Page 18 of Omega's Heart

He tipped it over to look at the bottom of the foot, then tilted it back upright again, frowning thoughtfully. “Yeah, I am. Been a long time since I’ve seen the whole family and we’re all finally home.” He’d chickened out, uncertain of how their mother would react to his missing leg, and opted to move directly to Mercy Hills with his brothers. Not that he thought she’d love him less, but he thought it would give her more stress and worry than she was able to handle. Her second mate’s slow death from cancer had been hard on her, and she’d changed.

“It’s good to have a support network,” the therapist told him. “Most people find that having family around helps them readjust. But you don’t want to let them baby you,” she added quickly, shaking a finger at him. “You’re not a baby, you’re a grown man learning a new skill. Remind them of that.”

He laughed and looked down at the leg resting so quietly in his hands. “You’ve obviously never met my brother.”

“Big or little brother?” she asked promptly.

“Both.” He wondered what the reactions would be. Quin’s he knew—stolid acceptance hiding a near feverish worry over him. Abel would likely be a few degrees cooler about it, but he’d also be more likely to open his mouth and say something. Cas? Who knew which way that tricksy shifter would jump. “Quin’s been a couple of times to visit. He’s an ex-Marine. This won’t be a big deal to him.” At least, on the surface, which might be enough to convince everyone else around to let Kaden just bumble along until he got the hang of it. He’d have to grin and let Quin be a mother hen every once in a while, though, just to soothe the big alpha’s nerves.

“I’m glad to hear that. It helps to have someone who’s been there and done some of the same things you have.” She held out her hands to take back the leg and he gave it to her, surprised at how reluctant he was.

“Tomorrow, right?” he couldn’t help asking, even though she’d literally just told him that.

“Tomorrow,” she promised without a beat. “I think you’re done for the day, soldier. Go take a break, maybe soak in the hot tub. You’ll want to be loose and ready for it because if you thought I was working you hard today, you ain’t seen nothing yet.”

He watched her go with his leg until she disappeared inside the room again, then he hopped on over to the wheelchair he was still using most times and settled himself into it. With a quick snap of his wrists, he spun himself around and headed out the door, pausing to give the therapist a quick wave as she came back out of the back room, and then he was bowling along the hallway, headed for his hospital room to grab a towel and go soak in the hot tub she’d mentioned. There wouldn’t be any of that in Mercy Hills, so he might as well get in as much as he could now.

And maybe, just maybe, he’d be able to leave these damn wheels behind and lose that unwanted attention with them.

C H A P T E R 1 4

M aybe three days after I’d started work painting in the new hospital, I’d changed my mind on which job I thought I’d like better. The daycare was nothing—it was the painting that I was regretting. I came back to the apartment for lunch, half covered in splotches of off-white from working on ceilings. My face, my hair, my t-shirt, my arms, even my jeans had been liberally speckled over the course of the morning. But that wasn’t the hardest part of it.

The worst was how the other shifters assigned to the painting reacted around me. I almost welcomed the innuendos from a few—that I could understand. But the awkward trying to help me or talking to me like I’d never held a paintbrush in my life… I couldn’t even figure out what I felt about it all, but I hated it.

“What happened to you?” Julius asked.

“Painting the ceilings,” I said and stretched hard, trying to work out the kinks I’d developed in my back and my neck. “I wish we had a bigger bathtub.” I barely fit into ours so I usually took showers, but I would have liked a good soak tonight. I ached now—by tonight I’d be half crippled.

“Well, you’re going to want to clean up a little,” Julius said, with that tone that his voice always got when he knew something I didn’t.

I just barely caught myself in time to keep from making a face and asked him, “Why?”

“Holland wants to see you,” he said smugly and then refused to say anything else. He was, thank Lysoonka, not a bad roommate otherwise. The anklet restricted how far from the building he could go, which restricted what he was able to do, which meant he was home a lot. But after our talk, he’d created his own job and now spent his time feeding me and Cale and anyone working in the Alpha’s office. Including the Alpha, if Holland was away.

And he’d signed up for a few hours of work outside the apartment, which seemed to be helping with his mood now. Even when he was grumbling about how busy he’d gotten, he smiled more than he had before and there hadn’t been a single panic attack aside from the one right before his first shift. He’d even tentatively signed up for a high school English course, to see how he felt working toward his high school certificate, though his lack of enthusiasm was obvious. If we hadn’t convinced him that any wealthy alpha would want a mate that could read as well as the alpha did, we might not have managed it.

Our little Jules was growing up and making his own life.

Which suited me fine, because I was busier than I’d ever been before. I almost wondered if I’d bit off more than I could chew coming here. But again, only almost.

It was still, sadly, better than home.

“What does he want to see me about?” I asked, scrubbing at my hands in the sink. “Do I have time to shower?”

Julius shrugged and began scraping food out onto the plates. “He said whenever you got in. I don’t think he wants you there right at lunch, though. If I had an alpha like Quin, I wouldn’t.”

I ignored that last sentence and accepted my plate. “Thank you.” He could cook, I had to give him that. I was going to gain fifty pounds living with him, but at least my clothes would be sparkling clean and always mended.

“Cale!” He shouted down the hall. “Lunch!”

The first week Julius made his sudden decision to take over as housekeeper, Cale had been slow to come for meals. It was only when we’d realized that Julius’s talent in the kitchen wasn’t restricted to a few well-practiced dishes that we’d really sat up and taken notice. So Julius’s shout brought Cale hot-footing out of the bedroom where he usually hid.

“Smells great,” he said and grinned. Some days, he looked just like his brother, but others—like today—I couldn’t figure out what he looked like. The dark hair was the same, and the bright blue eyes. Same frame, same build, same slightly squared jaw, but you’d have guessed cousins at most. I sometimes thought it was that Cale could see a wide future opening up in front of him, while Holland would always carry the pack wherever he went. Cale just seemed lighter, even if he did nothing but study.

“How’s class going?” I asked as we sat down at the table.

“Okay. I’m going to be glad when the semester is over.”