Page 107 of Omega's Heart

And as soon as I came to that realization, it felt like the weight of the world had been lifted from my shoulders. I could be polite because she was Kaden’s mother, but I didn’t need to give a damn about her in the end. In an odd sort of way, her behavior reminded me of an ill-behaved pup, demanding and nagging because their parents had spoiled them.

I’d always been good with pups.

Holland stood up from the chair and carried Lonnie over to the little cradle by the head of their bed. “Time to go be the Mate,” he muttered as he laid his little boy down and stroked one of his cheeks.

“It’ll be fine,” I assured him. “I’m here too.”

He came over and gave me a hug. “Thank you.”

C H A P T E R 6 1

T he meal was an unmitigated disaster. There was no way around it. And it wasn’t even that their mother had been that impolite. It was just that she never gave a second thought to what she said to Holland or Felix, or how it could be taken. Every move they made or didn’t make had been scrutinized like she was Cas preparing a case for trial.

The one bright spot occurred about halfway through the meal. At some point, her comments just seemed to flow past the omegas, almost as if they didn’t hear them. Oh, they responded to them, all right, but Kaden had noticed that his mother looked dissatisfied each time. And they somehow kept the pups focused on anyone and anything but his mother. It was… odd.

Once he’d been certain that the whole situation wasn’t a fluke, he’d kicked his brother in the shin to get his attention and jerked his head when his mom wasn’t looking, to get him to pay attention to something other than the pups and his Mate or his own frustration.

As soon as the meal was over, though, the omegas had ushered the pups—including Hunter— away from the table to wash and get ready for bed. Felix had come out a few minutes later to put the coffee on and start washing the dishes. He’d refused when Kaden had offered to help, but it didn’t feel like his usual I want to look after my alpha refusal.

We are going to have a chat tonight, omega mine. What are you up to?

Holland didn’t reappear at all, apparently buried in the minutiae of putting pups to bed. And as soon as the dishes were done, Felix had dropped a kiss on Kaden’s cheek, done the same to Quin, if a little more self-consciously, then bid their mother a quiet, submissive, perfectly polite farewell entirely lacking in warmth, before disappearing out the door.

And that was so unlike the Felix they’d come to know that even Quin looked startled.

Quin broke up the party shortly after, promising their mother a tour of the new hospital in what Kaden read—rather accurately, he thought—as a desperate ploy to get her out of his apartment.

Which left Kaden the sacrificial lamb to make sure she went.

After he’d walked his mother over to the apartment and refused to follow her inside—and Lysoon, could she be cold when she was angry about something—Kaden hunted Felix across the hallway. He found Cale at the kitchen table and Julius meandering around in the kitchen, pretending to clean. Felix was frowning over some sewing in the corner of the living room.

“Bedroom. Now,” he said in his old battlefield tone. Cale raised his eyebrows at him and went back to filling out the paperwork spread over the table.

Julius giggled. “Don’t you mean you want to go to Felix’s bedroom?”

“Jules!” Felix protested.

The little blond omega raised his hands in surrender. “I know when I’m not wanted.” He walked past the table, slapping Cale lightly on the back of the head as he passed. “Grab your stuff and give them some privacy, huh?”

Cale shot him a look that would have melted the old Julius, but this new Julius was made of sterner stuff, so Cale sighed and gathered up his forms. “You two behave,” he said sternly as he headed down the hallway. “Remember how thin these walls are.”

Felix went pink, but Cale’s warning only made Kaden grin. “You’ve got headphones, right?”

Laughter floated back down the hallway, followed by that most welcome sound of two bedroom doors being firmly shut on the occupants.

“I’m going to keep Hunter with me tonight,” Felix said, setting his project aside.

“Probably a good idea,” Kaden agreed. “Thank you.”

“I don’t think he feels comfortable with your mother yet, and I don’t want him to do anything we don’t like,” Felix said in a low tone, gesturing at Hunter. “I’ll just put him to bed. It’s past his bedtime.”

“All right. I’ll go get comfortable on the couch and wait for you.” Kaden grinned and winked at Felix, then put a hand on his waist and kissed him softly. “You did good.”

Felix sighed and rested his forehead against Kaden’s. “We need to talk.”

“I know. It’s why I came over. Go put him to bed. You want tea or anything?”

“Tea would be good. You know where everything is?”