Chapter 273: Chapter 273 Mate Bond Calls
Perry’s POV
"You planning to adopt a kid?" Timothy’s curiosity about my decision was obvious, though plenty of my choices left him without answers.
There were moments when Timothy’s frustration with my silence made him look like he wanted to smack me upside the head.
Naturally, that remained just a fleeting impulse that would never see reality.
"So what’s your move?" he pressed.
"I’ll adopt your kid," I said without missing a beat, and Timothy immediately shot down the notion.
"Hell no. Absolutely not. Don’t even think about that nightmare. I want my family living peacefully for years to come."
"What’s that supposed to mean?" I narrowed my eyes at the way Timothy dismissed my suggestion. "You think I’m miserable?"
Timothy caught his mistake instantly, flashing a sheepish grin. "Course you’re happy, especially with Phoebe around, but I don’t want my family spending their entire lives dealing with palace drama. I want them living the easy life." That dream life Timothy always fantasized about, though reality barely gave him a single day off since I worked him to the bone.
"Easy life, huh?" I stopped walking and fixed my gamma with a stare. "Well, it looks like..."
Before I could finish, Timothy threw both hands up dramatically. "Wait! I just remembered something important! Gotta run!"
Without waiting for my response, Timothy bolted out of sight. The gamma didn’t even glance back, sprinting until he was well beyond my reach.
——
Phoebe’s POV
I watched Timothy stumble to a halt, gasping for air. "I’m dead meat... I know that look and that tone..." Working with Perry for so long made reading his intentions child’s play, according to him.
Obviously, Perry was about to dump more assignments on his plate. No chance in hell he’d accept that.
"Sometimes I swear he’s trying to work me into an early grave."
"Who’s working you into an early grave?" I asked.
"Shit!" Timothy nearly jumped out of his skin at my voice behind him, whirling around to see my startled expression. "Don’t sneak up on me like that!"
"You’re the one who scared me!" I shot back, rubbing my chest after his scream rattled me. "What’s got you so spooked? You do something you shouldn’t have?" I eyed him suspiciously.
"I didn’t do anything wrong," Timothy said firmly. "I’m always the good guy."
I rolled my eyes theatrically. "Sure. I totally buy that."
"I know you don’t." Timothy stretched his muscles. "Heard you moved all the women from outside the pack house back to the omega quarters."
"They were omegas in this pack originally, separated just because they had daughters." This topic always fired me up. What was wrong with having girls? I’d love a daughter if I could have one.
"Yeah, this kingdom’s completely screwed up. Can’t figure out why Perry wanted this place so badly. We could torch this kingdom and focus on another one."
I stayed quiet for a moment before speaking softly. "But if Perry wasn’t here, these people would live in terror their whole lives."
"True. When you put it that way, I get it." Timothy and I walked toward the omega quarters together, chatting about various topics.
Timothy filled me in on Perry’s activities. "Can’t read that guy’s mind. He’s driving me insane."
I laughed at Timothy’s frustration. I’d missed this, missed the gamma’s company.
"How can you not? I can read Perry like he’s got his thoughts written on his forehead."
Timothy shot me a dirty look. "Oh please, he’s not just an open book for you - he’ll open everything, especially his clothes when you’re around."
"Timothy!" My face flushed as I glanced around, making sure nobody overheard the gamma’s comment. I pinched his side while he cracked up.
"What? Am I lying?" Timothy’s laughter grew louder, then suddenly stopped as his back went rigid. He looked around in confusion.
"What’s wrong?" I was equally confused, scanning our surroundings without knowing what to look for. "What is it? What happened?"
Timothy shook his head like swatting away an annoying bug. "Don’t know. Something feels off."
"What? Are you sick?" I worried at Timothy’s expression - he looked completely lost. "What’s happening to you?"
I reached for Timothy’s hand to check his condition, concerned by his appearance.
"Timothy?"
But Timothy jerked his hand away and took off running.
My first thought was illness, but that seemed impossible. He was fine, still able to run that fast and leave me in the dust.
Besides, a shifter Timothy’s age had developed healing abilities - he wouldn’t fall sick suddenly unless something major happened.
"Timothy!" I called for him to slow down, but Timothy only ran faster. "Timothy, what’s going on?!"
Wade and Samuel, witnessing this, immediately approached me and ran alongside me. "What happened, my queen? Something wrong?" Wade asked anxiously, looking between me and Timothy while Samuel sprinted ahead to catch up with Timothy.
But suddenly Timothy stopped running, his eyes locking onto someone in the distance.
"Mate."
