Page 6 of Bitter Heat
Wolf-god, Kerry felt humiliated looking back now. He’d been so easy to flatter. Even easier to woo. He shuddered, pressing another kiss to Kiwi’s beak, needing her return nuzzle more than she ever truly needed his affection.
Another waft of the savory pot pie made Kerry salivate. He breathed it in. His pater used parsnips, and it gave the pie a holiday taste even though they were months away from the Autumn Nights feast days.
His stomach growled, and he gave in to his hunger, placing Kiwi on the perch in his cage. Kiwi chirruped sweetly, and Kerry murmured, “It’s nearly bedtime. But I’ll fly you soon, darling.”
The bird danced merrily and then turned to admire himself in the small mirror Kerry had rigged in the cage. Kiwi loved to look at himself, obviously finding his own feathers glorious. Kerry had once been the same, flattered and puffed up by Wilbet’s admiration, but he couldn’t stand his own reflection these days.
Speaking of…
He smoothed a brush through his long, curly hair so that his pater wouldn’t be embarrassed. He tied the mess of it back, then quietly descended the stairs. He paused outside the oven-warm kitchen and pressed himself against the soft, crumbling wallpaper just outside it long enough to listen.
Alphas tended to be overbearing at times, and Kerry didn’t want to deal with that. Not tonight. He’d rather go hungry. He wondered what his pater had thought when he agreed to book this alpha here for the year. A pregnant omega and an unmatched alpha living together without the omega’s alpha between them as a buffer could become quite awkward. Kerry swallowed hard as some clarity dawned.
Wolf-god, Pater, what are you thinking?
“Shouldn’t we wait for him?” he heard the alpha ask.
“No, go on. Dig in. He’ll come on his own if he comes at all.” There was a brief silence. “So, you met Kerry, then?” Plates clattered, and a spoon clanged against a pot.
“Kerry? Is that your son?” The alpha’s voice was higher pitched than Kerry’s, but it was a nice, bright tenor. This man was probably a fine singer. What was his name again?
Ah,Janus, yes.
That was what the alpha had said as he’d stood there in Kerry’s doorway looking far too handsome and way too worldly for his own good. It’d irritated Kerry that after everything he’d come to understand about life and alphas in particular, his body would still respond to one against his will. That roses, lemon, and hint of pine had lingered on so enticingly. Surely it was too soon for the pregnancy hormones to already be affecting him?
Regardless, it had affected him.
Janus went on, “Yes, I met him briefly, but I didn’t get his name.”
“Kerry it is,” Pater said, clanging a bit more. He was never a quiet chef. “And his little bird is Kiwi. I expect if you saw Kerry upstairs, he had the bird in hand.”
“Yes.” Janus was quiet a moment and then said awkwardly, “Such a pretty thing.”
Kerry moved to stand in the space just behind the kitchen door, pressing in so that he could look through the crack to observe the scene at the small table. The delicate scent of the new alpha reached him even over that of the savory pot pie, and he fought the urge to breathe it in and taste it. He narrowed his attention on the scene and watched carefully.
Pater seemed in good spirits and had put in a bit of effort with his appearance, his gray hair smoothed down neatly. Janus was also looking well, with a pleasant flush to his skin, likely from the oven’s heat. He wore a nice, stylish shirt that somehow came across as only slightly wrinkled after his long trip. Plus,oh, wolf-god, help, his strong jaw, big eyes, and loose, curly hair that fell over his forehead were all beyond dashing. This man had undoubtedly brought many omegas to their knees.
Kerry gritted his teeth. Yes, Janus certainly played the part of a dream alpha—handsome, well-built, and likely from a good family. Though Kerry had learned well enough that appearances could deceive, and coming from a “good family” was no guarantee of good character at all.
Suddenly, Janus flushed deeper and cleared his throat. “The bird, I mean. Thebirdis a pretty thing. All the, ah, colors.”
Kerry’s lips betrayed him, quirking into a small smile.
So, Janus had thoughthewas pretty, too, then. Annoying as it was, Kerry’s starving ego took sustenance in knowing that he was still attractive to alphas, even if he truly didn’t want to be. Even if it felt dangerous.
He bit into his lower lip and watched Janus carefully, looking for signs of trouble or temper. Anything to tell him what to expect for the next many months, or to give him a reason to insist his pater dismiss the man outright. On the surface, he could find nothing.
“Very pretty,” Janus said again, almost desperately.
“That he is. The bird, I mean,” Pater said, putting Janus out of his misery.
Janus’s relief was so great and obvious that Kerry let out a small huff that, in the past, he’d have loosed as a deep laugh. But true laughter was in short supply for Kerry these days.
“A male of the species,” Pater explained, starting in on his pot pie. “As is evidenced by the coloring. The females, from what Kerry tells me, are gray. Can you imagine?”
Janus grunted softly, smearing a hunk of butter onto his bread. Kerry raised a brow. It was definitely going to cut into their budget if their boarder planned to consume butter at such a rate regularly. The Monhundys were generous, but even they had a limit as to how much they’d spare for Pater. He was, in their estimation, a nuisance.
“He was…quiet,” Janus offered.
