Page 11 of His Bonded Omega Mate
The longer we got between the events, the more sure I was about my decision. If the pride or my former clan insisted I mate Jared, I’d put an end to things. Dramatic maybe, but my tiger was silently supporting my decision. We would never survive that man.
So, with a couple of weeks between my heat and Tate and Asher waking, I tucked my resolution into the recesses of my soul and made my peace with it. I tried to regain my sunny side again.
Aware of my agreement with Logan, I had to help my betas get well, then end things. I needed to be more proactive about looking for my fated mate. He was out there, somewhere. I knew it. He felt closer than he had before, and I wondered if Poppy at The Spell Shop had any handy spells I could use to draw him to me.
Seeing Tate’s eyes open after a month of being closed took my breath away. His eyes were a bright cornflower blue and sought me out immediately.
“Hiro?” His voice was croaky from disuse.
“I’m here. Hold on, let’s get you up and get some water.” I fussed over Tate, keeping half an eye on Asher. Tate drank greedily, his eyes never leaving my face as I sought to avoid his gaze.
As if he knew I was watching, Asher’s eyes cracked open. Deep, warm chocolate pools found me. His eyes shifter bright. “Hiroshi?”
“I’m here. I can’t believe you’re both awake!” My voice cracked with emotion. Tears ran down my face. I wasn’t ready for this. Though I’d missed them dearly, with them awake, our time was running out.
“How long?” Tate asked as I helped Asher drink some water.
I sat on the bed and watched them. Perhaps unconsciously, they had reached for each other, their fingers twining. “It’s been a month since you fell into a deep, coma-like sleep.”
They stared at me, and we sat in silence as they digested the news. I should have reported to my alpha that they were awake, but I just wanted to enjoy this moment for a bit longer.
“You okay, Sunshine?” Tate looked worried, a frown marring his pale face.
“It’s been a hard month,” I hedged.
Asher looked like he was thinking about something heavy before the answer came to him in a flash. “Your heat.”
I felt sick. This was the last thing that I wanted to discuss with them. They’d only just woken. It wasn’t the time for it.
“Handled. It’s fine,” I said dismissively. “Let’s check your vitals and then I’d better tell Alpha Logan that you’re awake.”
Tate let me check him and write observations in my notebook. Asher caught my wrist as I went to take his pulse. “Please. What happened? Something’s wrong.”
“Asher —“ Tate started warningly.
“No, Tate. There’s something not right with Hiroshi. He’s hiding something.” His eyes rested on me. “We understand if someone had to take you through your heat, okay? We weren’t here and the toys suck.”
I attempted a little chuckle, but it came out as a sob.
Arms reached for me, and they pulled me between them. “Tell us, baby,” Asher crooned into my ear.
Between sobs, I told them the whole thing, including the conversation with Logan about ending our relationship.
Tate clung to me as I cried, curled up against Asher. “We won’t give you up. We’ll just put more distance between us in public. See you less. It’ll be okay, Sunshine.”
“You can’t know that!” I wailed, letting weeks of frustration out.
“No, I can’t. All I can say is that I love you and I believe The Luna put you in our lives for a reason,” Tate soothed.
My attraction to the betas had happened instantly. I’d come from a brief visit to my family in Japan three years ago as part of the pact with my clan. Having done healer training, I was well traveled. Healers were in demand in packs all over the world. I’d been working in Europe before I’d gone home for a quick break, unaware that they had sold me. I was proud that my services were in high demand because of being a powerful healer. Yet my parents had valued my ability to make more Japanese tigers over my goddess given ability to heal the sick and injured.
I’d been resentful of being treated like a commodity, but had found peace in the pride with Logan as our alpha. Until I’d met Jared, of course. He’d been too young to mate then. His mother had him with her at her birth pack, where she’d returned after her mating to Logan had ended. He arrived in the pride just before his twenty-first birthday, the age of maturity in shifters and had been charming at first with the pack elders about. Our first meeting hadn’t gone well, so I’d been keen after his first impression to delay our mating for as long as possible.
Weeks of back-and-forth negotiations occurred, and I bought myself four years. Just four years to find my fated mate, then my betrothal would dissolve with no fault for either side, something vital to prevent a war between my clan and the pride.
With no fated mate, I’d be stuck with Jared until I’d produced two cubs. Only then could I break the forced mating. It was a crummy situation to be in, but as an omega, especially in my clan, I’d had few rights. We weren’t badly treated as such. We were supposed to be coddled baby makers, not have careers and hopes and dreams of our own.
Thankfully, Logan was keen to have me in his pack. Gaining a powerful healer and a mate for his youngest son in one person was a pretty sweet deal for him. He was a pragmatic man. Knew the faults of his son and often apologized for the position I was stuck in.
