Page 19 of The Omega's Fake Mate

“I get that, but... don't you think he would tell you if he needed your help?”

I snorted. “You don't know my brother.” Kade really didn't. Rhys had visited me in LA only once, and my friend had been touring another state during that time. “He's the type who suffers in silence.” And I wasn't the type to let that continue.

Kade frowned, regarding me a bit cautiously. “What are you going to do?” The way he said it, I knew he realized I already had a plan and he wasn't sure he was going to like it.

“I'm going to infiltrate.”

“Infiltrate?”

“His community,” I clarified. “I'm going in. He won't turn me away once I'm past the gates, I know it.”

Kade's frown deepened. “And how exactly do you plan to make it past the gates?”

“Oh, that's easy,” I said waving my hand. “They'll let me in if they believe I'm married, right?”

Kade fixed his gaze on me. “Please tell me you're not planning to get married just to get in there.”

“No, please, that would be crazy.”

Kade arched an eyebrow, letting me know without so many words thatcrazywas exactly what he expected from me.

“I don't need to get married,” I assured him. “I only need to make thembelieveI am.” It was brilliant.

“You don't have a marriage license,” Kade pointed out.

I waved him off again. “I'm sure those things can be faked. How closely are they really gonna look?”

“Pretty closely if you're a married omega traveling alone. That just doesn't happen in their world.”

Hah!“Who said I was going to be alone?”

My friend looked at me as if I'd suddenly grown a second head. “What are you talking about?”

“When I couldn't go back to sleep this morning, I started reading that book Zander gave me and what do you know? It features a fake relationship. That gave me the idea. I don't need to be in a relationship to see my brother. I only need to convince the Vinists that I am. You know how these people think. If they see me with an alpha by my side, will they even think twice about my marital status?”

“No, probably not,” Kade admitted slowly. I could tell he wasn't as in love with this idea as I was, but that didn't matter. I only needed to know that it was going to work.

“See? Problem solved.”

“Not exactly,” Kade disagreed. “What alpha are you going to borrow for this?”

I shrugged. “I don't know. The one who gave me the book that sparked the idea?”

I almost had to laugh when Kade's mouth fell open. “Zander?” he asked in disbelief. “Just yesterday you were hell-bent on avoiding him, now you want to get into a fake relationship with the guy? Are you sure you're not pregnant? Because that's one hell of a mood swing.”

“Don't be so dramatic. Zander knows Rhys, he would want to help. And since he gave me this book, that means he knows how it works! It's all just pretend. Nobody gets hurt.” And it would allow me to spend some time with Zander and figure out what it was that I was feeling for him. It was a win-win scenario, really.

“Are you sure it's all just pretend in the book? How many romance novels have you read? Because that's not usually how it goes.”

I had read exactly zero romance novels. But so what? “Does it matter? My life's not a romance novel.”

Kade sighed, but it seemed he had no counter-argument for that. “Do you really think this is a good idea?”

“Honestly? I'm not sure, but it's better than sitting on my ass.” If Zander was anything like the boy he used to be, he would understand. He would help me without asking too many questions. It had been a long time since we'd been each other's best friend, but in a way, I still trusted him. He would do the right thing.

Kade's shoulders slumped. “There's nothing I can do to stop you, is there?”

“No, I don’t think so.”