Page 6 of Billy and Cord (Omega Hearts #1)

“What’s with all this stuff?” Billy’s eyes almost fell out of his head as Cece and Tristan trooped in, both laden with bags. “That can’t all be breakfast.”

“Damn, I forgot the breakfast. Hang on.” Dropping his bags with a clatter, Tristan raced out the door, almost banging into the taxi driver, who was holding takeout bags and sporting a grin. “Thank you. Thank you so much. Have a lovely day.” Grabbing the bags, Tristan ran back inside again.

“Okay, right. We eat first,” Cece said, dumping his bags on the floor as well. “We’ll answer your questions, but we have to be quick because we’re going to need about an hour to get you ready.”

“Ready?” Billy squeaked, eyeing the bags with alarm as his friends frog-marched him into his little kitchen space. “I had a second shower. What else do I need? And what’s with all those bags?”

“Those, my clueless little omega, are presents for you.” Cece pushed him down into a chair. “I told my parents last night about your mate, and they’ve sent along a few things to help you feel more comfortable and to add to your celebrations.”

“And I told my brother, too,” Tristan said.

“He was so pleased for you, he truly is, and he sent along a few congratulatory gifts for you as well. Truthfully, I think he’d bought them for me and had them stashed away in the hopes I might find my mate one day.

But as he said, he can always buy me more, and he knew your parents wouldn’t do anything for you. ”

“Your families sent gifts for me?” Billy’s eyes filled with tears.

“I didn’t expect anything, you did tell them that, didn’t you?

” Finding a fated one, a mate, was a huge time of celebration in most families.

Billy knew, just from being around other people, that it was customary for parents or family members to buy gifts for their omegas, but as he didn’t have a family of his own… “I don’t know what to say.”

“Just say thank you and accept them. My mom and dad have always admired the way you’ve been determined to look after yourself.” Cece leaned across the table and patted his arm. “They are super proud of you and wanted to share in your happy time.”

“Same,” Tristan said, nodding as he tore open the food boxes. “Anthony wanted to hear all about your alpha, demanding to know who he was and all that. He even called Bullet, wanting to get more information, asking Bullet if he recommended Cord as a potential mate.”

“Oh, my goodness, my dad did that, too.” Cece collapsed in a heap of laughter. “Did Bullet get any sleep last night?”

“I don’t know, but I bet Cord didn’t.” Tristan pushed over a box. “Come on, Billy, you need to eat. You’ve got a busy day ahead of you, and no… we’re not saying a word about your mate until you’ve eaten something. Eat. Eat.”

“I’m not sure I can swallow a bite.” But Billy picked up a wrap, not bothering to check its contents.

His friends knew what he liked. He bit into it, quietly moaning as the flavors of bacon, lettuce, and tomato hit his tongue.

Cece and Tristan had been to Wonky Pigs, where they had the most amazing sauce in existence, which was added to every wrap.

If a customer complained they didn’t like it, their money was refunded, and they were told not to come back.

The owner always insisted it was his right to prepare his food the way he wanted, and most of Frankton supported his right to do it.

“Okay,” he admitted, looking up to see both of his friends watching him. “This is lovely and a real treat. Thank you.”

“We know what you like,” Cece said happily as he and Tristan dug into their food, too.

Ten minutes. That’s how long it takes for three shifters to finish a pile of food, if anyone was wondering. Ten minutes where Billy tried to organize the million questions he had about his mate into some semblance of order. At least he had a name now.

Cord.

Cord, who was a friend of Bullet’s.

Frankton was a relatively small town. Billy knew of Bullet, although he’d never spoken to him. But both Cece and Tristan had enjoyed lunches with the man in the past – separately, of course. But Billy didn’t remember them ever saying what sort of work he did or what he was like beyond friendly.

Cord clearly didn’t live in Frankton, or if he did, he was a new arrival. As Billy had done nothing but literally work for the past two weeks, it was possible he’d missed someone new moving into town, although he thought Cece and Tristan would’ve probably told him about it.

It was a good question to start with. “So, this particular alpha, Cord, is he new in town? How long has he been here?”

“No, no, no.” Cece shook his curls. “Those are not the first questions an omega wants to know about their new mate.”

“The practical ones, you mean?” Billy didn’t have any choice but to be practical – fending for himself hadn’t been easy. “If he’s just visiting from out of town, I might have to move. I need to know these things.”

“Those are the matters you talk to your mate about after the claim,” Tristan insisted. “Don’t you want to hear how tall or handsome he is?”

I’d be more interested in where we might live once the claim is done before it’s done. But Billy sighed and rolled his eyes. “Go on, tell me how tall he is and how handsome.”

“He’s big,” Cece said, leaning forward in excitement. “Not quite as big as Anthony, but just as tall.”

“He’s pure wolf shifter, you can just tell,” Tristan added, fanning himself with his hand. “He was really graceful on the dancefloor, but did you notice, Cece, he never danced with anyone specific, being really respectful of everyone around him.”

“Oh, I know.” Cece giggled. “That little trip he did might not have been so accidental on my part. I just wanted to hear his voice. He had a lovely deep voice when he asked me if I was all right.”

“You can’t help yourself, can you?” But Billy was smiling. Cece loved the idea that alphas would fall all over themselves to speak to him… even if he sometimes had to give said alpha a bit of a nudge.

“It worked.” Cece was unrepentant. “He might not have been my alpha, but look, he’s yours. That makes him family.”

Billy swallowed the sudden lump in his throat. “This really changes things, doesn’t it, guys? Once I go to lunch…” Tears pricked his eyes, although he wasn’t sure why.

It didn’t matter. Tristan and Cece were up out of their chairs in a flash, surrounding him, hugging him tight, reminding him he wasn’t alone.

“You are going to have the best life,” Cece said fiercely. “You’re never going to have to worry about making rent again or working every hour under the sun. No more being scared at night when the house makes strange noises or worrying about who to call when your sink starts leaking.”

“And no matter what, we’ll always be your family.” Tristan was just as determined. “We’ll all be mated soon enough, but even before that, we’ll be expecting invites to dinner, we’ll all go out for lunches, all the things.”

“And you’ll be able to come this time under the arm of a doting alpha.” Cece gave him a quick kiss on his cheek.

“We’ll be uncles,” Tristan said to Cece. “When Billy starts popping out puppies, we’ll be the best uncles ever.”

“Oh, my gods,” Billy’s eyes widened. “I hadn’t even thought about babies.”

Tristan and Cece both straightened, sharing a look of concern. “Er… Billy. Did your parents get a chance to explain to you about… you know, all the sex stuff before they turned into bastards?”

Billy got up, clearing away the empty food boxes.

“Dad said something about me probably never fathering a baby with a lady alpha. As for mom… She said…” Billy shook his head, hurrying to the trashcan with the boxes and stuffing them in.

“I can’t repeat what she said, not even to my best friends, because what she said was evil and wrong, I’m sure of it.

She thinks males getting pregnant is unnatural. ”

“Maybe I should call my mom,” Cece said. “I can’t see Anthony wanting to have ‘the talk,’ but maybe my mom…”

“No, please don’t do that,” Billy pleaded, turning to face his friends.

“This is already surreal enough. I am about to get ready to meet a man who will probably give me plenty of sex education before the day is over. I don’t think I could suffer the embarrassment of your poor mom having to explain about ruts and heats and omega slick.

I’d never be able to face her again. Can we focus on my hair and the presents you guys brought with you, please? ”

There was a moment’s silence and then Tristan and Cece exploded in a flurry of action. “You get the bags. I’ll see what he’s got in the closet,” Cece yelled, running off down the hall.

Phew.