Page 180 of Omega's Heart

“No, you won’t,” he said flatly. “I won’t risk you. I won’t risk the baby. I won’t risk Hunter.”

He had a point, though that didn’t make me any happier about it. I felt the hair on the back of my neck rise, like I was being hunted, and Hunter sat up, scanning the room for whatever was driving my heart’s pace higher. Then I realized it was the senator, watching me with an intensity that would have made the hair along my spine stand up if I’d been in wolf form.

“John explained a little to me,” the senator said slowly. “I never really thought too much about it. You really have men who can carry children? Like women do?”

“I did tell you, sir, back in November, that this was what I wanted to leave for,” Kaden said, much more quietly than I would have expected.

“I thought—” The senator’s words broke off. He looked up helplessly and for the first time since the start of this awkward interview, he looked to me to help him understand.

“It’s okay,” I told him. “I know that it’s very different.” I remembered Holland’s words when I’d talked to him about my uncertainties about this move. “It’s okay to be uncomfortable, or not know things. We’re different. It’s also okay to ask questions, as long as you accept that I might not want to answer them. It’s not okay to sit and worry when there’s help right here.” I let my hands rest on my belly and looked down at the curve they made. “You can’t tell much now.” I glanced at Kaden for permission, not wanting to poke his currently uncertain temper where I was concerned.

He frowned and I felt as much as I heard the low growl he was trying to swallow. Then he nodded, looking away, and his hand flexed on the arm of the chair. I leaned in to kiss his cheek and whisper, “You’ll have to get used to this as I get bigger. Everyone wants to touch the baby bump.”

My mate snorted, but the growl was still there, shivering beneath the surface. I kissed him again then walked over to stand by the senator’s side and, with his puzzled permission, took his hand and pressed it to my belly where the baby was making itself definitely felt now.

I was carrying well, as Holland put it and, given my size, it wasn’t obvious yet at first glance. Especially with the way he’d had my suits tailored to hide my belly for as long as possible. After all, he’d had practice being pregnant outside walls. So I really was a stealth omega, at least until you touched me and all the things I did to camouflage that growing bulge disappeared.

His eyes went wide and he stared. “It’s true?”

“In a month, there won’t be any hiding it,” I said softly. “In three, maybe less, I’ll have to go back to the enclave. I’ll be too obvious then. And you can never be sure if the curiosity will lead to looks or to blows. It’s why us omegas, especially the males, rarely leave the enclave. We aren’t trained to defend ourselves. Our job is smooth things over. To keep the peace, like your police officers. Only without guns.” Kaden twitched when I said that, but I didn’t have time to soothe his feelings too. “So, you can see that we have a problem.”

“And this is why you’re so hot on finding medical personnel for the enclaves. Because sick people are also vulnerable.”

I nodded.

He frowned and took his hand away, somewhat reluctantly, I thought. “Let me look into it. I’ll see what I can do. Apparently, the medical side of things isn’t going to be quite as easy as I thought.”

I went back to my seat.

“If they knew us a little, it might be easier,” Kaden said. “Which is why I’d like it to be safe enough for Felix to work with the museum.”

“One of Quin’s old military friends is coming to work for us after he gets his nursing degree,” I added thoughtfully. “Maybe we should be looking at the military instead. They’ve worked with shifters before.”

Kaden reached for my hand again. “It’s not that simple, love, but it’s a good thought.”

“In the meantime,” the senator said, “Kaden, you and I can discuss this with the staff and see what we can come up with. But I want you thinking about other options than medical care that we can use to prove our good intentions.” He stood up, signaling the end of the meeting. “I’m going to push on this extension of your curfew hours, as well. This is ridiculous and puts a huge crimp in my ability to use you to best advantage.” Then he looked at Kaden and, while he didn’t smile, his expression lightened. “Find an intern to give your mate a tour, and after lunch you can take him up to explore the museum. I’ll call Brady and see if he’ll meet you again, explain the problems with the curfew. Try to put a bug in his ear for us.”

“Thank you, sir, I appreciate that.” Kaden got to his feet and motioned to me to stand as well. Hunter jumped up and paced over to shove his nose in Kaden’s hand, then came back to stand at my left side. We left, closing the door behind us, and I let us get a few feet down the hall before I stopped Kaden.

“What? You feeling okay?” he asked, his eyebrows drawing down in worry.

I shook my head. “I’m fine. But did you notice? He called you my mate. Not my husband.” Most everyone else around us still defaulted to the human term.

Kaden went still as hunting and then a smile broke out on his face. “We’re getting there. One senator at a time.” He glanced up the hallway and I thought he was probably looking past the walls, in his mind’s eye seeing all the other rooms and offices and people in the building. “Who next?”

C H A P T E R 9 5

A week and a half later they left on another round of meetings with the Alphas—Mercy Hills for a check-up on the baby, Winter Moon, Rathburn, and then off to Jackson-Jellystone, Montana Border again because surely Orvin couldn’t be that big an idiot, and last of all, Buffalo Gap. They’d left Hunter with Cas and Raleigh for a visit and would pick him up on the way back to Washington.

The senator declared his candidacy for the Presidency while they were in Rathburn. Kaden was quietly grateful it hadn’t happened while they were in Montana Border. It had actually made things easier in Rathburn.

As they waited for their luggage at the Abilene airport, their last stop of the trip, Kaden watched his mate with worried eyes. Felix’s smile was as ready, his easy acquiescence to any suggestion of Kaden’s as enthusiastic, but he was quieter now than he’d been before they’d left Washington for this whirlwind tour of the Midwestern and Western packs.

“You okay?” he asked.

Felix came alert like he’d just smelled a rabbit. “Of course. Looking forward to being home. I miss Hunter.” His eyes went unfocused and the slightest of smiles curved his lips.

Kaden wasn’t fooled for a second. “Something happened at Montana Border, didn’t it? Why didn’t you tell me?”