Page 77 of Omega's Heart

All of a sudden, he sat straight up and, in a voice that sounded honestly surprised to me, said, “Yes, sir.” He stared at the phone for a moment, then held it out to one of the humans. “The president wants to talk to you.”

One of them snorted. “Right. Don’t expect me to believe that, dog.”

Kaden shrugged and put the phone back to his ear. “They don’t believe you, sir.” He paused to listen. “I’m not sure. Would you care to speak to the Alpha?” His smile broadened and he shot his brother a triumphant look. “All right, sir. Yes, I’m settling in fine. Getting mated in three weeks.” His eyes met mine and he winked. “I honestly didn’t think you’d come. But if you like, I can have one sent over in the messenger bag.”

The radio in the front of the van began to crackle and the voice demanding the humans respond sounded…strained. I glanced over at Holland, who shrugged but watched the humans with narrowed eyes. Quin moved to put his arm around Holland’s waist and observed what was starting to unfold before us with eyes lightened by amusement.

I wished I knew what was so funny. Poor Julius…

One of the humans had gone to answer the radio and when he came back, it was with wide, startled eyes. “Leave the muzzle off,” he told his partner. “Orders from above.”

The man’s nostrils flared in frustration, but he put the contraption back into the front of the van without arguing.

Holland nodded gravely to Kaden, then handed the bag of snacks to Quin and kissed him. “Love you.” Then he held his own wrists out to the humans. “Now me. I’ll be riding with him.”

“We’re not here for you,” one of the humans growled.

“I’m his Alpha’s Mate. I’ll go with him, a young omega like that can’t be allowed to travel on his own. He might be taken advantage of. He certainly can’t defend himself, especially tied up as you have him.” Holland shook his wrists imperiously in their direction and waited. We all waited.

Finally, the man who’d gone to talk on the radio began to rummage in the front of the van and came back with another set of restraints. He chained Holland up with the speed of long practice, then backed off to let Quin help his mate up into the back of the van, leaving the bag of food on the floor under the seat.

Julius reached for Holland, babbling apologies that made Holland simply smile and shake his head. “I told you I wouldn’t leave you alone.” He took Julius’s hands and wrapped them tightly in his own before turning to the humans in the most regal manner and saying, “We can leave now.” His met Quin’s gaze and pursed his lips at him in an invisible kiss before the doors closed between them with a heavy, metallic bang.

Quin’s eyes tightened a little as the doors closed on his mate, but he never even twitched at the noise, only clenching one hand as the lock was thrown and the humans scrambled into their seats in the van and put it in gear.

I had to admit that I was relieved to see Holland going with Julius, though it made me nervous to see him chained and locked in the back of the van like that. And it was obvious that the Alpha didn’t feel any better about it, either. It made me glad that Kaden had no desire to be an Alpha—I couldn’t imagine having to make these kinds of choices day in and day out. Hard enough to make the ones that I was making. But it was a relief to know that Julius wasn’t alone—he’d be much safer with Holland in the van with him.

Kaden put the phone back up to his ear. “Yes, sir, they let him on. Quin’s going to follow them down with Laine Montague to make sure everything goes right. Thank you again for all your help. When I spoke to John, this wasn’t exactly what I had in mind. I’m sorry to get you up this early.” He laughed after a moment’s pause, then said goodbye and hung up. “Damn, now I need to come up with a mating invitation to send him.”

“Was that really…?” I demanded, horrified.

“I don’t imagine he’ll actually show up,” Kaden said thoughtfully. “But maybe we can get something nice put together and I can send it? Don’t want to make enemies at this point in the game. I wonder if Raleigh could do up a pretty invitation?”

Quin shook his head in mild disbelief, his eyes still locked onto the van as it turned the corner and started to get smaller.

A new car pulled up as the van rolled away and a human I’d seen around once or twice got out. “I’ve got your luggage. You ready?”

Quin nodded, then turned back to Kaden. “Thanks for helping Abel cover for me.” He jerked his head in the direction of the disappearing van. “You really don’t play around, do you?”

Kaden slipped his phone back into his pocket and rubbed a hand over my hip. “I’d like to say that’s what happens when you call the Army in for a clean-up, but I’d just hoped that John would pull a string or two. That was a bit of…something.”

“Hell of a string, at the least. Trust the Army to use a grenade launcher on a mosquito.” Quin hugged him quickly, nodded to me, then jumped into the passenger seat of the car.

“Any messages for Garrick?” the human asked Kaden.

“None that I know of. Ask the font of all knowledge there beside you.”

The human grinned. “All right. Enjoy being Alpha.”

“Part-time Alpha,” Kaden corrected him and threw a warped salute in the direction of the car before muttering under his breath, “I don’t know what Garrick sees in him.”

Ohhhh, so this was Garrick’s human. I’d heard his name so often, I’d almost forgotten I’d never met him. Now that I had, I felt much better about Julius’s chances.

I waited until the car had pulled away before I said, “I don’t know. He’s kind of cute. If you’re into predators.” Human he might have been, but I could smell an alpha, no matter the clothing.

“Are you into predators?” Kaden demanded.

I leaned on the arms of his chair and got right down into his face. “Yes. And I’ve got the biggest one of them all to myself right now.”