Page 68 of Omega's Heart

“Entertainment?” Holland demanded in mock offense.

“You seemed plenty entertained there ten minutes ago,” Quin said solemnly, again with that wicked glint in his eye.

“I know when I’m not wanted,” Kaden said on a laugh. “Enjoy your evening.” He let himself out to the laughter of his brother and his brother’s mate, and strolled back down the corridor. It was only when he got back inside the apartment that he realized he’d been whistling.

C H A P T E R 4 3

W hen I woke up the next morning, the first thought in my head was, “I’m going to be mated.” I wondered if I’d dreamed it. I’d had dreams that vivid before; it was entirely possible that I’d just made the story up in my sleep and convinced myself of it.

Julius put an end to that thought with the first words out of his mouth. “So, are you going to have the ceremony here or in White River?” he asked as he shoveled toast dripping with jam into his mouth.

Oh. I guessed it was real after all. I fell into a chair, the enormity of it all having waited until then to hit me, like a tree falling on my head. “White River, I guess. It depends on Kaden’s family.”

“If you have it here, I can go,” he offered and pulled up the leg of his jeans to point to the radio anklet he still had to wear. “I can’t go that far, I don’t think.” He frowned and ate another bite of toast. “I can ask. Maybe Holland can talk them into an exception because it’s a special occasion.”

“I haven’t even thought about it.” I’m getting mated.

“Well, think about it. It might take a while if we have to get permission for me to go to White River.” He got up to rinse his plate in the sink. “Are you still going to be working with Kaden now, or would that be inappropriate?”

“He doesn’t need my help much anymore, except for the physio. I think they just don’t know what to do with me.” Maybe I should look around for other ways to contribute to the pack. But I’d miss spending my days with Kaden. In a sense, it was almost like being mated. Except we weren’t sleeping in the same bed or doing mated... things. I felt my cheeks turn red.

Julius started to laugh in the middle of putting on his shoes. “You just thought about the mating night, didn’t you? I can tell.” He kept laughing all the way out the door, while I dragged my thoughts away from what our mating night would be like. I knew a bit, simply from having been to so many matings and having known so many of the omegas—I shivered, thinking about all the things they’d whispered and hinted at, and giggled about after, and wondered what it would be like to do those things with Kaden.

I was relieved that he hadn’t pushed when I’d said I’d wanted to wait for the mating night—I knew that betrothed couples didn’t always do that, even if one was an omega. But it was one of the things that I liked about him, that he took me at my word when I said I wanted or didn’t want something. Oh, sometimes he’d push a little, just to make sure I wasn’t refusing to be polite, but I didn’t mind that. And now that I looked back on our time together, short as it had been, I could see other small signs of his respect and his care for me. Signs I’d written off as disinterest.

But they were the exact opposite.

Did I want to? Jump the circle on the mating night?

When I was younger, I would have happily given in to my future mate. I wasn’t eighteen anymore, though, and the longer I thought about it, the more I realized that I’d been right to say I wanted to wait. At least, for anything more than kissing.

I liked the kissing.

Cale wandered up the hall, but I didn’t think he was really seeing the apartment. He had that expression on his face, like he was still looking at whatever book he’d been studying before he rose, zombie-like, to find something to eat. I got up to dig some eggs out of the mess our refrigerator had become and put our frying pan on the stove. “You want coffee?” I asked him.

“Huh?” He rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands. “Yeah, I think so.”

“How much longer to your exam?”

“Three days.” He slumped into a kitchen chair and put his head down on the table, covering it with his arms. “Why did I ever think this was a good idea?”

“If Bram could get in, you can get in,” I reminded him.

He lifted his head and propped it up on one hand. “Now you sound like Holland. Have you been to see your betrothed yet today?”

“Nice try. No, I just got up.” I busied myself making a pot of coffee while I waited for the frying pan to heat. “There’s still some ham left over from dinner last night if you want it with your eggs.”

“Protein,” he sighed.

“Yep.” With the coffee pot gurgling away, I cracked the eggs into the frying pan, then forged into the refrigerator again, looking for last night’s leftovers. “You need to sleep more or you’ll be too tired to do well when you do your test.” I didn’t know too much about it—omegas didn’t go to school outside walls and so everything I knew was just things I’d overheard. “No more staying up late—for the next three days, you’re in bed by nine and you can get up at six if you really think you need to spend all this time studying. Or I’ll tell your brother.” I started chopping the ham slices into little cubes and dumped them with the eggs to crisp up while I made toast.

Cale made a face. “You’re probably right. Medical school will be like this, though. I should be trying to get used to it.”

“You have time.” I made a face at the eggs because we’d had this exact same conversation a week ago. “Get used to it while you’re in pre-med.” The coffee pot gurgled and spat, and I poured a mug out for Cale and slid it in front of him. “I don’t know why I’m giving you this, you should still be in bed.”

“Thanks,” Cale said, ignoring my complaint. “The sooner I get into med school, the cheaper it is.” He stared into his mug of coffee. “Did you and Kaden get things worked out?”

“Yeah.” I poured coffee for myself, going back to the fridge for milk to put into it. “At least, it’s official. I talked to my Dad last night, he’s still in shock.”