Page 227 of Omega's Heart

I dropped the phone on the little cabinet beside the table and started to roll myself off the bed.

“Hey, where are you going?” Ori demanded, rushing to put a pile of blankets and towels on the chair in the corner of the room so he could come help me straighten myself up.

“I can’t sit still,” I confessed. “I think I have to go to the bathroom too.”

“That happens.” Ori put an arm around my waist and supported me as much as he could, given our different sizes. “Maybe the couch would be more comfortable for a while.”

“Kaden’s almost here,” I said inanely. Behind us, I heard the thump of Hunter jumping down to the floor, then the pad-pad-pad-tick of him following along.

“Good. I couldn’t have done it without Pat, myself. I’d have given up half-way through.”

I rolled my eyes in his direction and he smiled like a pup caught in mischief. “Not like you can actually give up in the middle, but you know what I mean. I like that they invite the sires in for the birthing here.”

“I wasn’t sure Kaden would stay,” I told him. “They’re a lot more old-fashioned in Salma.” We made it to the bathroom but when I tried to go, there was nothing there, which was just frustrating.

My stomach started to tighten again and I grunted. “I better get to the couch.”

We made it just as the contraction hit its peak, my omega line burning like a live wire. Ori ran off and brought back my blanket, helped me get my feet up on a pillow on the storage chest we kept in front of the couch, and then tucked me in like I was a pup. “I’m going to go check the water,” he told me. “Don’t you move.”

“Not going anywhere,” I promised and sighed as the contraction eased. Hunter whined and shoved his nose under my hand. I stroked him gently and regularly, willing that worried look away from his eyes.

The doorknob rattled and then Kaden burst through. On the surface, he looked calm, but I knew that was just his manner. His anxiety about this whole process showed in the corners of his eyes and the set of his jaw.

Hunter bounded up with a loud woof, eyeing the crowd filling the door behind my mate with menace.

Kaden shot him a look that should have cowed him but, for the first time ever, my half-sized hero refused to back down before his adopted sire.

“Hunter, come here!” I said firmly. Maybe even snappishly. I couldn’t reach anything but his tail so I grabbed that and gave it a good tug to get his attention. His ears flicked but he didn’t back down.

“Why do you keep him around?” my packmother demanded from the back of the crowd.

I stared at Kaden in disbelief. This had not been discussed, or agreed to, despite all the improvements in her behavior.

He crossed the room to sit on my other side and took my hand. “Say the word and I’ll send her away,” he said in a low voice.

But I’d heard the high tremor of fear in her voice and knew she hadn’t said it to be cruel, but because Hunter was just one change too many for her in too short a time. Why do I always have to be the bigger shifter? “No, let her stay.” I fixed her with a look that I hoped communicated my intention to throw her out the window if she got up to anything. That threat was going to become a tradition in our family, I was beginning to think. “Hunter, remember your manners!” I hissed at the still aggressively posturing pup.

He glanced over at me, then back at the group still frozen at the door before he turned and hopped up on the couch beside me again.

“That’s my boy,” I told him and gave him a hug. “You’re going to be a good big brother, aren’t you?”

“Yes, he is.” Kaden reached across to ruffle Hunter’s fur. “How are you doing?”

“Better now that you’re here,” I confessed. “I don’t think it’s going to be long.”

“Then what are you doing out of bed?” He put an arm around me and I leaned into the comfort of his strength. “Do you want me to carry you back to the bedroom?”

“No, I’ll break your back. I can walk.” I should probably go back to the bed now that everyone was here, though it seemed to me that my next contraction was overdue. I hoped the labor wasn’t stalling—we were so close. I thought we were close, anyway.

Cale walked past my packmother without a glance and gave Kaden a hand getting me back to the bedroom. I didn’t really need the help except for feeling weirdly wobbly, but it was comforting to have my mate and my friends closing around me. I wished now that I’d pushed harder to have Mom’s arrival date moved earlier, but it honestly made more sense to have her arrive after Veronica had gone home to Salma. I didn’t have to play referee between the two of them over who got to be Grannie with the baby on a daily basis.

Kaden kicked his shoes into the corner and tossed his jacket in the direction of the living room while Cale and Holland helped me climb into the bed and Bax kept Hunter out of the way. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Veronica disappear in the direction of the living room and suppressed a twinge of irritation. I’d deal with her later if I had to.

Ori and Julius popped in through the door as I got settled up against the head of the bed with Kaden at my back. “We brought ice,” Julius said with pride. “In case you get thirsty.” He wandered around the room and finally set it on top of my dresser. “How are you feeling?”

I felt Kaden’s hastily stifled laugh behind me. “Thanks, Jules,” I said gravely and watched him beam. He really was so easy to please most of the time. I kind of missed him as a roommate, though there was no way I’d give up Kaden for him. “The baby seems to be taking a break right now.” I leaned back against Kaden and sighed. “Are you planning to stay up for the whole thing?” I asked my mate.

“Yes.” A single word, flat, no uncertainty about it at all. Very Kaden.