Page 48 of Omega's Heart

Kaden waited a beat, pulling air across the scent organ in his mouth to judge the human’s intent and to get a feel for Abel’s take on this. In the army, this could have been one of two things—real curiosity, usually followed by gradual loss of interest as the cachet of being squadmates with one of the creatures wore off at home, or an attempt to glean something that could be used against him and maybe get him moved out of the unit. But the human smelled sincere underneath the layers of perfume that humans cloaked themselves in, and Abel was wary but curious himself.

Sacrificial wolf I am. “Sure. I wouldn’t mind getting out of this crowd. Still getting used to civilian life, at least outside walls.” He pointed at a pair of chairs in the shadow of a canopy tent by the food and followed the human over with a quizzical glance for Quin and Holland, still talking to the senator. Quin looked about ready to chew his own leg off to get away. Holland was doing better, but then again, he was omega. They socialized better than alphas did.

Fuck, when did he turn into his mother?

The humans were starting to thin out, staff gradually escorting them to the door. He’d expected something of an announcement saying that their time here at the White House was done, but the staff seemed to handle things differently. Or maybe it was that they didn’t seem interested in moving the shifters along with the humans that made this different.

“Things will quiet down now and then we’ll be able to talk,” Mike said beside him. “Hard to have a serious conversation when you have to watch every word you say.”

Kaden raised his eyebrows at that and the human laughed.

“Yeah, I know, you guys walk on eggshells out here. That’s not going to change anytime soon, but we’d like you to hear us out on something else we’re looking at.”

Kaden felt the prickle at the back of his neck that would have been his ruff standing on end if he’d been in wolf form. This whole thing stank like week-old carrion and he didn’t have enough information to even guess at where it was going, or what direction was the safest to jump in. He managed to catch Holland’s eye and something in his expression or his posture must have alerted the omega because Holland put a casual hand on Quin’s chest and said something that made the senator laugh and Quin look directly across the small grassy area toward Kaden.

As the last of the other soldiers were ushered out, a tall thin human male in a dark gray suit slipped quietly out a door in the side of the building and walked over to Kaden. “Corporal Salma Wood?” he said. His voice was deep and calm, but the words were crisply enunciated, every letter as clearly pronounced as if they’d been outlined. “I’m Chez Weston, chief of staff to the president. If you’d all like to follow me, we’ve about twenty minutes open in the schedule for you before we’re on to the next thing.” He held out a hand to the senator. “Lije, good to see you again. Come on in, the President is waiting.”

C H A P T E R 3 0

T hey were led into the Oval Office and offered seats on a couple of comfortable looking couches. Kaden couldn’t help staring at the rug in the middle of the room with its eagle holding the olive branches in its claw, the rich blue almost glowing beneath their feet.

It was the man in the process of standing up from behind the huge carved desk, however, that truly captured his attention. Kaden couldn’t have said what it was about the human—some presence that reminded him of alphas but wasn’t quite the same. Maybe it was the human equivalent of an alpha. But as he walked around the end of the desk, his hand extended toward Abel like they were old friends, he gave off that sense of weight and energy that both of his brothers trailed behind them every day.

“Quin, so glad to see you could make it. And Holland.” He shook both their hands then turned toward Abel. “You must be the Alpha’s brother and former Alpha.”

“Abel,” Abel replied quietly and shook the president’s hand. “And my Mate, Bax.” He drew Bax forward to turn his sweet Texas twang on the president. It amused Kaden to watch the humans fall for the shy smile and wide green eyes of his packbrother.

Finally, the president turned toward him. “Kaden Salma Wood. I’m glad to see you up and about.”

Kaden accepted the hand held out to him. “Thank you, sir. Sorry I can’t stand up yet.”

“I heard. Some complications?”

“We don’t know. I’m scheduled into Baltimore tomorrow to see if we can figure out what’s up.”

“They have good doctors there. I’m sure they’ll get it figured out. It’s the least we can do for what you’ve given up for us. Chez will give you his card before you go—if you run into any issues tomorrow or after while you’re getting this figured out, I want you to call him, and we’ll do our best to undo any roadblocks.” He pulled over a plush, cushioned chair and put it next to Kaden’s wheelchair. “Sit, everyone. I only have a few minutes, but I wanted to introduce you all to the senator here and give you some idea what we’re thinking.”

Weston sat down on the other side of Kaden and let the senator take the seat across from him. Mike pulled another chair over into the circle, and then Quin and the rest arranged themselves on the remaining spaces on the couches.

“This is my second term,” the president began without preamble. “It gives me some extra freedoms, but it also restricts me in some ways.” He glanced around the small group, his gaze coming to rest on Quin and Holland. “What I saw during your mating stayed with me. I can’t say I saw my way forward very clearly at the time, but certainly, watching you two join your lives together, getting to meet your people and see how you’ve been living, right under my very nose… Well, it made me think.”

Abel and Bax glanced at each other and Holland reached across to casually take Quin’s hand, but nobody said anything, waiting on the president’s next words.

The president looked briefly at the senator and seemed to see whatever it was that he’d been searching for, because he clasped his hands together in front of him and leaned forward, his gaze focused intently on Kaden. “Next year the primaries start. The senator here is the favorite to win, we have no particular concerns about that. It’s after.”

“And what do you think I can do to influence the situation?” Kaden asked. He’d already picked up that somehow he was going to be a cog in whatever machine this was. If he wanted to be. If the price was worth it, or the punishment for refusing too huge.

“It’s a two-pronged approach. We had a study done on the enclaves. Sociological, economic, legal. We feel that it’s well past time the Segregation Laws were struck down, but we need to show that this will be to the advantage of the country as a whole. The work that Mercy Hills is doing in conjunction with the Mutches is a good start. But we need your support—if we can place the senator in the White House, then I can lay the groundwork before my term ends to have the laws repealed and he can give them the coup de grace during his term. The cooperation of the packs is essential to this plan.”

The senator broke in. “What the president is trying to say is that we need your votes. Shifters are quite possibly the least involved voter population in the country. If you can convince them to come out to vote and to vote for me, it would be the numbers we need to tip the scale on a national level.”

Kaden stared at them in absolute confusion. “Why are you looking at me? I’m not the Alpha.”

“Lije wants to offer you a job working on his staff. It’s not great pay, but it’s an opportunity to get to know some people in government, to let them get to know you.” The president leaned toward Kaden. “Quin is Alpha. Your other brother is the pack’s lawyer and, as I understand it, too essential to the daily operation of the enclave to be removed from his position, though having a law degree would be a help. So it came down to you and Abel. Now, Abel has some things going for him— family man, successful entrepreneur, former Alpha of Mercy Hills. But set beside what you have to offer, it’s nothing.”

Kaden blinked at him. “I still don’t see the reason.”

The senator sat back with a noise of frustration. “Wounded war hero, decorated soldier, victim of discrimination when it came to promotion...”