Page 74 of Omega's Heart

“That can wait for tomorrow, I think,” Holland said quietly. He laid his cheek against Quin’s shoulder and joined him in watching Julius. “He’s retreating right now. If he’s still hiding tomorrow —” Holland took a deep breath that shook on the exhale. “Well, we’ll see.”

Quin put an arm around him and kissed the top of his head. “I trust you,” he murmured, just barely loud enough for me to hear.

Holland smiled up at him, but I guessed from his scent and the uncertainty in the lines of his face that he didn’t quite trust himself.

“I’m going to stay for a bit, in case he wakes up,” Holland said softly, with a soft pat against Quin’s chest. “You go get some sleep.”

“You can both get some sleep,” Cale interrupted. “I’ll stay with him.” He gave Holland a look that seemed to communicate something, but I couldn’t tell what and, honestly, didn’t much care.

“I can spell you later,” I told him. “Wake me up at three?” I fought the guilt the only way I knew how, by doing my best not to be a burden and taking responsibility for this friend of mine who’d grown so much closer to me than I’d ever realized.

“Sure. Let me grab the computer.” He was back almost immediately with his laptop and a set of earbuds. “Don’t want to disturb him.” He set the laptop up on the dresser and grabbed a spare blanket out of Julius’s closet. “You guys go, we’ll be fine. I’ll call you if he wakes up.”

“Are you sure?” Holland asked him, reaching out to tuck a stray lock of hair behind Cale’s ear.

“I’m sure. And I’ll let you know—” Cale paused in mid-sentence, then shrugged. “Whatever. I’ll call if he wakes up or if anything seems wrong. Get some sleep, you look like crap.”

“It’s been a crappy day.” Holland hugged him, then patted my arm before he stopped by the bed to tuck Julius in more securely and brush the hair back off his forehead. “It’s going to be all right, sweetheart,” he said in a voice barely more than a breath. “We’re going to bring her home.” Then, even softer. “We’ll bring you home too.”

Holland straightened up, staring at the room like a blind man until Quin wrapped an arm around his shoulders and guided him gently out into the hall. “Don’t punish yourself for this,” I heard him say as they left. “None of this is your fault, it’s things that have to be. And Bax is rooting for him. You know what Bax is capable of.”

“I know.”

The door opened but, just before it closed, I heard Quin say in a lighter tone, “You could always call your human boyfriend to see what kind of pressure he can bring to bear.”

For a moment, I was puzzled, until I heard Holland’s crack of laughter. “I don’t like to encourage Jesse.” Then the door closed and anything else I could have learned was cut off by that solid barrier.

“Jesse?” I asked Cale.

“Jesse Mutch.” Cale made a face. “The Mutch Trusts? He’s got a crush on Holland, but so far he’s been respectful. Holland’s careful with him anyway, and luckily Quin doesn’t seem to take it seriously.” He’d made himself a little nest on the floor with some pillows and the blanket. “Go get some sleep. Three o’clock will be here before you know it.”

I nodded. “What do we do if he won’t wake up?”

Cale looked up from his computer. “That’s not going to happen.”

A shiver ran over my skin and I made my escape, suddenly glad that Cale and I were friends. I’d half forgotten that he and Holland were full brothers—of course he’d be a True Omega too.

Thank Lysoonka I don’t have to carry that load.

I crawled into bed and pulled the covers tight around me, wishing for once that Kaden and I had jumped the circle on our mating night. I really needed a hug and someone to hold onto tonight.

C H A P T E R 4 6

J ulius woke up on his own the next morning, which was a relief to all of us. The news that Minnie was safely in recovery, brought to us while we were trying to find something for him to

eat that didn’t make him sick to his stomach, helped some, but he was quiet and distracted and I

worried that he was going to go back to being the nearly catatonic doll I’d met on my first day here in Mercy Hills.

Cale catered to him and fussed over him, as did our Alpha’s Mate, even somehow managing to swing a five-minute phone call with Minnie, on a cell phone smuggled into her room by Laine, Lysoonka bless him.

But even that little bit of good news wasn’t enough to stop us all from thinking about the clock ticking down on our time. The mood in our apartment grew more somber with every day that passed, until that Wednesday morning, the day before Julius’s trial was scheduled to begin. Julius came out of his bedroom wearing a suit. A real suit.

“When did you get that?” I asked, making conversation.

“Holland got it for me” he explained, running a hand over the front of it in obvious discomfort. “I’ve never had something this expensive before in my life. I’m afraid I’ll ruin it.”

‘“It looks good on you.” It did. It didn’t make him look any older than nineteen, but it made him look like the son of a well-to-do family. If anything, it made him prettier, the pale gray no competition at all for his bright blue eyes and golden hair. “They’ll all be impressed.”