The Defiant Claim - The Claim: Book 2 [LGBTQ+]
Chapter 27 - Mik (Part 2)

Submitting, Mik allowed Noodin to help him walk across the cabin to the bed. Mik could feel his strength coming back, but his feet still felt numb and tingly. Noodin pulled some thermal socks on his feet before Mik crawled under the covers and snuggled up against Sam.

Sam’s body was like fire and his muscles jumped under his skin as he swore. “You’re so cold!”

“I’m sorry,” Mik mumbled, wrapping his arm across Sam’s stomach and his leg over Sam’s. He buried his nose in the crook of Sam’s neck and heaved a sigh.

“I’ll give you a moment to warm up before you drink some tea,” Noodin said before his footsteps returned to the kitchen.

Mik continued to shiver for a few minutes. The strength of them lessening with each minute as Sam’s muscles relaxed as well. Warmth enveloped him while his hands and feet began to burn with invisible fire.

Sam didn’t utter a word to him, and Mik was grateful for the silence. When his body began to relax into the warmth, scent, and feel of Sam’s body, tears began to gather in his eyes.

He didn’t deserve an ounce of Sam’s warmth. He deserved to freeze to death at the hands of the Goddess.

Still, he clung to Sam. His throat burning with his eyes as tears began to slip out. Sniffling, he exhaled a shaky breath as he brushed his nose against Sam’s neck. Sam shivered, heat rushing to the surface as his scent shifted. His pores dilated, releasing Sam’s alluring scent that drew a sigh from Mik’s chest.

When had Sam’s scent stopped repelling him? When had it changed from pleasant to comforting to an all-consuming need?

A throat clearing itself interrupted his thoughts and he cracked open a heavy eye. He couldn’t see Noodin without rolling over, but he could feel his presence behind him.

“Sit up and have some tea, Mik. It will help you feel better and prevent you from catching a cold.”

With a groan, Mik pried himself away from the warmth and comfort of Sam’s side. Noodin draped a blanket around his shoulders before handing him a mug of tea. He then helped Sam up into a sitting position, leaning against the headboard of the bed next to Mik and sat on the edge of the bed on Sam’s other side. He slipped a straw into Sam’s mouth from another mug, urging him to drink as well.

“If Mik catches a cold, you’ll need to boost your immune system as well,” Noodin told him.

Sam drank without complaint and Mik sipped his tea. Steam wafted up, smelling of ginger and lemon with honey to sweeten. It must have sat on the counter for five or ten minutes as it wasn’t scalding hot but the perfect temperature. The ginger warmed him from the inside-out as it slid down his throat.

“Are we cool now, guys? Can I count on you both not to do something stupid as soon as I leave?” Noodin was looking at Mik but also gave Sam a brief look as well.

“What would you have me do?” Sam mumbled, looking down at his limp body under the blanket.

“Stop running in circles away from each other—both of you,” Noodin answered. “I know this is hard, but sacrificing yourselves for each other is not the answer.”

Mik looked away, sipping his tea.

“Mik?” Authority demanded an answer.

“Understood,” Mik responded, his eyes focused on the window across the room, watching the snow coming down and the branches of the trees swaying in the wind.

“Good. Now, I’m going to return to my mate and pup. I trust you both to stay inside where it’s warm.” Noodin rose from the bed and went around to Mik’s side, pushing Sam’s mug of tea into his other hand. “If you need anything, howl.”

Mik lowered his head and listened to the older male walk to the door, slip on his fur coat and boots, and step out into the storm. Silence fell with the closing of the door, save for the whistling of the wind and the branches of the trees tapping on the windows and the sides of the cabin.

“You… You tried to run away?” Sam asked. He swallowed, his emotions bubbling up.

Setting the mugs on the bedside table, Mik turned to Sam and grasped his chin between his thumb and forefinger and tilted his face up to his. A tear strayed from Sam’s left eye as those robin egg blues met his.

“It’s not what you think.”

“Then why? Why did you leave after I told you… After I told you…” Sam couldn’t get the words out before tears broke free and he clamped his eyes shut. He mashed his lips together to stop their trembling.

Taking Sam’s face in his palms, Mik wiped the tears from his cheeks with his thumbs. Sparks fired off from the matebond, causing Sam to whimper as a blush bloomed upon his cheekbones. Mik had never held anyone in his palms like this. Never felt their emotions roll over him through the static pulse surging through their bloodstreams with every beat of their heart. Pain pricked within. His chest constricted under the thorny vine, forcing him to draw in short quick breaths as Sam’s emotions unraveled underneath his touch. It hurt to see Sam in this state. He was breaking and Mik didn’t know how to stop it or fix it.

“Because I’m not worth dying for,” Mik whispered.

Another whimper escaped Sam. “But… I’m not enough… to make you happy…”

“Yes, you are.”

Sam grimace. “Don’t lie to me.”

“I’m not lying.”

“Yes, you are.”

“Sam, look at me. Listen to me.”

He waited until Sam opened his watery eyes—deep pools of blue that sucked him in and for a brief moment, he felt as though he was drowning in their depths. Blinking, he shivered as he inhaled deeply and exhaled a shuddering breath. “You can’t sacrifice yourself for the sake of my happiness. I have done nothing worth dying for. Nothing. I have no one who cares about me. No one will miss me. I have no aspirations, no purpose, no reason to keep living. You have so much more to live for. You have Luna, Alpha, and Cameron. You have a team at the infirmary waiting for you to come back and finish your training.” He swallowed, a lump forming in his throat as he wiped fresh tears dribbling from the corners of Sam’s eyes. “Without you… I am nothing. If you die, Alpha will kill me—as he should. And I would want him to because…”

He trailed off, unable to finish his thought because of the pain it brought on him.

Sam’s lips trembled as his eyes pooled once more with tears that threatened to fall. “No, no, I don’t want you to die. I-I want you to replace a female you can love and-and have pups with because I can’t… I can’t…”

He squeezed his eyes shut as the tears flowed freely. His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down: his words caught in his throat.

Wiping the tears away with his thumb again, Mik’s throat rumbled. “Stop it. If anyone deserves a female and pups, it’s you.”

The tears kept falling as another whimper erupted. “I can’t.”

“Sure you can. You’re thoughtful and kind—”

Sam interrupted him with a whine, his face scrunching in a grimace. “No, I can’t… Even if I did replace a female to love, she won’t want me because I can’t… I’m… I’m infertile.”

Infertile? Mik stared at him as the creases in Sam’s face smoothed out into a deep frown. A lone tear slipped out and Mik wiped it away. “How-How do you know for sure? You’re only eighteen, maybe—”

Sam exhaled a shuddering breath, sniffling as he gathered more air into his lungs. “I… I have… Klinefelter Syndrome.”