Page 63 of Omega's Heart

“All right.” Kaden got to his feet. “I’m going to swing by Abel’s, and then Quin’s before I head home.” He had something to ask Holland too, only it didn’t have anything to do with the packs or the senator.

But he wasn’t going to let that rabbit out of the bag until he was good and ready.

C H A P T E R 4 0

I sat at the kitchen table and pretended I didn’t hear the cheerful singing coming from the shower down the hall. Cale had only lasted five minutes before he’d packed his books up in disgust and gone back to his bedroom, the door slamming behind him like he hoped it would cut the stem of the song and leave it wilting on the floor. Something had happened during the last Full Moon and our Julius had gone from anxious homebody to social butterfly almost overnight.

And it was driving Cale and me absolutely lunar.

My phone chirped. Home, the text from Kaden read.

How’d it go? I typed back. It only took me two tries to get everything right, though now that I had autocorrect on, it was a little easier. My fingers were just too big for that little screen.

Fine. Then , Don’t get mad. A moment later, another text popped up, You have any of that liniment?

I’ll be right over. I grabbed the jar out of the cupboard, yelled through the bathroom door, “I’m going out too,” and got out of Julius’ happy little den. As I left, I texted Cale to let him know where I’d be and put the phone in my pocket.

Kaden opened the door. “Thanks. You didn’t need to, I can put it on myself.” He hopped out of the way and I noticed his prosthetic propped up against the arm of the couch.

“Were you running around in that again?” I asked, concerned.

“It’s fine. Just never been to the building I was going to, so I thought I’d play it safe.”

“You’re supposed to stay off that leg. You’re going to make it worse and you know they want the inflammation to go down before they do the surgery.”

“I promise I’ll be a good pup from now on,” Kaden said, raising his hands like he could just ward off my irritation with his stubbornness.

“I have no idea what you think you’re doing,” I told him.

“I’m just kicking back.” He kept a straight face, but I was starting to catch on to the sense of humor these boys had.

“Har har,” I told him. “You want to watch TV while I put this on you? Or lie on the bed.”

“You okay if I put the news on?”

“I wouldn’t expect you to watch anything else.” I followed him over to the couch and waited while he grabbed the remote and set the TV to the local news station, then stripped off his shirt and his pants.

Thank you, Lysoonka. He’d worn underwear this time. I shouldn’t have been so weak, but he was a well-built alpha. An omega couldn’t be blamed for appreciating it, right? I just wished he saw me as something other than his nursemaid and occasional buddy.

“You comfortable?” I asked once he’d stopped fidgeting and adjusting pillows.

“Yeah. Hey, thanks for doing this. I can’t really reach everything.”

“It’s part of your physio. I don’t mind.” I coated my hands with the liniment, then got a knee onto the couch between his hip and the back of the seat so I could lean over and really get some weight onto his shoulders. He didn’t have much damage in them, but we were still working on adhesions around his ribcage and if he’d been wearing that leg today, the change in his stride would have created tension all through his body and gotten everything riled up again.

He groaned and I saw his eyelids droop for a moment before he forced them wide again, his gaze fixed on the screen as he gathered his intel, as he liked to call it.

“What were you doing today? You’ve got knots on top of your knots,” I scolded and dragged the heels of my hands down and up his spine. If I focused really hard on the muscle groups I was stretching into submission, I could almost ignore the feel of him under my hands. I’d probably dream about him tonight, though—it felt like one of those days. His scent was heavier than usual, which could have been the pain or the adrenaline from the new job. I tried hard not to notice that too—it did nothing for my peace of mind.

“Just a lot of thinking. Burning brain cells.” He twisted to look back at me. “I was hoping to be able to cut the in-person visits to the different packs down to just a few, but it looks like I’m going to have to visit all of them. That, or get them to come to the Council building. Seems I get to play politician for a while, instead of soldier.”

“Just don’t go twisting yourself into knots over it.” There, I had his back nice and loose. Now for the legs.

“I was wondering if you’d go with me,” he said quietly.

My hands stilled and I stared at the side of his head in outrage at first, then realized that he didn’t think of me as an omega. I let a silent sigh trickle from my lips. “I don’t think I can do that.”

“Why not?” He pushed himself up and twisted at the waist to look back at me. “I’m thinking it would be good to have someone to travel with. I’m not sure how far the budget stretches, but even if Quin decides I need some security, or Garrick, or whatever, there’d be room.”