Page 110 of Omega's Heart

I shook my head. “Anything you need to say to me can be said here.”

Her lips thinned. “That’s ridiculous.”

“If you aren’t ashamed of what you want to say, it can be said in public.” My father had said something like that to Max once in my hearing and it had stuck with me.

Her back stiffened and her nostrils flared. I wondered what a Salma omega would be doing in this situation—probably apologizing, from the sound of things. Well, I’d been raised differently. I might have been omega, but there wasn’t a shifter in White River who would have spoken to me with that tone of voice and expected I’d just roll over and take it.

“Very well. I don’t appreciate you and your omega friends taking advantage of my boy while he was injured and hurting.”

“You could have come here,” I said. “You didn’t.”

“He told me not to,” she said, but it seemed to me that the words didn’t come easy.

I pressed her. “There might be a reason for that. He told me he didn’t want to be treated like he was incapable.” That struck home—I’d be willing to bet that he’d said something similar to her.

“And what would you know about it? You seem to be all there.” She looked me up and down, her expression incredulous. That glance made me feel every inch and every pound of my excessive size like I hadn’t in months. Since Kaden had first looked at me with an alpha’s lust.

Old wounds flared into life and my world went black for a moment while I struggled to replace those old memories with the new ones, and remind myself that Kaden didn’t see it that way. Yes, I was big. He liked that. I felt my lips pull back from my teeth in a feral snarl, felt her push against me with that alpha power.

Someone behind me growled—I’d forgotten to pull the door completely closed. “Hunter, go inside!” I hissed at him.

“Why?” Cale demanded from behind him. His gaze went past me, to land on Veronica. “He’s not any happier with our company right now than we are.”

“Take him back inside, please,” I said and met Cale’s eyes. “Really. I’m fine.” That moment gave me time enough to gather my resources again, and to remember what it was that was truly important to me. I didn’t want to be the one to destroy her relationship with Kaden, except I was starting to see that it wasn’t me that was doing it—I was the tool she was using, without realizing it. If there was to be any of this relationship left at the end of this mating, I had to remove myself from her hand, leave her without a claw or fang to turn against herself.

Cale waged an obvious war within himself, then touched Hunter’s ruff to get his attention and slowly pulled the two of them back into the apartment. “I’m leaving this door open,” he said and jammed a shoe in front of it to keep it from swinging shut on its own.

They disappeared into the living room. Julius’s voice raised in a question floated back around the corner, then the apartment went silent.

I turned back to Veronica. “I know you think I’m not good enough for him. You think I’m going to hold him back. He knows you think that too. But these are his choices. I haven’t noticed that he’s changed his plans according to anything you’ve said, so you need to take that into consideration. He’s a grown alpha, and he loves you, but if you think you’re going to move him in a direction that isn’t of his own choosing, you’re a bigger fool than he thinks the alphas in my birth pack are.”

“Fine words from an omega that’s never had to look after themselves in their life,” she growled between gritted teeth.

“Not by my choice.” I crossed my arms over my chest and stared her down. “Your son and I are going to be mated in two days. There’s nothing you can do to change that. The only thing you can change is how you’re going to react to it. If you keep going on like this, I’d expect you’ll have the same relationship with Kaden as you do with the other three. You aren’t stupid, Veronica. Stubborn, yes, and used to having things done your way. But I’ve never once thought you were stupid.” I stepped into the apartment and kicked Cale’s shoe out of the way. “If you want to talk later, tomorrow or after the mating, I’d be glad to. I want a good relationship with you, for Kaden’s sake, so I’ll leave that path open, but I think there’s something you’re missing.” I started to close the door, stopping when she could only see my face and one shoulder. I wasn’t sure how she’d react to this next truth bomb, but if she could be blunt and outspoken, well, so could I. “You’re here in this enclave where all your pups and grandpups are. How many of them have you actually gotten to see? I can’t believe you haven’t noticed that they’re avoiding you, and I can only assume that you’re willfully ignoring that because it doesn’t suit how you think the world should be. This stranglehold you’re trying to keep them in is more likely to suffocate your relationship than force them back to you. It’s certainly not in the best interests of your family-pack. So be an alpha and do what’s right.” Then I closed the door in her face and leaned against it, my heart racing and panic churning my stomach until I thought I might throw up.

“You okay?” Cale asked softly, stepping around the corner. “That was a hell of a lecture.”

I sighed. “She probably won’t listen. I feel like I’m putting the spark to the funeral pyre.”

“She’s the one who piled up the wood,” he said soothingly and led me into the living room. “Come sit. You want a drink? I’ve got some of the good stuff. I was hoarding it for your mating.”

“No, but thanks. I’ll be fine.” I slumped down on the couch and patted Julius’s leg. His eyes were as wide as saucers. “Really, it’ll be fine.”

“Kaden won’t be mad?” he asked nervously.

“No, he won’t be bothered at all,” I assured him. Truthfully, I was expecting he’d be at least a little upset with me, but Julius looked so scared I would have lied about worse things. “Where’s Hunter?”

Cale shook his head and gave a small snort. “I put him in your room. He wouldn’t stop growling.”

“I’ll go get him.” Before I went to soothe my pup, though, I gave them both a hug. “Thank you. Both of you. You’re absolutely the best.”

C H A P T E R 6 3

I t was the Alpha himself who came to pick Kaden up at the airport, much to his surprise. “Sir! I didn’t mean to disrupt your day.” At least he’d only brought the carry-on here—his suitcase was going with Felix. It was already packed and left in Felix’s closet, because after the past couple of days, he wasn’t convinced his mother wouldn’t try to sabotage it.

What the hell was he going to do with her, anyway? In his gut, he knew Felix was right—it had to be Felix who put a stop to her, or she’d just keep her mischief to the times when Kaden wasn’t around to call her on it. He’d seen it in the Army when a squad went dysfunctional, and it was never pretty. They were right to do it this way, but he hated it and there seemed to be a constant low growl at the back of his mind that he had to be careful about.

The Alpha made a soft noise deep in his throat and Kaden’s attention snapped back to him. “Sorry, sir. A lot going on.”