Page 14 of The Omega's Fake Mate

“Sort of? Not really. It was a gift.”

“Ooooh,” Kade said in a meaningful tone of voice.

“Cut it.” I punched his arm.

“Mr. Kerner wants him to read it,” Conner spoke up.

Thanks for that, buddy.

“Does he now?” Kade grinned. “What kind of book is it?” He tried to take it from me, but I held on tightly.

I'd never be able to wipe the smirk off my friend's face when he saw that it was aRomancenovel. Really, what was Zander thinking giving this to me? “It's not important,” I insisted. Except it totally was. I couldn't wait to go up to my room and leaf through this book. Maybe try and find the juicy bits. It wasn't that I wanted to read smut, but I had to know exactly what my old friend had given to me.

“I'll stop badgering you when you tell me what's going on,” Kade said. With a glance at Conner, he added, “I think you have homework to do.”

“It can wait.”

“No homework, no books.” Kade held a hand out to Conner, asking for the paperbacks he'd just bought.

“Fine.” Conner turned toward the stairs. “I'll go do my homework.”

“Good kid.” Kade smiled after him. “It’s easy to parent when you know their weaknesses,” he said jokingly when Conner was gone. Then he tugged on my arm. “C’mon, let’s go out into the yard. Shane’s taking care of dinner tonight, so we have some time.” He chuckled before adding, “Sometimes I still can’t believe I have an alpha cooking for me now.”

“Is it so hard to get out of the Vinist mindset?” I asked. My friend had spent the majority of his life around Vinists. Aside from the internet, he was my number one source of information about them.

Kade glanced at me in a way that I knew he was weighing his words. Obviously, he didn’t want me to worry about my brother too much.

It was too late for that, though. No matter how much distance there was between us, I was always going to worry about my brother.

“It can be difficult at times,” Kade said finally. “But I’m getting the hang of it.”

I nodded. “It’s good that you got out of there.”

“Yeah…” He seemed a bit distracted as he led me out into the yard. “I couldn’t have done it without your cousin, you know?”

I tilted my head at him. “But you ran away years before you met Shane.”

“True. But ultimately, he was the one who convinced my ex to sign the divorce papers.” He walked over to a bench at the back of the yard and sat, patting the spot beside him. Taking him up on the invitation, I sank onto the bench next to him. “I guess,” he continued, “maybe you should let your brother know that he can have your help if he needs it. It can be really hard to make it out by yourself.”

“Rhys should already know that.” I sighed. “I wish I could like… visit him or something. See how he’s living.” Instead of spending my nights googling stories about how other omegas lived in Vinist circles.

“You can’t visit him?”

“No, the community where he lives is gated. No strange omegas allowed.”

“Not even family?” My friend scratched his chin. “Sounds like these people are even stricter than my folks.”

“I can’t visit as long as I’munmated.” I spat the last word; I couldn’t help myself. Who were these people to tell me I wasn’t worthy because I didn’t have an alpha by my side?

“Oh, yeah, that makes sense.”

I shot my friend an incredulous look. This madesenseto him? The Vinists must have screwed with his head more than I’d thought.

“I’m not saying it’ssensible,” Kade said quickly. “Just that it makes sense within their world. They wouldn’t want any unmated omegas to tempt their alphas or give their omegas strange ideas.”

I shook my head. “How did you ever live with these people?” How could my brotherchooseto live with these people?

“I don’t know. I mostly just kept my head down and focused on my music.” He shrugged, and then his face became more animated again. “But you’re trying to change the topic. You know what I really wanted to talk to you about!”