Page 124 of Omega's Heart

“Oh, I know it isn’t,” the Alpha said. “I had that pup checked out. Not that I expected that the brother of the Alpha of Mercy Hills would be a poor provider, but I wanted to make sure. You’ll be fine, but I made this promise to you and I intend to keep it. Besides, he was very upfront with me and tells me you to plan to start your family this fall. Pups are expensive. You may be glad of the extra credits by the time you’ve had your first one.”

I was tempted to protest but this was my Alpha, at least for another twenty-four hours. “Thank you, sir,” I said simply. “It’s greatly appreciated.”

The Alpha just shook his head and smiled at me. “I’m glad to see that you found someone to suit you, and appalled that I hadn’t noticed beforehand that you were getting overlooked.”

“It wasn’t your job sir,” I told him earnestly. “But I’m glad it happened, or I never would have met Kaden. Or Hunter. Or Bax or Holland or Raleigh. Or Julius.” I smiled in his direction.

Julius propped his chin on his hand and gazed deliberately across the table at me. “Even Pip?” he asked in the most innocent voice.

“Even Pip,” I agreed.

“Who’s Pip?” The Alpha asked.

“According to her bearer, the Trickster Wolf,” I explained. “The last I heard, she was building a trap to capture Midwinter Wolf and force him to cough up all his presents this Christmas. Kaden tells me her plans look like something that might actually work.”

The Alpha laughed and slapped the table with his palm. “Sounds like an engineer to me. If you folks don’t want her, I’ll take her. Mad genius or not.”

“Don’t say that too fast, sir. You may regret it.”

Julius leaned towards the Alpha. “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.”

Was Julius flirting? Did Julius even know how to flirt? Or was this just Julius being the pup he still mostly was? I watched him closely for the next few seconds and decided that my second thought was the correct one. Yes, Julius knew he was attractive physically—it had been the source of all his trouble in Winter Moon. But he truly had no idea how captivating he was, or how captivated those around us were becoming. I’d have to have a talk with Cale and with Holland tomorrow before things got out of hand.

It wasn’t long before the Alpha took his leave of us. He wished me a good night’s sleep and reminded us not to stay up all night giggling and talking. “Remember, Felix needs his rest to look his best tomorrow,” the Alpha scolded Julius gently.

“I’ll make sure he goes right to sleep, sir,” Julius snapped back smartly. “He’s one of my best friends back at Mercy Hills. I want tomorrow to be perfect for him.”

The Alpha nodded, accepting Julius’s reassurances before he allowed my father to walk him out to the gate.

Max spoke up. “You’re doing pretty well for yourself. That’s a mate that half the omegas in the pack will be jealous of.”

“Even if he’s a cripple?” I asked sarcastically.

My brother tipped his head to one side and squinted at me. “He doesn’t seem that crippled to me now that I’ve seen him. Near scared the crap out of me tonight. I don’t think that qualifies for crippled.” He got up from the table and came around to pull me into a quick hug. “In fact, I don’t think I’m going to cut him any slack at all.” And with those ominous words, he followed my dad out the door and it was just Julius and I and my mother left in the kitchen.

“The Alpha is right,” Mom told me. “You two need to get to bed because we’re going to be up early tomorrow to get the last things into place. There’s still a lot to get done, even with the help of all the cousins.” She shook the dishtowel that she was holding in my direction and shooed us off through the living room to my bedroom.

Half an hour later, after we’d both washed up and had changed into pajamas, we turned off the lights and climbed into bed. It felt strange. I’d never before had to share my bed, being the only omega in the family. And lying next to Julius was not the same as lying next to Kaden in his bed.

“Do you think you’ll be able to sleep?” Julius whispered.

“I don’t know.” I was tired — it had been a really long day, but my brain didn’t want to stop. It kept running through schedules for tomorrow, plans, lists, and then right through them to the mystery of the mating night.

“Me neither.” Julius squirmed, digging down into the mattress like a prairie dog. “I can’t wait for the dancing.”

I chuckled. “Me neither.” Then I remembered how little time Kaden had had to get used to his leg — it wasn’t likely that he was going to be up to dancing yet. But still, I’d get to dance with my father and my brothers and Kaden’s brothers. It would do, and I knew Kaden wanted to see me dance. “Go to sleep, Julius. Or you’ll be too tired to dance tomorrow.”

“Never!” Julius declared. “But okay.”

The room settled into the sleepy stillness of night time. I listened to Julius’s breathing as it steadied into the regular rhythm of sleep and tried to still my mind so that I, too, could sleep tonight. I missed my bed in Mercy Hills. I missed Hunter, and most of all, I missed Kaden.

Tomorrow couldn’t come too soon.

C H A P T E R 6 7

I don’t know when I actually managed to go to sleep, but it didn’t stick very well anyway. I was wide awake and staring at my ceiling as the first light of dawn painted rosy streaks across my walls and by the time it was bright enough that day could no longer be denied, I was awake and dressed and already in the kitchen making breakfast.

Chores and the last of the cooking and baking were finished by noon, when we sat down to a light lunch, just my parents and Julius and I. Kaden’s family were keeping him occupied elsewhere in the enclave—some human tradition about not seeing the future mate on the day of the mating until the ceremony began, which had appealed to the wide streak of mischief that all the Mercy Hills omegas had.