Page 11 of Watcher's Omega

“I think you’d have done a very good job at that. You did save Glenn,” I grinned.

“You know, some guys would get mad about that.”

“About you saving Glenn?” I asked.

“No,” he laughed. “About me saying maybe they’re not always an alpha.”

“I don’t remember what happened in my past life. I could’ve been a fish or an axolotl for all I know,” I shrugged. “Getting angry over hypotheticals seems to be a pastime for some people and even if I were a fish in a past life should I be mad at the fisherman? It is good to learn from the past and it is even better to remember the good times. One should plan for the future too, but focusing on the here and now is how we have all survived this long. And in the here and now we are together for however long we live. Plus, you should know, carriers are sacred in the wild. Okay, they’re not to be messed with because they will eat your guts while you’re still alive for messing with their young, but that’s what makes them sacred!” I grinned and pulled him in for a kiss.

At the table, Jolly whined. He disembarked from his chair and ran back into the living room. He nudged the back of my legs with the top of his head, trying to push me into the kitchen.

“Hungry?” I asked Eamon.

“Starving. Those burgers seem like eons ago,” he nodded.

I picked him up again.

“Is this another tradition? Carrying your mate to his meal?” Eamon laughed.

“You smell so tired,” I said. “It hurts me that you’re this tired.”

Jolly jumped back up in his chair. He’d eaten every time we took a break the night before but the catering spread included sausage gravy and fried potatoes, both of which he was ratherpartial to. Usually, I’d only give him a taste, but everyone deserved their favorites at a celebration, and he had worked longer hours than usual yesterday.

Chapter Eight

Eamon

Hemlock Mountain

After our army-sized breakfast, Rhomas tucked me into bed. Literally tucked me into bed, securing the blankets around me and turning on a heating feature that was somehow buried deep inside the mattress. He hovered over the bed, wondering if he was meant to sleep with me or to take another bed. The house was large enough that I’d be surprised if he had less than a dozen bedrooms. Still, I wanted him to stay with me.

As soon as the thought crossed my mind it must’ve hit my scent because it was only then that he kicked off his shoes and crawled into bed with me. Jolly followed behind him, lying all pressed up against his back. There were so many things I wanted to talk to Rhomas about and then there was the half-opened condition of the mating link. I wanted him as much as Glenn implied I should, but I was so tired and now with his body heat and the heater inside the mattress making me all toasty, I couldn’t fight off exhaustion anymore. I didn’t want to sleep the first day of the new year away, but the night before had made that choice for me.

While I slept, I dreamt that I was chasing the guy who hurt my friend down. Books ran along side me, flapping their covers and breathing fire. Jolly was taller than our apartment building and gobbled him up only for him to run out of the tip of the wolf’s tail. The chase started all over again and the hamburgerscomplete with their veggies and their buns joined in on the hunt. This time one of the hamburgers ate him and he jumped out the other side of the sandwich, the color of a pickle smeared with mustard. The chase scene may have played on forever if the aroma of grilled cheese and tomato soup didn’t reach my brain.

“Huh? Glenn?” I called out more out of habit than anything.

A second later, before I even had the chance to open my eyes, a tongue reached out and licked my eyelids.

“Good morning or whatever to you too, Jolly,” I managed to laugh as the wet tongue found my face again.

“When I told him we couldn’t eat lunch until you woke up, I never imagined that he’d wake you up,” Rhomas laughed from the doorway. “I hope you slept well.”

“I had the strangest dreams,” I said.

“It smells like it. I made grilled cheese and tomato soup. There’s also steaks because someone needs more meat than carbs in their diet even if he doesn’t believe me,” Rhomas said.

“A wolf after my own heart,” I said, wrapping an arm around Jolly.

He whined against my chest, tail wagging ninety miles an hour, trying to hurry me out of the bed for lunch. He wiggled out of my arm and rolled around the bed on his back.

“I gotta pee first, boy,” I said. “Wait, is it okay to call him boy? I know he’s not a dog but…”

“Unless it’s a bad name, call him whatever you like. He won’t bite you unless you call him late for dinner,” Rhomas laughed.

“Good to know,” I said.

“Come on, Jolly. Give him a few minutes to come to life. He’ll meet us in the kitchen when he’s ready.”