Page 104 of Omega's Heart

“Mom, stop it,” Kaden said in his command voice, one hand held up palm out toward her. “This is what I was talking about in the car. I want to do normal things. And if you can’t let me do that, maybe you should just go the Barrens back to Salma, where they cripple everyone. At least Felix doesn’t make me feel like half a wolf.”

“He’d be glad of any mate, looking at him. Of course he worships you,” she snapped, then her eyes went wide and she clapped a hand over her mouth.

Well, at least we know she has some sense of decency. Even if it is a little too late in showing up.

“Come on, Hunter, let’s go see Aggie and Dorian and your uncle,” I said pointedly and walked toward the building.

Kaden caught up to me at the elevator. “Hey, you okay?” His right hand spread over the small of my back and he leaned in so he could whisper.

“I’m fine. I’m going to give Holland fair warning,” I told him.

“You know I don’t think that about you. I’ll talk to her. She’s just mad because I didn’t come home to Salma and mate an alpha and go on to compete to be the Alpha.”

I let out a tired breath and bent so I could drop an awkward kiss in the region of his cheekbone. “I’ll be fine.” I wasn’t certain yet how I was going to handle her, but I hadn’t been raised by my parents to be looked down on like this for nothing I’d ever done. A quick glance past him showed her and Quin still outside, arguing. “I know I’m not the packson she wanted, but would it make things easier for you if we did move back to Salma?”

His eyes widened and I could have sworn I saw real horror in them. “Barrens, no! Lysoon, not on your life! I like Salma, it’s a great place if that’s what you like, but you’d go lunar living there.” He added after a thoughtful pause. “So would I.”

The elevator opened and we stepped inside. I watched him with puzzled and fascinated amusement. “Why?”

“Why lunar?” He sighed and leaned against the back wall, absentmindedly scratching behind Hunter’s ears. “It’s a lot more stratified than Mercy Hills. We’d be very comfortable there, I can guarantee you, but the opportunities here are a lot more interesting. And one thing about being half-raised by Quin is that you got an earful about how unfair it was to restrict the best-compensated positions to packmembers who established as alpha and a bunch of concrete examples of how those hard horizontal barriers have held the pack back. And I have to agree with him, after being here in Mercy Hills.” The doors slid open and he gestured me out ahead of him. “In Salma, your job would just be to keep me happy, play host for social functions, have pups and raise them to be alphas. Look good on my arm. A housekeeper would look after cleaning and cooking because you would need your time to make sure the pups were perfect and you never had a hair out of place. You’d be eye candy. Not that you aren’t already.” He raked me with a gaze that made me want to roll over for him. “I like you better like this. I don’t like plastic, I like reality.” He grabbed my hand and hoisted himself out of the chair, backing me up against the wall until he could kiss me like I was his already. “So yeah,” he said softly at the end of the kiss. “I think you’d be bored there.”

“Doesn’t sound fun,” I agreed breathlessly.

“Five more days,” he whispered. “We should probably go find a chaperone. I’m not feeling very virtuous right now.”

“Me neither.” I played with his tie, stroking the silky fabric. “Good thing your mother’s here, huh?”

He let out a snort of laughter and leaned his head against my shoulder. “That’s one way to look at it.”

I let myself join in on his amusement. “I’m going to go hide with Holland. You coming?”

“I’ll drop the suitcase off first, then I’ll be over.”

The whine of the elevator starting to move spurred us both to action. I kissed him, then he dropped back down into his chair and set the bag on his lap. “You need a gun? I’m thinking I should have a gun,” he called back over his shoulder as he rolled down the hallway.

“I don’t think we need the temptation,” I told him as I knocked on Holland’s door.

“No, you’re probably right,” he said regretfully, then disappeared inside the apartment.

Holland opened the door—perfectly coiffed, dressed like he was going to dinner with the president, and wearing a smile that never reached his eyes. “Oh, it’s you,” he said in a relieved voice, and all the animation flowed back into his face like water trickling into a pond. “Come in. I thought it was—” He caught himself there and stepped aside. “Want some tea?”

“Sure.” I left Hunter in the living room with Agatha and Dorian, who were overjoyed to see their four-legged cousin. Hunter seemed happy to see them despite the tension earlier, but I did warn both pups that Hunter was having an off day and they needed to careful of his feelings tonight. Dorian immediately hugged Hunter and, before I could stop him, he shared one of his crackers with the dog. Normally I would have scolded him for it because Hunter was starting to get fat from all the food the pups snuck to him, but hanging out with his cousins always made Hunter happy and I could see the tense lines of his body relaxing with the attention. So all I did was remind them not to let Hunter eat their crayons like he had last time, and then I followed Holland gratefully into the kitchen.

I found Holland laughing good-naturedly at me when I joined him in the kitchen. “All pups eat crayons at some point. Was it terrible?”

“The aftermath was actually kind of pretty, but messy. He needed three baths the first day because he streaked his fur.”

Holland laughed louder and poured water into a teapot. “Is it bad that I didn’t put any effort into the food tonight? We’re eating swiss steak and scalloped potatoes and broccoli. I feel like I should be more mature about this, but I’m tired.” He handed me my mug, and we took ourselves to the kitchen table with the teapot. “I’m going to walk down to get cupcakes from the new bakery for dessert if you need an escape later.” He patted my hand. “How did first contact go?”

I laughed and choked on my tea. “How did you guess?” I asked.

“I’m the one who threatened to throw her out the window, remember?” He raised his eyebrows, his eyes dancing despite his rueful expression. “Not one of my finer moments.”

“Kaden explained a little about Salma to me on the way up here,” I said thoughtfully.

“I’m not going to make a good Salma omega, no matter how attractive the thought is occasionally.” Holland sighed. “I wouldn’t mind someone to clean up after the pups. And me.” He winked and I laughed. “But when you think about it, to be reduced to nothing more than your womb and the behavior of your pups…” He shook his head and leaned back in his chair, looking drawn and older than he was. “It feels to me like the difference between a blank slate and being erased. And that’s creepy. To me, anyway.”

“I’d be the same way,” I agreed, idly pushing my mug this way and that on the table. “Omegas are homebodies in White River. We keep the den and look after the pups, but we contribute to the community too, helping out when labor is short or if some family needs a little extra support. We’re useful, you know?”