Page 139 of Omega's Heart

I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and hugged him back with equal ferocity. “Well, first of all, you are not a fool.”

He chuckled but didn’t let go and I realized then that the moisture I felt on my neck was not sweat from our combined body heat but tears that he didn’t want to show to our families.

I bent my head close to his good ear again and whispered, “I do love you so much, you know.”

Another chuckle, and then he wiped his eyes against the shoulder of my shirt. “I think I figured that out.” He raised his head to look me straight in the eyes, then cupped my face in his hands and kissed me like I was as fragile and delicate as Julius. “I swear I will be an alpha worthy of you,” he promised.

I pressed my forehead against his. “You already are.”

“Ah, get a room,” Aston yelled.

I closed my eyes for a moment and shook my head. “Kaden, don’t. Whatever it is you’re already planning, don’t.”

Kaden’s fingers tapped against the inside of my thigh. “I don’t know. He might have a point.” With a gentle nudge, he wordlessly asked me to slide off his lap, then stood up beside me. “Fantastic plan, Aston. We’ll see you all around one, then?” He smiled and nodded to the group, then made a show of looping my arm through his as if we were going for a Sunday walk to take tea with the Alpha.

“You can’t leave yet,” my dad protested from the edge of the crowd. Beside him stood the Alpha, looking the most relaxed I’d ever seen him, though I did notice his eyes roaming restlessly over the crowd.

“Good morning to the new mates.” The Alpha held out his hand to Kaden and accepted Kaden’s offering of scent, then mine after checking to make sure that Kaden was okay with it. It was delightfully old-fashioned and entirely suited my mood. “I’m sorry I had to cancel our meeting last night, but maybe we can reschedule. It might be a good excuse for Felix to come visit his family again, too.”

“I like that idea,” Kaden said. “Can I call your office once I’m back at work and see what my schedule looks like?”

“Certainly,” the Alpha said. “I have something else here for you too.” He held out an envelope with Kaden’s name written on the front. “Back before Felix here moved to Mercy Hills, I made him a promise that I would add to his prydaya. I’m a shifter that likes to keep his promises, so I’ve come today to give you this.”

“Thank you, sir. Felix did mention it to me.” Kaden reached out to accept the envelope and stared at it for a moment before handing it over to me. “I know you’re more traditional than my packbrothers and you know that I did not mate you for your prydaya. How about we make this deal? Your father gifted me your prydaya at our mating. We’re not hurting for money at the moment, so I’d like to save it in case of emergency. I want this gift to be yours, to do whatever you want with this. Spend it on clothes, spend it on gifts, spend it on whatever you want. But these credits are yours and yours alone.”

I stared at the envelope for a moment then looked up at him. “This would really make you happy, wouldn’t it?”

He shrugged and shoved his hands into his pockets. “I know it’s not very Salma Wood of me. If Mom was still here, she’d be having palpitations. Back there, I’d be using it to look for a housekeeper for you and making sure that your bank of credits at the central depot was deep enough to keep you dressed in a style appropriate to your status. I like to think I’m smart enough to know that that wouldn’t amuse you at all.”

“You’re right. It wouldn’t.” I glanced down at the envelope again and smiled. “I think I know exactly what I want to do with this.” Carefully, I folded the envelope up and put it in my pocket. “Thank you, Alpha,” I said with a respectful dip of my head. “Your gift is greatly appreciated.”

“You’re very welcome, Felix,” the Alpha told me. “Can I say how very happy I am for you? And, just so you know it can happen, I will also admit that I was very wrong when last we spoke and that your decision to go to Mercy Hills was the right one.”

“Thank you,” I said simply, unable to find the words to express how happy his approval of my mate made me. Kaden’s hand stole around my waist and we shared a silly, besotted smile, forgetting the rest of the families for the moment. I couldn’t wait to get back to Mercy Hills and really start our lives together.

Someone tugged on my jeans. I looked down to find Max’s oldest boy, Seton, staring up at me. “Can Hunter come to play again?” he asked.

“Absolutely. Hunter!” I didn’t have to call him twice—he was gone like a shot after the pups, with Seton racing after him.

Someone called the Alpha away to offer him food and shortly after, Kaden and I were able to slip away for a last few moments of privacy before we had to pack and head for the airport.

C H A P T E R 7 6

N ow that they were mated, Kaden could take Felix with him on these visits to the other packs. The first round, they’d decided in the end, would be just him and Felix. Simply laying the groundwork and giving the Alphas time to absorb the ideas and think about them. Kaden wasn’t so sure that was a good idea—a quick shock and awe with no time to get themselves worked up and make mountains out of molehills might have been a better plan. He also wished that Mercy Hills wasn’t the only pack to have received one of the trusts. When the Segregation Laws went away, so would the stipend money. Or at least the government’s part of it. Everyone would still have the part that came from Mercy Hills, but the loss of that resource was going to be a kick in the teeth for the poorer packs and the isolationists. They were going to need that Mutch money if they were to survive.

So, at not even one week mated, Kaden hauled Felix off on a whirlwind tour of the western shifter enclaves.

The least said about the Montana Border visit, the better, in Kaden’s opinion. It had definitely moved the enclave a few spots down the list for consideration for the Mutch Trust, if only for the irritation factor. But Orvin was still in charge and still pissed about losing Jason to Mercy Hills, blaming the pack for the effects of their shitty relationship with the surrounding communities. Felix hadn’t said much. Mostly, Kaden thought he was shocked at how he was treated there and was still trying to figure out what he thought about it. If they hadn’t been in Montana on what was essentially a diplomatic mission, Kaden might have cried challenge over it.

The next pack was better.

One of the Los Padres shifters came to pick them up at the airport. He was neatly dressed and polite to a fault, which was a soothing change after Montana Border’s rudeness.

“Morning,” the young alpha said. “My name’s Jephra.” He offered his scent up to Kaden, then hesitated with an uncertain glance at Felix, his nostrils flaring as he took in the scent of omega and, probably, Kaden’s scent so strongly overlaying it.

Felix flicked a questioning look in Kaden’s direction.

“You can offer,” Kaden told the young alpha and watched, amused, as the youngster tried to reconcile that with the usual pack order that put omegas beneath an alpha’s notice.