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I shook my head, defeated. “No, I’m just going to pitch it in a random dumpster somewhere. The only other thing I could do with it would be to give it to another omega who was in trouble... but I can’t bear the thought that it might be laced with god knows what. Something dangerous.”
Luca gave me a pointed look. “And yet, you were planning on taking it.”
“Yeah.” The word was a sigh.
“It’s all right. I get it. I would have done the same.” Luca busied himself pulling out a ladle, which he used to scoop servings of steaming mac and cheese into three bowls. “Here. I think we’ve got a tray around someplace.” He started rummaging again and emerged with one. “You can take a bowl back to Emiel before he has time to start freaking out about stuff again.”
“Thanks,” I said.
“Tell him I cleaned the litterboxes and put out clean water for Princess. He’s almost out of cat food, though.”
“I’ll pass it on.” I gathered silverware and napkins, grabbing a couple of sodas out of the fridge to complete the tray for us. Before I picked it up, I met Luca’s stormy green eyes. “You’re okay, though?”
He shrugged. “Mostly, I just want everything to get back to normal. It’ll be better tomorrow, when I can go to work.”
I wasn’t entirely sure that ‘normal’ was in the cards for any of us. But I said, “Okay. Thanks again for tackling cooking and kittyduty. Actually, I might drive over to Jennings and check in with Nat, if he’s still awake. I’ll grab a bag of cat food from one of the 24-hour stores, if so.”
“Sounds good. I’m going to eat this in front of the TV, and then go back to bed.” Luca lifted his bowl of cheesy mac, saluting me with it. “Leave a note for the others if you do decide to head out later. I expect they’ll be back at some point tonight.”
“Will do,” I said, and picked up the tray.
Emiel thankfully didn’t fight me on eating a decent meal, but he did insist on trudging up to his attic room afterward. I resisted the urge to dog his steps, making sure he didn’t stumble or fall. He was already steadier than he had been, alpha healing working away behind the scenes to knit his injuries back together.
I was still worried for him, it was true. But I could also understand him needing to hide away and lick his wounds in private for a bit, after everything that had come to light. Princess trotted upstairs right behind him, and her presence, more than anything, reassured me that he’d be okay on his own for the night.
I wasn’t sure at first whether I would end up crashing once I’d filled the empty hole in my stomach. But I actually felt more awake after eating, rather than less. Taking a deep breath, I texted Nat and received a reply only seconds later.
No, I’m awake,he wrote. There have been some developments you should know about.
That was ominous, but I texted ‘On my way.’I jotted down a note for the alphas and headed out, relieved to be doing something vaguely normal. I swung by one of the big drugstore chains that was open all night, and paid way too much for abag of dry cat food. Twenty minutes later, I was pulling into the familiar driveway of the house in Jennings.
Nat opened the front door as I was getting out of the car. He looked oddly hesitant as I approached the little porch.
“Hi,” he said cautiously, stepping back to let me in. “First, um, you should know that I, er... when you were in heat, I...”
I turned and flopped down on the couch, frowning up at him curiously. “You came by to check on me. I know.” It was my turn to cough nervously as I remembered flashes of that visit. “Look, I realize I was probably a hot mess, and I’m sure I was giving off mixed signals. I’m sorry about that.”
He wouldn’t meet my eyes. “I shouldn’t have come. I’m sorry. It was overstepping boundaries, given the, um, circumstances.” He gestured vaguely between us, encompassing our whole relationship mess.
I couldn’t help the way something inside me softened. “No, Nat. Youabsolutelyshould have come. That is... I’m sorry for the inconvenience, and I’m sure it was a really awkward situation for you to be in. But... it means a lot to me that you cared enough to drive out to a houseful of alphas and check on my wellbeing.”
Nat’s soulful brown gaze shot up to catch mine. “OfcourseI care. Mia, I lo—” He cut himself off with an audible clack of teeth, looking away and clearing his throat. “I... would feel terrible if you ended up in a bad situation because of my actions. I had to make sure you were all right.”
My heart ached, but not in a way that was completely bad. It was a good sort of pain, as strange as that seemed.
“No,” I said gently. “I think I’ve actually ended up in a reallygoodsituation. Complicated, but good.” I took a deep breath, steeling myself. “And... I’m starting to see that it wasn’t justyouractions that got us here, Nat. I made some choices that seemed totally reasonable at the time. But now I’m not so sure they were.Or at least, I’m not so sure that I communicated about them very well.”
I saw Nat’s Adam’s apple bob. His chest gave a little heave. But then he squared his shoulders, lifting his chin. “No, that was all on me. But I actually need to talk to you about something else entirely.”
I sobered, trying to brace myself for whatever was coming. “The restaurant? Has the health department gotten involved?”
“Yes,” Nat said. “But that’s not the important part.”
My brows drew together. “What’s the important part?”
Nat pulled out his phone. “The surveillance camera in the dining area caught one of our employees doingthis.”
He angled the phone toward me and tapped the play button on a video. I peered at the small screen, watching as a grainy figure oh-so-casually sauntered into the back corner of the dining room and unscrewed the lid from a large jar, shaking its contents onto the floor before hurrying away.