Page 24 of Omega's Heart

“Let me think about it.” Truthfully, he’d done nothing but think about it while he’d been in hospital and he hadn’t been able to make a decision. He loved his mother, he truly did. But they got along a lot better when there was a couple of states in between them. Or a couple of national borders. Still, he knew it would crush her to know how far she’d driven all her pups. Her legacy, she’d called them.

Okay, that kind of settled it. He was definitely moving permanently to Mercy Hills.

Maybe. She was his mother.

Felix came out of the kitchen, wiping his hands on a towel. “I’ll pop in later to finish the dishes. If you want to give me your laundry, I can take it down to wash it.”

“I don’t have much,” Kaden told him. “Thank you for breakfast.”

The omega ducked his head and mumbled a “you’re welcome”, then looked at Quin, obviously waiting to be dismissed.

“Thank you, Felix,” Quin said gravely. “I’m going to spend the morning with Kaden, but maybe you could check back in after lunch and see if he needs anything?”

“Quin, I’m an adult. I can look after myself.” Kaden stopped short at the subtle twitch of Quin’s fingers, an old shorthand still vivid from their puppyhood. Okay, there’s more to the story. Don’t put your paw in the mudhole.

Felix glanced back and forth between them. “I’ll drop by after lunch,” he said finally and, at Quin’s nod, disappeared out the door, his entire demeanor screaming discomfort.

Quin sighed as soon as the door clicked shut. “I’ve seen your medical file, so don’t try to bullshit me. You’re not done healing yet, and if you think you’re getting by using that wheelchair around the enclave, you’re going to be disappointed. The ground’s too rough, you’ll be trapped in the building here and a few other places.”

“I’m getting there! It’s harder than it looks.” Red rage started to climb up his spine. Therapy had taught him this was a response to the grenade, to the losses, to everything that had happened since. He still had that letter that Honisloonz’ parents had written to him, grateful for his efforts and forgiving him for not bringing their son home with him. Like that made it better. Like that made Quin any less right.

Instinct told him to fight this threat to his independence. But the better part of him sent up a tendril of honesty in a reminder that he’d also spent a lot of time sulking because the prosthesis didn’t feel like his real leg, and getting used to it hurt.

Also, if he was being honest, jealousy chewed harshly at him as he watched people around him walking casually about, reaching for things and picking them up without having to think about which hand to use. Hearing the people on both sides of their head instead of just one. Fuck, I’m a maudlin old coot today. He sighed and let the anger seep its nauseating way back into his bones. “Yeah, I know. I’m still figuring out what the limits are. It all seemed easier in rehab.”

“They want you to know what’s possible.”

“I suppose.” Kaden picked up his coffee mug and contemplated the milky-tan of its contents. It was good coffee; he almost regretted loading it up with the milk and the honey. “Breakfast was a nice touch.”

Quin shot him a sidelong glance, so elaborately casual that it set off all Kaden’s alarms.

“What?” Kaden asked him flatly.

“Can I ask a favor of you? I know I can trust you not to take things too far, and to be careful of his feelings.”

“Whose feelings?” Had he fallen through into the Moonlit Trails? Maybe he had died. This was just too weird.

“Don’t tell Holland I asked you to do this,” Quin began and Kaden’s inner wolf perked up his ears. Secrets. Ho boy.

“Depends.” Blackmail. In a not-so-serious, fun way. “Go on.”

“You see Felix, right?”

“How could I miss him?” Kaden had automatically measured the man against the cupboards and, at a guess, the thought the omega was at least his own height, if not an inch or two taller. Very hard to miss, especially with those eyes, gold-flecked moss on a forest floor.

“Yeah, well, that’s part of the problem. The preferred style of omega is more in line with Bax or Jason or Bram. Julius would be a prime example. Felix doesn’t exactly fit that mold, which is why he’s here. Looking for a place where he can be accepted as just Felix, not the overgrown omega that no one wants.”

Kaden opened his mouth to say something smart-ass about breaking the mold, then stopped himself. It was a cruel thing to say, even if the omega in question wasn’t around to hear it. “So, be nice to him?” Is that what you want, big brother?

“Treat him like any other pack member, and try to keep other pack members from hurting him, either intentionally or unintentionally. Until he’s used to us and we’re used to him, it’s going to be awkward. That’s why I want him to have a job, something with a bit of prestige, and someone who can act as a protector for him until he’s able to slap people down the way the rest of the omegas do.”

Kaden drank a mouthful of coffee and picked up his toast to chew thoughtfully at one corner. This was the Quin he remembered from when he was a pup, the one that ever-so-subtly arranged things to protect his little sub-pack. Except now he was doing it for an entire pack. “Sure, I can do that.” Kaden had always made a good second-in-command, never having the interest in being the be-all and end-all of the command structure. It wouldn’t be hard to play this role for Quin, at least in this. “But you know I can look after myself, right? I got along fine getting here and I’ll figure out how to get along here too. Just need to get the stump used to that fake leg, get the callouses built up.”

“Yeah, I know,” Quin said with his slow smile. “But it doesn’t hurt to have some help.”

No, it wouldn’t. And he wouldn’t have to spend all day, every day with the strange omega. Maybe it wouldn’t be as awkward as he was expecting.

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