Page 25 of The Omega's Fake Mate

“I'm sorry.” Kade probably did many things better than me when it came to handling children. Raising kids just wasn't my thing. Funny, considering I'd been born omega. But then, I wasn't a typical omega in many ways. I didn't want to be either.

“It's okay.” Mary hopped off the bed. “Time for tea now!” she declared.

“Can't wait.”

* * *

About an hourinto tea time with Mary, Mrs. Panda (a stuffed toy with a pink ribbon tied around its panda head), and the Queen of England, my cell phone rang. I'd never been more glad to hear the beats ofOmega's Got Movesboom throughout the room.

“I gotta take this,” I said, setting down my tiny tea cup and standing up from the tiny chair I'd been sitting in.Damn,stretching felt good. But I was in such a hurry to get out of the room that I stepped on a Lego on my way out.

Wordscame out of my mouth. Bad words. If Mary repeated any of them, Shane was going to have my hide.

Reason number four I should never be a parent.

“Hello?” I answered my phone. In my rush, I hadn't even looked at the caller ID.

“Hey.”

“Rhys?” My mouth stood open. Yeah, he'd said he would call, but I never thought he'd actually do it without another reminder.

“You wanted to talk, didn't you?”

“Yeah, I did. I'm just surprised. Hang on.” I went into the guest room where I could speak without being overheard.

“To be honest,” Rhys spoke on, “I was kind of worried you'd do something reckless if I didn't call.”

You might be too late, brother.“Something reckless? Me? Please.”

“Let's just say I know you.”

I scoffed. “I thought I knew you too, and then you married a Vinist. Turns out, people can surprise you.”

“I guess.” All humor left my brother's voice. I couldn't tell whether that was because of my remark or because he regretted what he'd done. “I'm only calling to let you know that I'm okay.”

“Oh, okay, I'm totally convinced.”

“Nick...”

“I know what I felt last night, bro, and that was not okay. You won't even tell me what happened. Hell, I still don't even know what you're doing in a Vinist community in the first place. You were the smart one, Rhys! You were supposed to be smarter than this.” Did I feel let down? Yeah, a bit, but most of all, I was worried. Nothing about what my brother was doing was making sense to me.

And then he asked a question that took the wind out of my sails.

“Have you ever fallen in love, Nick?”

“That's... How does that matter?” And why was I thinking of Zander? I didn't know too much about love, but I was pretty sure that our pre-teen relationship didn't count.

“If you had, you wouldn't have to ask.”

“How could you fall in love with an asshole?” Why were we so different? I could hardly get myself interested in the good guys and my brother fell for a Vinist?

“He's not an asshole, he just grew up with a different belief system. You could stand to be a little more tolerant.”

“Riiight. You know what? I'm feeling super tolerant. In fact, I'm feeling so tolerant that I want to learn everything about your community. I'm going to come visit. Is next month good for you?”

“What are you talking about? You know you can't visit.”

“You said an unmated omega couldn't visit. Guess what?”