling as I wrapped my arms around him to calm him down. “Don’t worry about it.”

He wrapped his arms around me and hid his face against my shoulder. He was shivering, and no matter how hard I tried, he wasn’t really calming down. Neither was my alpha. I turned back to the windows and pushed the curtain aside just enough to see the yard. There was nothing. Rene’s alpha was simply scared of the wide-open space, the countless hiding spots, and the darkness.

But I’d not survived this long by being an idiot.

“It’s all right baby boy… You’re all right…” I muttered while grabbing my phone. I held my boy tightly against my chest, rocking him soothingly while I called Francis. He picked up quickly. “Hey, Francis… I know it’s late, but I’m feeling a bit uneasy over here. Would you mind grabbing a couple of guys and come hang out with us? We can watch the game.”

“Uneasy?” Francis repeated, sounding alerted.

“Yeah… May not be anything, but… Would you mind bringing some good scotch while you’re at it?” I asked.

“We’re on our way,” Francis said and hung up.

My alpha was getting more and more agitated. I stared at the phone for a second, grinding my teeth together. Scotch was our code word for assault rifles. That kind of uneasy.

I put the phone back into my pocket and turned my attention to Rene. He was really holding onto me.

“Hey, baby boy…?” I murmured, but he refused to look up. His hold on me only grew tighter. “You’re all right. Old Uncle Francis is bringing the party to us. They’ll help me watch over you while you sleep.”

I spent a moment trying to soothe him, humming gently, rocking him slowly, and whispering calming words in his ear. He was calming down a little, but his fear worried me. It never took this long to calm him…

And then… something alerted my alpha. I gritted my teeth together, hugging my boy tightly, then reached for the curtain. I moved it ever so slightly, just enough to see the yard. There was something small shining just above my tall brick fence. The top of a ladder.

“I fucking hate being right,” I growled, let go of the curtain, grabbed my boy by his hand, and hurried toward the basement. “We need to go, baby.”