Page 137 of Omega's Heart

“Nothing big,” Max said casually. “I think the Alpha is bringing something.”

Crap. I hadn’t actually forgotten the Alpha’s offer, but I’d certainly let the excitement of the past three days push it to the back of my mind. “Um, yeah, I should talk to you about that.” I scowled at Max, hoping he’d take the hint and bug off.

Typical older brother, of course he didn’t. “Yeah, you don’t want to keep secrets like that from your new mate.” He grinned in my direction.

Jerk. I scowled harder and refused to say anything more.

Kaden glanced between myself and Max a couple of times, ate another forkful of breakfast casserole, then stared directly at Max and said, “Max, go away.”

Max stared up at him in surprise, his mouth half open.

Kaden pointed at him with his fork. “And close your mouth. You’re an adult, not a pup.”

Wearing a baffled expression, my brother got to his feet and wandered back into the crowd, forgetting his chair behind him. I snickered; I couldn’t help it. It was fun to watch my mate roll right over my siblings. “I’m glad I let you convince me to mate you,” I told him, because saying things like that was fun too.

His eyes narrowed and that wolfish grin of his crept out again—I knew I would pay for this later.

I couldn’t wait to find out was his revenge would be.

Kayden took another bite of his breakfast casserole and chewed away as he glanced around the garden at our combined families. “So,” he began, ever so casually. “What’s this thing the Alpha is bringing? Should I be jealous?”

I stared at him in disbelief. “Hardly.” If we hadn’t been surrounded by my family, I would have shown him exactly how little he had to worry. “Back before I moved to Mercy Hills, the Alpha offered to add some credits into my prydaya to help me find a mate. I think he’s coming to bring that.”

He shrugged. “I don’t give a damn about your prydaya.”

“I know. But he seems to think it’s a point of honor.”

“If he promised it, likely it is. What do you want to do?”

“I don’t know. It’s not really my decision, anyway. My prydaya belongs to you.” I expected we’d end up using it to furnish our new home in Mercy Hills–that was usually where the prydaya went.

“I’m not going to take your money,” he snorted. “Your family saved that for you. Spend it on whatever you want.”

I stopped eating to stare at him in puzzlement. “Kaden?”

Synthi came by with the coffee pot and refilled our mugs. “You two doing okay here? There’s more food in the kitchen.”

“Cream and sugar, Synthi?” I asked. “For Kaden’s coffee.”

“I’ll be coming back as soon as I’ve made the rounds with the coffee pot,” she said. “Unless it’s a caffeine emergency?” She giggled and winked at Kaden.

“I think I’ll survive,” Kaden told her with a quirk of his lips. “I’ve got Felix here to make sure I don’t fall face first into my breakfast.”

She laughed and kept going and then we were alone.

I tried again. “It’s traditional.”

He sighed and reached for my hand. “I know you have a thing for tradition and I really don’t mind, but I didn’t mate you for your prydaya. I mated you for you, and you alone. I don’t want to be the traditional alpha who holds all the credits and doles them reluctantly out to his mate. I figured we’d share the responsibility for the household.”

He was truly troubled by this, I could tell. How to explain that this was my gift to him, my obedience, my trust, that I wanted to give everything I was to him because I thought he was worthy of it?

It made me wish that I had the kind of poetry inside me that he did inside him. Maybe then I could make him understand just how much he meant to me.

I had to try anyway. “It’s not a bribe or payment for having taken me when no one else would,” I tried to explain. “I trust you, Kaden. Yes, it’s traditional, but I want you to take this because I trust you.” Another idea occurred to me. “Besides, you’re the one who’s in the city all the time. I expect it’ll be you doing all the buying for the baby stuff.”

He seemed startled by this. “Okay, I see where you’re coming from. You know your prydaya comes in pack credits, right? I mean, we can get them converted but you might as well have the pack order things in for you and use the credits as they are.” He looked like he was going to continue but a commotion at the garden gate interrupted us.

Darn it, it was the Alpha. I made an unhappy sound, threw my new mate a glance that clearly said this isn’t over yet, and quietly went back to my breakfast while we waited for the Alpha to summon us.