Page 175 of Omega's Heart

Bax got a new computer from Abel, a laptop with a large screen to replace the old one he’d been using for his studies. I knew that they’d been talking about replacing it anyway, but this one looked really nice. In his turn, Bax gave Abel a robotics kit, a lot like Fan’s, but larger. Abel looked as excited as Fan had and the two of them soon ended up on the floor discussing how they could combine the two kits into one giant project.

Holland gave Quin some clothes, expensive-looking but casual. The kinds of things he might wear when not in meetings but when he was going to be around important people.

When his turn came, Quin handed Holland an envelope, then nodded at his three brothers, who nodded back. I stared at Kaden curiously but was distracted by Holland’s reaction to the contents of the envelope. “Oh, Quin.” He put a hand to his mouth and gazed at his mate in shock. “You’re not serious.”

Quin put an arm around him and pulled him into a quick hug. “A vacation. A real vacation, you and me and the pups. Hotel, tickets to the water park and the games park. It’s only three days, but we’re leaving our phones on silent and we won’t be doing any pack work at all.”

“But how…? It’s so expensive,” Holland asked, his eyes welling up.

“Worth every penny. I’ve been saving since last Christmas to give us some time to just be a family.” He pointed at something on the sheets of paper. “I know we’re going to be busy for the next few months, but after the Mutch trust is awarded, I’m taking you and the pups and we’re going to have some family time and unwind.”

Holland stared up at him, his hand trembling, making the papers rustle, then he lunged at Quin and hugged him so hard I thought I saw Quin’s eyes pop for a moment.

Kaden leaned over to me. “I take that back. I think Quin just won Christmas.”

I raised an eyebrow at him. “Wait to say that until after we’ve gotten home today,” I whispered back and ran a casual hand up his thigh.

He jumped, but his grin widened and his arm tightened around my shoulders. “Whatever makes my mate happy,” he said.

C H A P T E R 9 3

I n the end, the flight to Washington that I’d been so worried about went off without a hitch. Hunter had been perfectly okay with traveling in a crate, which meant that he and Felix could enjoy taking the plane, instead of the several day drive it would have been to get there. The airports had been a little iffy, the unfamiliar environment and crowds of strange humans making the pup twitchy. Then again, they made Kaden twitchy, too, so he couldn’t really blame Hunter.

The townhouse they were living in was a little tense for the first few days, until Felix had figured out the bus system in the city and dragged Kaden out with him to stock the kitchen. Amazing what coming home to meals ready in the refrigerator and a clean house could do for a human’s level of concern about their shifter roommates. By Thursday, Kaden had to suppress a growl of jealousy when one of their housemates brought Felix a mug from the White House as a thank you. His mate had just laughed, but he drank his coffee out of it the next morning with a pleased smile.

Felix was absolutely in his element.

By the end of their second week, the household worked together like a well-oiled machine. Even the addition of two extra people when the heat went out in their coworkers’ apartment didn’t throw Felix off his stride.

So when the invitation to join the senator and his wife at the theater had arrived, Kaden had accepted. It would be a nice treat for his mate, something for him to tell his parents about when he called them on Sunday.

He found his mate in the kitchen, dressed in his best suit with an apron on over it, filling plates for their roommates and supervising Hunter’s supper all at the same time.

“Ready to go?” Kaden kissed Felix on the cheek.

“As soon as he’s done.” Felix reached into the cupboard and pulled out the tinfoil to cover the plates.

Kaden took the chair next to Hunter and gave him a look, alpha to alpha. “Don’t you spoil this for your Da,” he told the pup.

Hunter whined and tried to push his beans off the plate.

“Don’t even try it,” Felix said as he walked past them with the plates in his hands. “Eat, then your Dad will take you outside.”

As soon as Felix wasn’t looking, Kaden winked at Hunter and scooped the beans into a napkin. “Shhh,” he warned his foster pup quietly. Hunter flicked his ears at him, then went back licking the gravy off his plate.

“All done?” Felix asked when he came back. He looked at the clean plate with approval and picked it up. “Okay, while I clean up, you two go do your things outside.” He winked at Kaden and turned back to load everything into the dishwasher. “I’m really enjoying this,” he said over his shoulder as Kaden opened the door to let Hunter out.

It wasn’t until they were in the taxi and nearly all the way to the theater that Felix leaned over and whispered, “Where did you hide the beans?”

“Uh oh,” Kaden whispered back. “Busted.”

“You alphas.”

Kaden laughed.

The senator had a box at the theater, already filled with other humans.

“Kaden,” he cried when they were shown into it. “I want to introduce you to a few people here.” He shook Kaden’s hand then turned to Felix. “And you must be Felix. I’m sorry I missed you in Memphis. So good to meet you. How are you finding Washington?”