Page 178 of Omega's Heart

The guard glared at him and shook his head. “Fine. But if he pees anywhere, you’re cleaning it up.”

“Will do.” Kaden ushered me through with my brand new temporary pass and led me down the hallway until we came to a set of elevators. “Hunter did pretty good, didn’t he?” he said, and I felt the edges of his alpha power as he praised our foster pup. Hunter’s ears pricked up and he panted happily up at Kaden.

“Yes, he did,” I agreed. “What were you saying to the guard?”

“Just giving him a reason he could put down so we could take Hunter in. They don’t allow pets, but service animals can come in, even if they’re only training.” We stopped in front of some elevators and Kaden pushed the button. “Means that if you ever want a day to yourself, I can bring him with me.”

We took the elevator up to the third floor. Kaden was right—the hallways up here were dull. Plain white with solid wooden doors at intervals, flags hanging off them, the only really interesting thing the people hurrying through it, each with their own badge and pin broadcasting what their job was in the building.

A dark-haired woman looked up as we came through the door. “Thank heavens you’re here, he’s an absolute bear this morning,” she said in a voice barely above a whisper. “What happened?”

Kaden grimaced. “I did,” he said, equally quiet. “He want me right away?”

She nodded. “Don’t fuck up.”

My mate chuckled. “Trying not to.” He jerked his head in my direction. “Come on.”

Kaden led me down a short hallway and knocked on a door at the end of it.

“Come in.” It was the senator’s voice. I felt my stomach clench with nerves and took a deep breath to steady myself as Kaden opened the door.

“Good morning, sir,” Kaden said cheerfully. “How was the rest of the play?”

I closed my eyes briefly in despair, then Hunter and I followed him inside and shut the door behind us.

The senator leaned back in his chair and eyed me coldly. “I didn’t ask you to bring company, Kaden.”

“I know.” Kaden held out a chair for me and waited until I’d sat down.

Personally, I would have much preferred to have turned tail and run. I might have if I wasn’t now occupied with soothing Hunter’s anxiety. He wouldn’t lie down. It took me two tries to get him to sit and even then I could tell he wanted to be on his feet, ready to defend against all comers. I had to be much firmer with him than I usually was, but, eventually, he sat his bum down on the floor, although the tension just vibrated off him the whole time. Briefly, I considered putting the muzzle on him, the one we’d never had to use yet, but I didn’t want to set the precedent with him that he didn’t need to exercise any self-control himself. He was old enough to know better.

Once I had taken my seat, Kaden pulled another chair over and sat down beside me.

“You have an explanation for this?” the senator prompted.

“I do.”

My mate seemed perfectly calm, almost battle-ready. He planned for this. He’d probably spent part of the night putting together his strategy. As soon as I figured that out, I felt better. About everything. And as soon as my nerves settled, so did Hunter’s. He lay back down again and looked up at me with a yawn, then put his chin down between his front paws and prepared for a wait.

“First of all, I want to say that I appreciate the opportunity you put in front of us yesterday. It certainly wasn’t anything you needed to do, but I can see what your goal was and I’ll be certain to pass that on to the packs. The stumbling block I keep running into is that any changes that the people in power seem willing to make are based in the human system. And our system is not that one.”

“You understand that her hospital is a teaching hospital, yes?”

“I do. It’s a perfect opportunity. Assuming any of her students would come work with us.” Kaden paused to let his words sink in. “You say you understand what it is that we are up against. I think you’ve got an excellent grasp of the big picture, but you haven’t zoomed in past a satellite level view of it all yet. It’s like trying to figure out why there isn’t enough food available without looking close enough to see that what’s actually growing in the farmer’s fields is hay for horses.”

“So you’re telling me I don’t actually understand the situation?”

I could smell the senator’s irritation in the air.

“I’m saying that your understanding isn’t granular enough. In part, that’s why I brought Felix here.”

I almost laughed at the expression on the senator’s face. In this, though, I was equally at a loss. I’d suspected that Kaden had maybe invited me to encourage the senator to stay within the rules of common politeness and give my mate an opportunity to explain what had happened last night. To be a part of the lesson to the human was something of a shock to me.

“Well, far be it from me not to give you enough rope to hang yourself with,” the senator muttered, but it sounded more like the cranky disappointment of a pup than a grown alpha. Or man. Whatever. So maybe his mind was more open to change than it appeared.

Kaden reached for me, taking my right hand in his left. “I love my mate. We’re going to have a pup in the spring. I don’t want to be away from him at all, which is why he’s here with me, despite my misgivings about his safety.”

I sent him a startled glance and he nodded at me gravely.