Page 51 of Loving My Omega (The Perfect Designation Trilogy #2)

Chapter

Fifty-One

C olton had laid down for a nap about two hours ago. He’d been feeling uneasy the past two days after Eva’s visit. As much as it hurt me to see him so dejected, he needed someone like Eva. You could tell she cared. The problem was, it was tough love. She told him straight and she wouldn’t take no for an answer.

That didn’t mean he took it well but I knew he was doing his best. Friday, Saturday and now today, I had woken up to the numbers filled out on the paper. He was weighing himself while I was asleep. Eva had warned me he might start to shell up, especially since she was working on trying to get him to embrace this process.

I didn’t know what I could do. Just getting his cravings and makings sure he was comfortable felt so minimal. Dad said that was just how it was as the person not able to carry a child but it just didn’t feel right. So I decided to do more.

While he was asleep, I cleaned off the deck and set up the outdoor table. I also made use to pull out my wood heater and sat that on the deck. It warmed up the air and I could so more to help that using my core. Luckily, this weekend was cool but it wasn’t snowing. His ability to warm himself helped as well. So, I felt better about doing this.

Looking up, the sky was getting darker. His love of the night sky could at least be seen a little, despite the city being close. I put a tablecloth on the table and set up candles. Colton would fight me if we tried to go out with him feeling like he wanted to hide away. The only thing I could do was do something nice and make him comfortable here.

The kitchen timer went off and I stepped back inside. Smiling, I opened up the pot and stirred it. I had to sell something akin to my soul to get this recipe but it would be worth it. My only hope was that I could do it justice. Putting the lid back on, I heard Colton stir upstairs and turned to see him rubbing his eyes.

“Good morning, sleepy.” I smiled.

“Ha-ha.” He sighed. “I still feel exhausted.”

Sighing, I motioned him closer. Stepping down the stairs, I couldn’t help but notice he was completely dressed. While it did work for what I wanted to do, that fact that he felt so uncomfortable that he got dressed after his nap made my heart sink.

Colton stepped into my arms around I wrapped him up in a hug. He yawned and nuzzled into me. Kissing his head, I couldn’t bother fighting the smile. I was too excited to see if he would like it. His head raised up and his eyes narrowed.

“What are you planning?”

I chuckled, knowing he could probably feel me through our bond. “I have a surprise for you.”

His shoulders fell and I could see him already rejecting the idea.

“Wait. Before you say anything, you don’t need to leave the house.”

“Yeah, but…”

Taking his hands, I kissed the top of them. “Please? Humor me?”

He took far too long to answer but when he finally nodded, I smiled. Taking his hand, I walked over to the back door. Opening it up, I stepped out on the deck and let him see the setup. His head cocked to the side before he looked up at me.

“What is this?”

“I wanted to take you on date.”

Colton looked back at the table and I was awarded a giggle for my effort. “A date? At home?”

Stealing a kiss, I smiled. “I know you have been feeling down.”

“Mar…”

“No. I can feel it too, Colt. We are intertwined now.” I placed my hand over his heart. “I wanted to do something for you but I knew taking you out would make you feel worse. So…my date at home.”

Walking him to the far seat, I pulled out the chair for him. He looked amused but he resigned to my antics. Sitting down in the chair, I pushed it into the table. Turning around, I turned up the heater a bit before going inside. There were already plates and bowls on the table, my best that I took out from storage. Filling the pitcher with the soup, I also grabbed the bread I made.

Taking it out, I placed it on the table. Behind my chair was a small box that was a cooler. Pulling out the sparkling apple cider, I popped open the bottle and poured it into both our champagne flutes. Colton continued to giggle, but I sat down across from him.

He pressed his napkin into his lap before shaking his head. “This is silly.”

“Thank you. I am glad I managed to impress you with my silliness.”

Laughing, he reached out and took a sip from the glass. “So, what’s for dinner, my silly Alpha?”

Holding out the basket, I let him take it and pulled his own croissants before I pulled mine.

“Are these fresh?”

Nodding, I smiled. “Well, I had the dough already. I just put them in the oven.”

“How long was my nap? A day?”

Putting the bread down, I grabbed the pitcher. Getting up, I poured the soup into his bowl first before I pulled my own. He watched me curiously before he leaned down, sniffing the bowl. His eyes widened and he looked up at me.

Smiling, I set down the pitcher and sat back down, putting my napkin down as well. “Enjoy, Colt.”

“Mar…this is…how?” He didn’t wait for my answer as he dipped his spoon into the soup.

“I’m not saying I had to sell our first born but…”

He laughed. “Honestly, I think I would have to seriously think about that trade.”

Looking down, I smiled. No matter how much Colton pushed, I would refuse to tell him. I had a few pieces of land scattered around that I owned. One of which was an old vineyard in France. It wasn’t producing much and I got a couple bottles a year. Now, it was Gaspard’s.

“This is so good! Did he make it and bring it over or…?” Colton dipped the croissant in the soup.

The way the light from inside the house reflected in his eyes, and the happiness that hummed through the bond made it all worth it. I would have sold everything to see him happy like that. It was so simple but these moments were everything to me. Everything I wanted.

Sliding over a piece of paper, he took it and his eyes got their sparkle. “I got the recipe.”

“Mar! This!” He looked from the paper to me and back. “I can’t believe he gave this to you! What did you sell?” Colton leaned over, looking me over. “You still have your arms and legs. You didn’t give him your scales right?”

I threw my head back and laughed. “No. I’m fine. Don’t worry about it. I promise you, it was worth it.”

“Mar…” Colton smiled but I could see the emotion swimming in his eyes.

“Eat, Colt. I made plenty.”

He nodded and tucked into the garlic soup. Eating as well, I made sure to refill his glass or bowl when he was just about done. I had to go back in to refill the pitcher but I expected that. One thing that had also ramped up was his appetite and I was not going to limit him. For the most part, we enjoyed the quiet around us as the sun went down.

I finished off my final bowl as Colton leaned back, staring up at the sky. There was a soft look on his face. Sneaking my phone, I pulled it up and took a photo. Looking down at the screen, I smiled. Colton really was so beautiful. He took my breath away.

“Mar?”

Humming, I put my phone done on the table.

“Have you thought about names?”

I froze, my hand stopping just short of my glass. “Not really. No.”

His head dropped and his eyes narrowed. “You want to try that again, except a little more convincing?”

Chuckling, I grabbed the glass and took a sip. “Let me amend my statement. I haven’t thought about the names for our girl.”

“Do you have family names or something? Outside the middle name for dragons?”

Shaking my head, I looked down into my glass. “No. Well, we used to but it just wasn’t important anymore. It was always the Alford name that was the must. Outside of that…no limitations.” Smiling, I took a sip. “What about you?”

“A bit. It’s fleeting. Like ‘oh that name sounds cute’. Just stuff like that.”

I nodded for a moment. Did I open this can of worms? With Colton, I knew I could trust him, it just was such a sore spot for me. He wouldn’t be same as Angelica. I knew that but it didn’t mean that the scar didn’t hurt.

“I’ve always liked the name Kayla.”

Colton’s head cocked his head to the side. “I think Kayla is cute. It could easily make my top three.” His eyes narrowed. “Why would that hurt? Is there something wrong with the name?”

“Not with the name, no.” I spun the last of my cider in the glass.

“Talk to me, Marcus.”

Sighing, I took the final sip and set it down. “It’s not really something I wanted to talk about when I was trying to make you feel better.”

He laughed. “Well, I think talking about yourself would make me feel better. I like getting to know you, Mar. Good and the bad.”

There was a long moment of silence as I gathered my thoughts. “When I was twenty, I was approached by an old friend from high school. Her family was offering a marriage proposal and she had been one of my best friend.” The trees moved a little with the wind and I made sure to heat up my core a bit more in case it was getting too cold. “We decided to have a six month courting time. It had been a few years since I knew her and I was still going to college outside of the territory. So I would need to commute back and forth, leaving less time to actually spend together.”

“At first, she was exactly as my best friend had been. I was genuinely happy. We were two months in and I thought, maybe I should just cut it short. Mating my best friend was probably the best case scenario I was going to get. Rather than be sold off to some random shifter I didn’t know.”

Colton leaned in, focused on me completely. “What happened?”

“I had flown in one day to my parents house and she was hanging around with Keith, and his buddies. They were laughing and drinking. I didn’t have an issue with it. Our drinking age is eighteen. But…it’s what I overheard.” My heart clenched and I balled up my hands. “She wanted Keith. He was better than me in every way but since Keith had found his fated, she was settling for me. She hated to persona she had to put on, playing like we were still best friends. After that, she continued to insult the fact that I wouldn’t take up the Alpha position. That I was going to school with the intent on being a professor.”

Shaking my head, I hurt but it made me so angry as well. I had been so naive and I had thought she was different. Beau, of course, saw through her shit. My sister was little but she never held back against her when she was over. It turned out Beau was always smarter when it came to people than I was.

“She wanted the money and the title and the respect of claiming an Alpha-10 and an Alford brother even if it wasn’t the one she wanted. I probably could have gotten over all that if she acted like my best friend in front of me the whole time. But…”

Colton sighed. ““She didn’t want a family, did she?”

“No she did not. I confirmed it on our next date.” I closed my eyes, trying to forget the heartbreak that night. “I made it seem like, because didn’t plan on being Alpha, I didn’t need hatchlings. The relief on her face. She talked excitedly about all the things she wanted to do and places she wanted to go. That she didn’t want to ruin her body for hatchlings that wouldn’t provide any value to her life. That she wasn’t built to be a mother. Then, she brought up one time I had spoken about wanting my own hatchlings and said I’d like the name Kayla. She…mocked me and mocked the name that it was stupid.”

“Mar…”

Smiling as I stared into the reflection of the fire against the pitcher, I shook my head again. “I hate to admit it now, but I was falling in love with her. It tore me to pieces. A few days after a wallowed alone, I told my parents to break off the courting. It upset everyone and I remember her banging on the door telling me I was an asshole and I wouldn’t get anything better than her.”

Colton snorted. “Stupid bitch. I hope she’s alone now.”

“It doesn’t matter. I found my better half now.”

My eyes finally focused in on Colton but he rolled his eyes. “I don’t know about that.”

“I am. After her, I closed my heart and then I was beaten down over fifteen years of proposals for my level or my name or my money. You fought, actively trying to get the hell away from me. Continuously, showing up in my mind and dreams. Showing me how smart and kind you are even after everything you’ve been through. You accepted me.” Reaching out, Colton let me take his hand. “You’ve given me everything I could possibly want.”

“Two hundred is too many.”

The fact that Colton snapped that so fast made me roar in laughter. “Okay…maybe we can compromise and only do half.”

“That’s a hundred!”

Laughing still, I squeezed his hand before letting it go. I was excited to see him when I set up the final part of our night. I reached out to grab my phone but Colton asked me the question I hoped he wouldn’t.

“What was her name? So I know who to murder in case we run into her.”

My hands tightened on my phone. “Angelica.”

His eyes widened and he leaned forward. “That bitch from the lodge? That was her?”

“Yes.”

“I should have been meaner.”

Chuckling, I shook my head. “It would have been out of character for you. It’s in the past. You are my present and my future.”

Bringing up the app, I shut off all the lights in the house, even the outside ones. We were plunged into darkness and Colton squeaked, not expecting it. I smiled as he panicked a bit.

“Mar…what…?”

“Look up.”

His head rose and his mouth dropped open. The sky was lit up with stars since it was completely clear tonight. Yesterday it was overcast but tonight it had been a perfect night to do this. The fire had dulled down to simmer, so it didn’t take away from the beauty of it.

“Mar…”

The awe in voice made me smile. I didn’t look up though. The night sky reflected in Colton’s eyes as he took in the stars. All this would always be worth it. All the pain and the mess that I ended up enduring, all of it was worth it. I’d do it all again if it meant it led me here with Colton.

“Thank you.” He looked at me, tears in his eyes. “I…I needed this.”

“I know, little wolf.”

Colton continued to stare up at the night sky. I gave him a few moments before I moved my chair back away from the table. The sound made him look at me and I motioned him to come over. He got up, walking over to me and standing in front of me. Like this, he was haloed by the night sky, but it struggled to hold its beauty next to my mate.

“Take you clothes off, Little Omega . Let your Alpha see you.”