Page 136 of Omega's Heart

“Oh, saucy alphas,” she said and slapped him. “My favorite kind. You two get to your breakfast and don’t let Allora forget to bring me something back.”

“Gram!” Allora said again, but she put her book down and went for her jacket. “You’ll be lucky I don’t bring you back just the bones.”

“Makes a good soup,” her grandmother said dismissively, but Kaden heard, as they walked down the front step, “That’s what you need to be looking for, Allora dear. An alpha like that can’t help but remind you that there’s more to life than dusty old paper.”

“Breakfast,” Kaden said with satisfaction and threw his arm over Felix’s shoulder. “That was an interesting hunt.”

Felix sighed. “They didn’t try to get you high, did they? I told them not to—you have an important job and it’s scandalous enough you’re mating into a pack that’s a major producer of indica. Even if it is legal here.”

“I like that. Makes me feel racy.” They were the last in the group heading back to the clearing— he’d made sure of that. Kaden made a quick grab for Felix’s ass, then put his arm back in place as if nothing had happened, leaving the rest of the group staring at them and puzzled by Felix’s scandalized laughter.

The rest of the family was waiting when they got to the clearing and a cheer went up welcoming the newly-mateds back to the party. Felix grinned, no longer so shy, and let Kaden escort him to his seat at the table that had been set up for them.

And this morning, Kaden made sure that he waited on Felix. Because now they were mated, and he could damn well have things how he wanted them.

C H A P T E R 7 5

A fter two days of mated bliss, spent mostly holed up in our little apartment wearing nothing more than what the Lord and Lady had given us, we finally had to go home to Mercy Hills. But before we left White River, we were supposed to spend one more morning with my family.

And my gift to Kaden for our mating had finally arrived late yesterday afternoon.

We gathered in my parents’ garden again because there were far too many people to fit into the kitchen. Aside from Quin, Holland, and Julius, who’d had to go home the evening of the mating breakfast, the rest of Kaden’s brothers were there with their families, plus all my siblings with their mates and significant others. And of course, the pups.

It was a madhouse. A joyous, gleeful madhouse.

I tried to help out with the food like I normally would, but I got the stink eye from both sides of the family so many times that I finally gave up and let them wait on me.

“It doesn’t bother you when your brothers’ mates help out with the food,” I complained gently when even Kaden wouldn’t take my side in this.

“They aren’t my mate.” He balanced his half-empty plate on his lap and rested his maimed hand on my thigh.

I glanced down and raised my eyebrows at him. Over the past two days, he’d gone from resting his hand on my knee to resting it closer to someplace that definitely was not my knee. “You know,” I told him in my blandest tone. “If your hand gets any higher, it’s not going to be on my leg at all.”

His eyes followed the pups as they raced around the garden, Hunter in hot pursuit. He never looked at me, but I saw the corners of his mouth curl up in a small smile. “I told your family we have to be gone by eleven to get our packing done,” he said, in what sounded like an abrupt change of topic until I thought about it.

“Wait a minute. We don’t need to be at the airport until three.” Cas was driving the van back and taking Hunter with them, but they were going to do the trip over two days, rather than the one mad rush that we’d done it in. I would miss Hunter, but was glad to be taking the shorter way home this time.

“I know.” Kaden’s hand crept a little higher up my thigh.

Ohhh. “You’re right. Sometimes packing can take a lot longer than you expect it to.” I smiled and lowered my eyelids. “I’m so glad I mated a smart alpha who can think of these things.” And then had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing out loud.

Kaden’s smile spread into a grin, but he never looked in my direction. “And I’m glad to have found a mate that recognizes my genius,” he said grandly.

I snorted impolitely and went back to my breakfast. “Eat up,” I reminded him. “I hear packing takes a lot of energy.”

He reached for his plate, but not before he somehow managed to brush the edge of his palm against my cock underneath my jeans. I sucked in a harsh breath and my toes curled inside my shoes — it seemed my body was always half ready for him, no matter what small bits of attention he wanted to throw its way.

I couldn’t complain, though. He seemed just as eager as I was, and now that we were truly mated, I was discovering the delightful power to bring him to me with just a look or a light brush of fingers against his skin. It was a heady thing, and I worried a little that I might start to abuse it simply because it was so much fun to do. I’d never been one of those omegas who could crook a finger and have the alphas come running; it was addictive. Of course, so was he, as far as I was concerned.

This was a good start to a mating, I figured.

Max strolled over, plate in one hand and one of the kitchen chairs in the other. He set the chair right in front of us, then dropped into it as if he was the one that should have been exhausted, rather than us. “If you guys are heading back soon to pack,” he said, with an odd emphasis on the word pack that said he knew we weren’t intending just to put clothes in suitcases, “we should probably finish off with the gifts.”

“More gifts?” Kaden asked.

I swallowed the mouthful of sausage that I had just eaten and nodded. “Only a couple.” I’d actually expected mine to be the only gift left, but it seemed that there were more people invested in this mating of mine than simply myself and my family.

“Where are we going to put all this shit?” Kaden muttered under his breath.