Page 12 of Loving My Omega (The Perfect Designation Trilogy #2)

Chapter

Twelve

T hrowing my bag on the couch, I collapsed onto it. It was around two in the morning. My emotions felt raw and I was exhausted. Beau had left around nine to fly home. I stayed with Colton, laying down next to him as he talked. A lot of it was about Bridgett but there was some I didn’t know about Omega pregnancies. She had been helping him with her past experience though it wasn’t exact.

I’d been doing my best to hold back my dragon, but Colton’s current state shocked him. When I tried to leave, he refused. I broke two more crystals and there was a hairline fracture now in my glasses. So, instead of completely destroying my crystals, I stayed until Colton fell asleep.

All I felt was that I had failed. I was a failure. This was supposed to be a trial. That we could be mates. Yet, here I was unable to even help him stay fed. He looked like he was dying. I couldn’t even understand how it got so bad.

It was my fault. I should have checked in. I’d been focused on finals and my classes and that he had classes. Even a simple check in would have told me he needed help. Leaning my head back, I pressed my fingers into my eyes. For the first time in a while, I felt like I needed a drink. I wasn’t going to, I hadn’t since the night I forced myself on Colton and I wasn’t going to start.

“Come on, Marcus. Pull yourself together.”

Taking a deep breath, I looked up at the ceiling. We couldn’t go back. I had chastised Colton for him saying he should have but here I was doing it to myself. No. What I needed to do was look ahead.

Lifting up off the couch, I opened up the door to my office. I leaned against the doorway talking inventory of the room. I had a desk, a bunch of books, and a few oversized pieces of furniture. It was something I could easily move the bookshelves out against the wall. This could be the guest bedroom with a desk in it. Just in case Mason, Ellen, and Audrey did want to say. Or any of my family really.

Heading up the stairs, I passed the first door that was my bedroom and opened the next one. I’d just gotten some updated clothes for the kids in the closet and a queen-sized bed that had a pullout under it. It wasn’t as big as my bedroom but this could be turned into the nursery and then the kid’s room.

I remember being handed Ellen and Mason holding onto my leg as the agents drove off. Nothing in my house was kid proof, let alone ready to have kids full time. It had been such a scramble. None of the furniture matched. I got whatever I could as quickly as possible. It was only after I got settled that I started to swap in better items for them.

All of it had been such a learning curve but thinking that I only had a few months still wasn’t enough time. It wasn’t just about our hatchling. Getting Colton in here seemed absolutely crazy. There was no space for a nest. It felt like home to me, but even in my human form, I felt like I took up a lot of space. So there was a lot of empty space in the house. The one thing that Colton didn’t have. I worried it would unnerve him. That he would hate it.

My dragon grumbled and I had to agree with him. I was thinking too far into this. For now, we’d head back into the city tomorrow. We could take Colton out, get him some sun and relax, getting his mind off of things. It might not go well, but I could try to reach out to the bear pack Alpha. See if he would allow Colton and I to visit where they laid Bridgett to rest. That would take some strings but it could be doable.

Closing the guest bedroom door, I went into my bedroom and took a shower. All I wanted to do was to get to sleep. Tomorrow, I wanted to be out the door by nine at the latest. I fell into bed and was asleep before I hit the pillow.

I jolted up when my alarm went off next to me. Looking down at the time, it was eight. Sitting up, I rubbed my face and sighed. I felt tired but I was alright. A little coffee and I would be able to get out of here on time. Stretching, I checked my phone. Colton hadn’t messaged me and so I hoped I woke up before him. Sending out a message saying good morning, I rolled out of bed.

Getting dressed in a button-up and some jeans, I headed down to make my coffee. I stopped on the stairs, blinking before my still slightly-asleep brain could comprehend what I was looking at. All three of Keith’s kids were asleep on my couch. It looked like they had put on a movie but weren’t able to get through it.

Quietly, I walked into the kitchen and started up the coffee machine. I was able to get a mug of coffee before stepping out onto the front porch. The back porch would wake the kids for the conversation I was about to have.

I took three sips of my coffee before I set it down and pulled out my phone. Dialing Keith’s number, I waited for him to pick up. He didn’t and it sent me to voicemail. Hanging up, I tried him again. Then again. On the fourth call, he finally picked up.

“Wow, you sure slept in. I thought you’d be up by six.”

“I got home at two in the morning. So no, I wasn’t going to be up at six.” I took a breath and roared over the line. “What do you think you are doing dropping the kids off without asking?”

Keith, on the other end, sighed. “Look, you would have said no and so…”

“Yes! I would have said no! I need to be places, Keith! I have things I need to do! You can’t just drop the kids off like this! I love them but I already told you, you need to tell me. You don’t need to tell Mom and Dad but you need to run it by me first.”

He scoffed. “What the hell do you have to do on the weekends other than grade papers? I mean really, Marcus…”

“I have an intended, you selfish prick!” I yelled at him.

The line got quiet for a moment. “What? That Liliana shifter? Or did you finally agree to that hot one at your school? What was her name? Amy? Aurora?”

My dragon stepped forward and let out such a roar that I knew it was going to wake the kids. The windows shook and one of the crystals around my neck shattered. I could actually hear Keith whimper on the line.

“I have had it with you, Keith. I am done! I told you two weeks ago, that it was the last time. You disobeyed me. You come and get the kids at seven in the evening. If you are even one minute late, I’m filing for custody. Is that understood?”

“The fuck you are! What gives you the right...?” He yelled at me over the phone.

I growled low this time. “I raised them. Somehow, I continue to raise them. I will tell them what happened when they were little. I will explain to them what the hell is going on with you and your fucking mate. I have had it, Keith . You do not get to walk all over me because you think I don’t have a mate. That because I’m not part of the pack, whatever I do is worthless. I’m done .”

“You didn’t fucking tell us you had an intended! Plus, it’s not like they are your mate yet! I mean, so you cancel a plan with them. It’s not the end of the world.”

“You don’t know anything. You don’t know the situation we are in.”

He barked out a laugh. “Because you didn’t tell anyone! How is the family supposed to know? Except Beatrice. Of course she probably knows. The two of you are attached at the hip. I’m surprised they didn’t just bring you in so that you could be the father of their children.”

Gods above, I was going to murder my brother. Another crystal turned to dust against my chest. Closing my eyes, I tried to rein it in but I couldn’t. My whole body was shifting against my will.

“Heed my warning, Keith. I do not make empty threats.”

It was all I could get out before I hung up, tossed my phone away and jumped off the porch. Fully shifted, I soared into the air, letting off a bout of flames. My dragon wanted to fly to the city. He wanted to check on Colton. On our hatchling. He wanted to feed him, make sure he was warm and happy. I wanted to as well but I wasn’t about to leave the kids alone.

Pulling him back and getting him under control took thirty minutes. I landed in the back yard five minutes after that. It would be mess if I walked into the house now. My extra crystals and my glasses were still in the bedroom. If I went in there angry, I’d end up scaring the kids and suffocating them under my pheromones.

“Uncle Marcus…”

I looked up from my pacing. Mason was standing on the deck holding out my glasses and the jewelry bag of crystals I kept on hand.

“Thank you, Mas. Set them down on the railing and back up for me will you?”

He nodded, setting them down and then backing all the way up to the door. I walked forward and tried to put a crystal on. Immediately it turned to dust and I heard Mason chuckle. Raising my eyebrow at him, he covered him mouth.

“It’s all fun and games until you can’t control your shift and instead of your first kiss, you destroy a school building.”

Snorting, Mason started to giggle as I grabbed the glasses this time. They were able to hold back some of the pheromones. Quickly, I added three around my neck at the same time. One did crack but it stayed together. Sighing, I needed to make a trip to the witch and see if I couldn’t order some of the extra strength crystals like she had made Colton.

“I’m sorry I woke you.”

He shook his head. “It’s fine. We didn’t know we were here. Dad must have dropped us off while we were still asleep.”

“Are you hungry? I think I have some things for breakfast.”

Opening the door, I let Mason go in first before I shut the door behind him. The moving had changed to a TV show with Ellen and Audrey watching. Ellen got up and ran to me, hugging my leg tighter. Audrey was a little more timid, coming over before tugging on my sweats I had to grab from the bin of extra clothes I kept int he forest.

“Are you mad at us, Uncle Mar?”

Shaking my head, I squatted down in front of all three of them. “Never, ever , could I be mad at you guys. There may be times that I am mad at the choices you make, but I will never be mad at you. I love you guys. I will always love you guys.” I tapped my chin. “Well…”

Ellen and Audrey looked at me worriedly. “What?”

“I think if you ate my shoe, I’d be pretty upset.”

They both laughed and I smiled, pulling them into a hug.

“I’m sorry if I scared you. I promise, I went out on the front porch to try and not be as loud.”

“It didn’t work.” Audrey pointed out.

I laughed. “Yes, thank you, sweetheart. I figured. Now how about we have some breakfast and figure out what to do today.”

Mason frowned. “You had something to do today, right? I mean, if you need to go do it…we could tag along. We don’t mind.”

“Yeah! We will be quiet and you can get whatever you need done. Promise!” Ellen smiled brightly.

Getting up, I ruffled the tops of their heads before heading into the kitchen to make breakfast. “How about this? I adjust my plans a bit and we can see about maybe going to the mall today. I think it would fun.”

“The mall! I want a big kitty!”

“Rey, Dad already said no more stuffed animals.”

Audrey pouted. “But…but…”

“How about we get to the mall, and if you see one you like, you can get it.”

Audrey clapped and bounced around the room. Ellen turned to me, full sass on display with her hand on her hip. She was even glaring at me.

“Uncle Marcus, we aren’t…”

“Didn’t you want your ears pierced? They do that at the mall as well.”

Suddenly, Ellen and Audrey were holding hands as they danced around the house. I smirked. If there was one thing I could do, it would absolutely step on the toes of my brother. He deserved it. It didn’t even matter what was happening. I’d told him it was the last time, and he didn’t listen.

“Uncle Marcus…maybe not go so far as to make Dad mad at us.”

I ruffled Mason’s hair again and he swatted me away. “I heard there is a new game console out…”

“Did you need help making breakfast?”

Chuckling, I moved over to let him help stir the waffle mixture. Once everything was set out on the table to eat, I excused myself. Grabbing my phone and now nearly frozen coffee, I headed up to my room to get dressed again.

“Hey, Marcus, what’s up?”

I held the phone between my ear and shoulder as I buttoned my jeans. “I’m sorry, did I wake you?”

“Not really. I was just being a vegetable in bed.” He quickly added. “I was going to get up to eat though.”

Humming, I didn’t quite believe him but it was better late than never. “I was wondering if we could change our plans for today. I woke up this morning to three little wyverns in my living room.”

Colton let out a breathy laugh. “I’m okay, Marcus. I’ll just send you photos of what I ate. You don’t need to come out.”

“No, you need to take a break. Get your mind off of things. I was thinking we could go to the mall. I need to spoil these kids to spite my brother. Seemed like the best place to do it.” I moved the phone to the other side as I pulled on my shirt. “I also wanted to order some crystals from Selene?”

“Yeah. She should be there. Did you break another one?”

Sighing, I leaned against my dresser. “Three actually.”

“Three! How mad were you?”

“Very. Also…I may have threatened Keith with custody of the kids.”