Page 17 of My Omega's Miracle

“That will be from both of us. That’s how this works. We’re a package deal, you and I.”

He fiddled with the hem of his jacket—one I had lent him. It had been tucked in the back of my truck, and I was more than happy to have found it because my mate was running out of clothes. Perhaps on our drive home, we could stop for more, or I could text my friend and ask him to round up some secondhand things. Of course, I wanted to see his face when I told him I was mated. If I called him, then I’d ruin the surprise.

“We’ll find something for them there,” I said. “We’ll find you someplace you can get hot chocolate and presents and baked goods. Maybe even some crafts we can take home.”

He laughed. “I think I’m good on the baked goods.”

Noel hadn’t wanted to pack up the ingredients, so he’d spent the afternoon baking. We now had fresh rolls, cookies, no-bakes, snickerdoodles, and sugar cookies. I’d sampled each of them. Repeatedly.

I wasn’t sure my body could take any more sugar.

“That would be a nice gift. You could put together a plate of cookies for my family. My mom would love that.” Noel was a fantastic cook and baker. Yet another reason I wanted to punish his family. They had never appreciated him or even told him how talented he was.

“That’s a good idea,” he said. “Maybe we can find a nice container to put them in! Thanks, Garrick,” he said, leaning up and kissing my cheek.

“No distractions, mate. I’m driving.”

He chuckled. “You’re the one who slid me so close to you.”

“Because I can’t bear to have you be away from me. When we get home, I’ll have you by my side all the time. We’ll never stop holding hands.”

He giggled. “Pretty sure that will get old fast. I love you, but there are times when we need to be apart.”

“Say that again.”

“Not a lot of time, but you know… sometimes we need to be apart.” His cheeks flushed a deep red.

“Not that. The other part. The part where you said you love me.”

His gaze lowered, and he looked up at me through his long lashes. “I do, Garrick. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

***

The festival was a popular one. We had to park quite a ways away. Not that I minded, that was just more time I could spend walking with my hand linked in my mate’s.

The entrance to the festival was a beautiful archway lit up with lights and decorated with garland.

“Oh, it’s gorgeous! I wish I could take a picture.”

I pulled out my cellphone. The reception had been spotty at the cabin, so I had kept it off most of the time. It was fully charged now.

I pulled my mate close to me and extended my arm. “Smile!”

I snapped a picture, capturing the surprise on his face. The glow of the lights around us made it all the more magical.

“That’s the first of about a million pictures I’ll take of the two of us, Noel.”

“Give a guy a warning next time.”

I snapped another quick one, this time of just him. “Candid pictures are the best, and I’m going to fill our house with them.”

Once we were inside the festival, we followed the path to each of the booths. There were bakeries, jewelry, holiday decor, and so many other booths selling goods. Noel stopped at each and every one, leaning more about the owners of the booth and what their business was. With each person he gave them his full attention and listened attentively. It was beautiful to watch. I thanked all the stars in the sky and Father Snowcoat himself for gifting me such a perfect mate. If he paid half as much attention to my pack members as he did these strangers, then my pack would be in good hands.

“Garrick! She started baking and decorating cookies when she was just a young cub and look at her amazing designs now!”

I stepped closer to the table. The cookies were beautifully decorated with amazing detail. The Santas even had rosy red cheeks and a twinkle in their eye. “They’re gorgeous,” I said. “I bet you could get this good with your decoration as well.”

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