Page 57 of Omega's Heart

“Hey,” Abel showed up with a plate in one hand and a couple of beer bottles in the other. “Not for you,” he told his mate, who grinned. He handed one of them to Kaden, then glanced around. “No one thought to steal any chairs?”

“Just me,” Kaden said, never taking his eyes off his plate.

I watched him spear one of my sprouts and couldn’t help holding my breath for a moment, waiting to hear what he had to say.

He chewed on it for a moment, then followed it with a swig of beer. My heart sank—he must not have liked them. Then he flicked his fork in the direction of his brother’s plate. “See you were too late to get any of the sprouts. Too bad, they were going down fast when we went through.”

“Good?” Abel’s asked.

Kaden nodded. “I’d eat them.”

“That’s saying something. You better find out who made them.”

Now I was really confused.

Kaden jerked his head in my direction. “He’s right there.”

He noticed. My heart gave a weird little flip and tumble and I did my best to look casual but probably only ended up looking bored.

Abel made a tentative attempt to snatch a sprout off Kaden’s plate. Quick as a flash, Kaden put his own fork up in a threatening position and the two alphas jousted with each other until a near accident with Abel’s plate almost cost him his meal and Bax put an end to it.

“Fine, you can have one. One only, you hear me, Abel?” Kaden said menacingly.

Abel narrowed his eyes and reached toward the plate then, like a snake striking, he stabbed two of the sprouts with his fork and disappeared gleefully behind Bax, ignoring Kaden’s cry of outrage. Abel peered over Bax’s shoulder, his eyes dancing with glee. “Anything good enough to make you eat sprouts is worth a bit of risk,” he pronounced, then stuck his fork in his mouth. Kaden glared at him while Abel’s eyebrows rose in pleased surprise. “Felix, can I get this recipe?”

Bax nudged him. “You mean can I get it?”

“I cook.” But something in Abel’s grin told me he didn’t do it nearly as often as his mate did, confirmed by Bax’s next words.

“I know, love.” Bax smiled and turned back to his plate.

“I do!” Abel didn’t seem too bothered by everyone’s disbelief.

The next hour passed in casual conversation with other packmembers as they strolled by on their ways to refill their plates or drop off the empty ones. I’d never stayed this close to the bonfire before; usually, I drifted out of the way and hung out on the edges of the crowd. Some of the younger shifters were tossing slips of paper into the fire, which Bax explained was an old tradition from Buffalo Gap and that the youngsters were making wishes on the moon. We went back for dessert and I learned that despite not caring much for sweets, Kaden had an ironic addiction to peanut butter cookies, a piece of information I couldn’t help but file away against…whatever.

But then it was time for the dancing, which was traditionally my cue to disappear. I enjoyed dancing as much as the next shifter but I hated pity dances, which most of mine had been. And even those had been few and far between.

I’d hoped for something different when I first came to Mercy Hills, but it had been depressingly the same. Eventually, I’d decided it would be better to be elsewhere than to stand around watching everyone else enjoying themselves and pretending that I wasn’t bothered. So when the fiddler first pulled his bow across his strings, I made my excuses and disappeared through the crowd, back to the apartment and my borrowed movies.

C H A P T E R 3 6

K aden stayed to watch the first few dances. It amused him to see his giant of a brother on the hop with his equally tall mate, but not being able to participate himself soon grew boring. More so, when it became evident that he was being used by Julius as a shield against his suitors, who were many and annoying. He had nothing against the boy, but he was practically a child.

Eventually, after one too many besotted alphas came his way, Kaden asked, “Do you really want to be here?”

Julius’ eyes went wide and he stuttered. “I do! I mean, I like the dancing. I’m not allowed to dance.”

“Why not?” Was this some strange prohibition a part of his punishment for getting caught out after curfew?

The young omega looked baffled. “My parents say it’s not proper.”

“Your parents are nuts, pup. Trust me, I know nuts. Ask Bax or Holland about my mother.”

“But you’re an alpha. It’s different. They’d be really unhappy if they heard I was down here making a spectacle of myself.”

“It’s not a spectacle, it’s being social and figuring out which of these boys might make something of himself in the future. You want to take them for a test drive before you make anything permanent. Dancing’s part of the test drive.” Had no one taught this pup anything?

Julius tilted his head to one side and stared at him like the pup he was. “It is?”