The Third Wheel BxB (Old + new versions)

Chapter 19: A lighter heart

Were the other two feeling the same? It was the sweetest kind of torture he had ever experimented, making him both want to take it to the next level with his mates, and remain hidden forever where nobody could find him. He was now realising that you could desire something you feared - sometimes, the fear even intensified the desire.

A brief smile lightened up Nate's face, who took a step forward and gave a squeeze to his mate's shoulder - the shoulder he had smashed for hours with his head in his sleep. 

"Having your mind somewhere else, sweetheart?" he asked with a knowing expression, earning himself a warning look from Darren. Taking pity on the poor man - or maybe fearing for his own ass - he wisely did not take it any further, and repeated Darren's suggestion to Kyle. The latter immediatly accepted, and they all took off, trying to be as fast and discreet as possible.

 Fortunately, the cavern Darren had mentioned wasn't far away, for Kyle's ankle was still injured, and he had stubbornly refused the Alpha's offer to carry him. They reached the hidding place in less than ten minutes, and did not meet any wolves at all. It was a quiet, and so far uneventful night - if you excluded the discovery about Kyle. 

The second they entered the cavern, Nate had Kyle sit on the ground, and started examinating his ankle with a focused expression he always wore when he was treating someone. After a few minutes of inspection, he released his leg and concluded:

"You should be fine by tomorrow. The healing process is going to speed up, now that the three of us are reunited."

Kyle nodded, already missing the warmth of Nate's hand. As if the other Beta could read his thoughts, he sat unecessarily close to his him, and took Kyle's palm in his hand, absentmindedly playing with his long and calloused fingers. Kyle stiffened a bit, but thanked the other man in his head, for the gesture was more than welcomed. 

"You should have let me carry you, Kyle" Darren adressed him with a stern expression. "It won't do you any good, straining your ankle even more."

"Did you offer to help me just because you now know that I am a Sub, and think I can't take care of myself?" Kyle blurted out. 

He immediatly regretted asking that. He had spoken without thinking - something he was doing more and more often around his mates. Turning his head a bit, he saw Nate looking at him in silence with slightly widened eyes. Darren, on the other hand, looked as calmed and composed as ever. 

"I'm sorry" Kyle slowly added. "I didn't mean to say that."

Darren shook his head. "No, I'm glad you did. You should always feel free to tell us what you really think." He paused, then resumed, his tone carefully neutral. "So, do you think I wanted to carry you because I just found out you are a Sub?"

Both men looked at Kyle, looking genuinely interested in what their mate had to say. He pondered the question for a bit, thinking back at the views his mates had already expressed about subgenders, the way Submissives were treated in their pack, and what he knew about Darren's personality. 

"No." he eventually said. "I don't think you asked me that because you know that I am a Sub."

Before today, he had never pronounced this word aloud to designate himself. His uncle had been the only one to use it, and it had always been preceded by degrading words such as "useless" or "filfthy". It felt weird to say this simple, unaggressive sentence: "I am a Sub." Weird, but not as bad as he would have thought. Still, he was far from feeling empowered by the admission. 

"Good." Darren said, and Kyle felt his heart flutter a bit.  "I would never look at you differently just because you are a Sub, nor would Nate. You are a great warrior, a brave and loyal man, and you happen to be a Sub, which is neither good nor bad in itself. It won't make us love you any less."