Page 123 of Omega's Heart

“Not from you.” He moved close again, so that all I could smell was his scent. “You okay?”

“I’m fine.” I nosed in behind his ear and breathed deep. “This is nice. Quiet. Just us.” I sighed. “I don’t want to go back.”

“We don’t have to. Where’s this creek you were talking about?”

“You want to go? It’s a bit of walk, probably a little farther than from your apartment to here.”

“I think the leg will hold up. I can stay off it for tomorrow until the ceremony if I have to.” He stepped away and reached down to take my hand. “Let’s go.”

As we walked, he squeezed my hand and said, “Thank you.”

“For what?” I asked.

“Because the more time I spend with you, the more whole I become.” He squeezed my hand again and it was only then that I realized it was his damaged one. “And because when you look at me, you see the alpha I was before the grenade. Or maybe a better one, I’m not sure.” He pulled my hand up to his mouth and kissed the back of it. “I promise you won’t regret it.”

“You are such an alpha.” I squeezed his hand back and we walked along in contented silence.

C H A P T E R 6 6

W hen Kaden finally dropped me off back at the gate of my family’s home, the garden was empty but the lights in the kitchen were still on. I could see the back of my Dad’s head and one of my brothers sitting across the table from him, but whoever he was talking to was hidden behind the section of wall between the two windows.

I almost didn’t go in, still hanging onto that quiet happiness that had wrapped itself around me on our walk. But it was late, there was probably still food to prep for tomorrow, and I needed to get some sleep before the ceremony.

Well, I’d go in, say a polite hello, finish whatever absolutely needed to be done, then go hide away in my room to count down the minutes until dusk tomorrow.

Except when I opened the kitchen door, it was the Alpha of White River sitting at the kitchen table with my father and my oldest brother Max.

“Felix, come in. We were starting to worry about you,” Mom said as she bustled past. “Where did you disappear to?”

“I took Kaden up to see the bend in the creek where the big rock sticks out into the water, then walked him back to the guesthouse,” I said and nodded respectfully to the Alpha. “Sir.”

“Come sit, Felix.” The Alpha pulled out a chair and nodded at it. “I wanted to talk to you quickly, and to bring you your mating gift.”

“Sir, you didn’t have to—” I began, but my words faltered to a halt because, at that very moment, my bedroom door opened and Julius bounced out into the living room.

“Surprise!” he shouted and ran into the kitchen to throw himself at me. “Quin and Alpha White River and my old Alpha all got together and made the humans let me come!” He hugged me so hard it almost squeezed the breath out of me, but I didn’t care. I was just so happy to have him there I couldn’t even speak, so I hugged him back, much more carefully than he was hugging me.

The Alpha scratched at his jaw in a poor attempt to hide his amusement at Julius’s antics and I recognized another alpha succumbing to my friend’s cheerful beauty. Not that anything could come of it. Julius’s sentence was supposed to keep him in Mercy Hills for ten years. He wouldn’t be able to go anywhere to be courted, and it wasn’t like the Alpha could spend all his time in Mercy Hills to do that courting. Which was kind of sad—Julius was as close as a cousin already. It would be nice if he could be a real one too. And Logan was rather young for an Alpha.

“So much for the surprise,” Dad commented with a smile.

“I couldn’t wait in there a moment longer,” Julius announced and hugged me again. “I like your house. It’s huge!”

“Where are you staying?” I asked when he finally loosened up enough to let me breathe.

“With you, if that’s okay?” For the first time, he sounded uncertain and I heard hints of his old anxiety creeping back in. “Your Mom and Dad said I could have the spare room, but could I stay in yours? With you.”

“Absolutely. It’ll be like a sleepover!” And with those words, I had my bouncy, cheerful Julius back again.

“Sit down, Felix,” Dad said. “We have some other things to talk about as well.”

I slid into the chair next to my brother while Julius took the one at the end of the table — coincidentally, the end closest to the Alpha. Hmm. That wasn’t normal behavior for him. I shot a quick glance across the table at my father and he shrugged discreetly. Okay, so he didn’t know either. I’d have to talk to Kaden later. Or maybe Holland.

The Alpha shifted in his chair to more directly face me. “Your dad and I have been talking since the word of your betrothal came back. He does have a fairly substantial prydaya set aside for you, but I wanted you to know that the offer I made before you moved to Mercy Hills is still open. I will match your father’s offering out of pack funds.” His lips twitched and I could tell he was swallowing a laugh. “I like him, your mate. I think he’ll do very well in your family.” And then he did laugh, though what was so amusing I couldn’t quite figure out.

Then again, this was my family that we were talking about. Anyone mating into us needed to be able to stand up for themselves. And that was something that Kaden was exceedingly good at doing.

But still, to double my prydaya? “Sir, that’s really not necessary.”