Page 105 of His Bonded Omega Mate
“Is still there. It could heal, but will he be any less of an alpha if it doesn’t?”
“No.” Asher answered for Tate. “Because you all have me to guard you as well.” Asher wrapped an arm around Tate and reached for my hand, which I gave with a thankful squeeze. “Hiroshi is our heart, Roan is our brains, I’m the brawn, and Tate is —“
“What am I?” my mate questioned.
“Our dreamer,” I said. “You keep us hoping for more.”
Once more, Tate’s eyes filled with tears. “Aww, that’s the nicest thing! Hormones really suck!” A stray tear slipped down his pale cheek.
Aldrin interrupted our moment. “Hiroshi can stay here until we are sure the labor will not start. He needs to stay with Roan.”
“Can we stay in the same room? I need to be closer to him,” I pleaded.
Aldrin looked at James, who answered. “We have a room with a larger bed. We’ll get you settled next to him. Oh, his father is on his way, he promises to give blood and do anything to help his son.”
I scoffed. “Helpful now, right? Once everything has been done.” I didn’t believe it for one second.
James squeezed my shoulder. “I feel that there’s more to come.”
Sleeping curled up against Roan’s good arm was restful and healing for the both of us. We needed that skin to skin connection not only for us, but for our alters.
The morning sun rising over the horizon roused me from a deep sleep where I dreamed about the babies all playing in our yard while the alphas watched and Tate rested with me. It left me with a peaceful feeling that must have seeped down the bond.
“What were you dreaming about?” Roan whispered, his eyes still closed.
I explained the dream, and he smiled, his emerald eyes catching mine. He was so precious to me. To all of us. “Thank you for saving Tate and the baby. I... I don’t know what I would have done if —“
“Now you never have to know. I didn’t even think about it. My wolf was moving before my human side caught up. Asher would have done the same if it were you. No one else would have found you that fast.”
“I’m glad you two are okay now.” I sat up with some struggle. “You are okay, aren’t you? Ash can come home?”
“Hey,” Roan soothed, his good hand reaching for me. I noticed he hadn’t moved the other one at all. “Of course he can. We just needed our alters out of the way so us human halves could talk. We figured it out. Then by the time we had our animal selves back, it didn’t matter because we had something more important to focus on — you and Tate.”
I turned into his chest and cried. “I’m so glad.” Just being with Roan like this was enough for me to feel better about all that had happened. Knowing that Jared was in custody helped massively. He couldn’t come for me and no one could take Tate from me.
“Did you hear that me and Tate are fated, too?”
“When I was on the floor? Yeah, I heard that and, you know, it makes perfect sense.”
I cocked my head. “It does?”
“Yeah. You were always so driven to have Tate in your life somehow. I know you care for Asher, but it was all about Tate. There was something inside you telling you that Tate was supposed to be yours. It makes sense that it was a mating bond this whole time.”
“Huh. So you’re okay with it?”
“Baby, I ain’t playing with fate. I care about Tate. In another life, maybe we would have all worked out, but it wasn’t time for us. I’m just glad you got to keep him.”
In all the ruckus as the pack came for us and we returned to the compound, I’d almost missed something else. “Tate and Asher must be fated too. They still had their bond in the van and that was after two potions to end a bond. One was Basil’s and the other Poppy’s. I have no idea how Jared got one of Poppy’s potions.”
Aldrin and Ívarr entered the room and checked both of us out. Ívarr must have heard the end of our conversation because he answered. “Poppy was making batches of the bond breaking potion for our testing on the betas. We are finalizing things with the council and should start around the time the babies arrive. We’ve noticed that some potions have been going missing. Yet another reason we had to halt plans for testing. Oh, and Michaella will be on hand to be your doula, as you wanted.”
Roan looked confused. “I thought she was a midwife and a nurse.”
Aldrin gave a patient smile. “A doula is a better term for her services. She guides the omega through the birth and for the time afterwards. I know Hiroshi expressed some interest in feeding the babies himself. Chest feeding, or breastfeeding if you prefer.”
My mate jerked beside me. “That’s possible?”
“Of course, men have breast tissue. It just requires the right hormones to prompt milk supply. As an omega, Hiroshi’s body is primed to provide for the babies. It is a practice that has long since been phased out with male omegas due to gender stereotyping and general male omega oppression —“
