Page 39 of The Omega's Fake Mate

“Okay, you win.” Zander moved the flashlight away from the angel and pointed it at me instead. Then he reached out and brushed the snow out of my hair. “You must be cold.”

“It's not so bad,” I lied. I'd forgotten all about the cold while rushing into the woods, but my coat was starting to soak through. It wasn’t made for this kind of weather.

Zander shook his head, and without another word, he took his coat off and draped it over my shoulders. When I opened my mouth to protest, he laid a finger over my lips. “I'm way better adjusted to this weather than you are. Let's just head back to the car now.”

That last part I could agree with. Maybe if the snow kept up, Mary and I could build a snowman tomorrow. For now, I wanted to get inside somewhere, even though I didn't really feel cold anymore. Not when Zander was acting so warmly. Almost as if we were a real couple. Didn't he know that he didn't have to do that? No one could see us out here.

If he did it because he wanted to, what did that mean?

“You're being oddly quiet,” Zander noted when we were nearly back to the car.

“Just wondering if your parents bought our story,” I lied.

“We were being pretty convincing, I think.”

“Yeah, that kiss was a nice touch,” I agreed.

Nearly convincedmetoo.

“Let's hope our visit to your brother's community goes just as smoothly.”

“Heh, yeah. Did you know my brother immediately believed me when I told him about us?” We'd reached the car now and I was looking at Zander over the roof of it.

“Just like that?”

“Well, he was a little skeptical at first when I said I was getting married, but when I told him it was to you, he didn't have any more questions.” I wasn't sure why I was telling Zander this or how I wanted him to respond. I wasn't sure of much at all, but I needed to see his reaction.

It was difficult to make out Zander's features in the dark, but I thought I saw a look of surprise flit over his face before he opened the car door and got inside. “Oh?”

“My siblings had some sort of bet going, you see?” I said, climbing into the car as well. “About whether or not we were gonna get married someday. Kind of makes me mad.”

“The thought of us marrying makes you mad?”

“No.” I rubbed my hands, trying to shake the cold. “I'm only mad that they were running this bet behind our backs.” Surprisingly, I wasn't mad about the bet's content so much. I didn'tknowwhat to think about that.

My twin thought I was going to marry Zander. That didn't mean anything, though. After all, I could never have predicted Rhys' marriage either. He stood no better chance at predicting mine.

* * *

When Zander droppedme off at my cousin's place that night, I expected to find the family passed out on the couch in a blissful food coma. As I walked into the living room, though, I spotted only Shane, with Mary sleeping on the couch beside him and Hope passed out in his arms. At the foot of the leather furniture, I saw the dog, as dead to the world as the children, but no sign of Kade, Conner, or any of the guests they'd had over for the night.

“Where is everyone?” I asked Shane, who looked up at me as I came in.

“Everyone?” He yawned. “Kade and Conner are upstairs. Everyone else left.”

I glanced at the clock. Zander and I had left his parents' place pretty early, so even though we'd taken a stroll in the woods, it wasn't too late yet. I'd expected to see my brother Dean still here, at least.

Shane gave me a half-shrug. “Conner threw a bit of a tantrum and people decided it might be good to call it a night.”

A tantrum? Conner? My disbelief must have been clear on my face, because Shane elaborated.

“Griff had some news for us.” He grinned. “Dean and he are expecting another baby.” Shane let his head fall back into the leather of the couch and stroked his daughter's fine hair with his thumb. “This family is getting bigger all the time.”

“Oh, that's... great.” I tried to work up some enthusiasm.

“Anyway, for some reason, my son decided that he had to be rude about it.”

“What did he do?” I asked, but at that point Mary stirred next to Shane and distracted him.