Page 45 of His Sassy Omega
So, she was just going to ignore what I’d said? I doctored my coffee until I had the exact amount of pale brown I craved. “Did you hear me?”
“I’m not deaf, of course I heard you. I’m just choosing to ignore you.”
I glared at her, sliding into a chair. “I suggest you don’t.”
She chortled like I was the funniest person she’d ever met. “Something has you riled up this morning. Want to talk about it?”
Her calmness, something I’d always admired, grated on my nerves this morning. I knew I wasn’t mad at her. Not really. No, my anger was directed towards a mouthy shit of an omega, but she was here, so…
“Jamie told us what you’re planning.”
She took a sip of coffee, her brown eyes holding my gaze. “What am I planning?”
I pointed a finger at her. “Don’t give me that innocent act. You know. No ambushing me with a blind date I don’t need or want. Just don’t.”
She was quiet for a long minute, sipping her coffee, not saying a word. Gazing at me with her mom eyes, while I fought the childish urge to squirm in my seat under her all-knowing perusal. Then she just shrugged. “Okay.”
I huffed. I wanted a fight, dammit, with someone. Anyone. “Okay? Just like that?”
She sighed, in the way only moms can, that makes you feel like you are three years old, and have sorely disappointed them. “Yes, just like that. Now, would you like to tell me why you are running at this ungodly hour on a Sunday morning, like the hounds of hell are chasing you?”
I took a sip of my coffee, enjoying the warmth it brought, along with the caffeine and sugar rush. Instead of telling her exactly what had me sowound up – because, ew, she’s my mom – I answered her question with one of my own. “Why are you up?”
“I was seeing someone out and I saw you in the distance, so I waited for you.”
My mind spun at her casual words, coming up with more questions than answers. “What?” I sputtered. “Who? What? A man?”
She smiled her sly smile, which said nothing, and took another long sip of her coffee. “Yes, a man. Who he is, is none of your business. He’s of no consequence, so it doesn’t matter. We’re talking about you.”
“The fuck we are!” I shouted. “Who is he?” I had no idea why I was getting so wound up about the thought of my mom having a lover…gag…but it was a perfect deflection for what was really eating me up inside. All my alpha instincts to protect had been front and center since I’d met Quinn. Touched Quinn, to be exact. They apparently extended to my mom too.
She waved a small, delicate hand in the air. “He is no one. He served his purpose, and now he is gone. Move on, Lachlan.” She snickered, then gave me a face. “Oh, my goodness, did you think I’ve been celibate all these years since your father passed? He’s been gone a long time.”
I’m pretty sure my brain may have actually exploded. To think of my mom, with some….stranger…doing….things. Things like Quinn and I did…gah, I needed to bleach my eyes.
“Oh my gosh, your face right now,” she hooted, wiping tears from her eyes. “You look absolutely scandalized. Newsflash, son, I’ve had sex since your dad died. Lots of sex.”
I couldn’t come up with any words that made any kind of sense. I was dumbfounded. Which was fine with my mom, as she continued. “Do I need to remind you that I was only eighteen when your father and I were mated? Nineteen when I had you boys, and not even thirty when I became a widow?”
I sputtered, then stopped, pausing. She’d been younger than me when she’d become a widow. In the prime of her life. A baby when she’d married and become a mother of four. “I guess I never thought of you, of that, like that. With you. I’m not making any sense.”
She waved my words away. “Of course you didn’t. I’m your mom, you aren’t supposed to see me as anything else. Now, tell me what’s really botheringyou.”
I sighed, and fiddled with my cup, twisting it this way and that. “Do you believe in fated mates?”
“In theory, of course. But I don’t know. Your father and I weren’t fated, you know that.”
“But you were mated, and you loved each other,” I said. You didn’t need to be fated to be mated to someone. If you did, the population would have died out a long time ago.
“We did, eventually,” she said after a moment. “Yes. But it took a little bit.”
Wait? What?
“What does that mean? Eventually?” I demanded, while my mind exploded for the third time in less than an hour.
“Your dad and I weren’t a love match. We were…” She was thoughtful while she chose her words carefully. “We were a business deal. I was a young, beautiful omega from a very wealthy family, and your dad was an older alpha, from an equally wealthy family, who was ready to settle down and produce an heir. My parents arranged it, and I’m sure money exchanged hands.”
I could feel my eyes widen. I felt like everything I’d ever thought I’d known about my parents’ marriage was a made-up version in my head. What was she saying? Had our father basically bought her? Ew…ick. Ididn’t want to think of him, of them, that way. It made my skin crawl and left a dirty film in its path.
