Page 82 of His Bonded Omega Mate
Jake was nearly bouncing. “If this works, I’ll be an omega!” He was genuinely happy about this, which made me feel like shit about my reaction. Asher rubbed a soothing hand up my back.
They had time to get used to the idea. You woke up in heat. That’s traumatic. No wonder you reacted like that.
“I’m an alpha, obviously, since we want to be one of the testing couples,” Seb added with a cheerful smile. He slung an arm around Jake and pulled him close. “Waiting a couple of days until Poppy can get us the spells will be the hard part.”
“We can pretend in the meantime. Practice,” Jake said with a lascivious grin.
Seb kissed him soundly. “I love the way you think. See you guys soon!” He all but dragged Jake away.
The line for information was almost finished by the time we got to Hiroshi. He looked exhilarated, and I wondered how much it weighed on him that all had blamed them for our transformation. I could often feel the prickles of guilt. He hid a lot from me; I knew that. I just hadn’t figured out how deep that wound had gone.
I made a last-minute decision. “Hey, Sunshine, I’m going to go to Abrocaelum and spend some time with Asher. Let you and Roan have some time for yourselves so you can celebrate. Is that okay?”
“What? You don’t have to ask that! Asher is your alpha mate. He comes before me. Go do your thing!”
I was speechless. “I... he... Sunshine, it isn’t like that.”
“No, maybe not. But maybe it should be?” he said it like a question. Did I think we should give priority to our alpha mates?
The more I thought about it, the more it sounded right. It could fix our issues with Asher’s alter. “Yeah, I think you’re right. See you in the morning! Have fun!”
Hiroshi directed a smirk to his waiting mate. “Oh, we will!”
A Private Party
Roan
Istoodwellbackfrom Asher and Tate as they approached Hiroshi. The gathering had passed better than I thought, with only a little grumbling about the news. Any trouble would come later, I was sure of it. Now I had some time to enjoy my mate, just the two of us.
Hiro having two mates wasn’t an issue to me. In fact, I was happy that he had Tate to love too. He had a big heart and could love more than one person fully. I think he needed another person to give his love and affection to, otherwise he wouldn’t feel complete. I knew he loved me. It was easy to see in his eyes the smile that lifted his plush lips that he only gave to me. He also had a special grin that only Tate brought out. With him, he was more cheeky. Still loving, just different. Hiro had believed he loved Ash, too. Then had mourned for his relationship with Asher much like I’d grieved briefly for him and Tate.
Getting over the pair had been... strange. Asher was easier because there had been a distance between us from the start. He had never really wanted to bond with me or Hiroshi. Tate, though, well, he had been much harder to get over. He had wanted to please Hiroshi so damn badly that he tied himself into knots to make it work. His guilt had eaten at him for a while until the pregnancy became his rightful focus. I could tell he still cared about me. I loved him, in a friend way, and that was what had been difficult to adjust to. The lost potential romantic love making way for a deep friend love. Asher and Tate, especially the omega, were my family.
Once they had moved away, I approached Hiroshi, who was still buoyed by his discovery. It belonged to him no matter what he said. The notes he said he had found no one else saw, and they had looked. Perhaps The Luna had given him a nudge in the right direction. I liked to think that our goddess was present in our lives even when we didn’t see her workings.
As the crowd dispersed, Hiroshi spoke to the elven scientists and his bosses before thanking Blake for getting everyone together. He effortlessly charmed everyone he spoke to.
Winter offered us a heaped plate of food to take home with us with a cheerful smile that looked genuine. He had been one beta that had woken before the rest, taking over kitchen duties from Larken when he could. Part of me worried that his happiness was feigned. Was he truly okay about not wanting to transform into an alpha or omega?
It made me think of the man and the life he had. He was always pleasant, always thinking of others. Winter displayed more of the typical omega traits than some omegas I had met since joining the pack. He had all the alphas in the pack whipped at just the suggestion he would make cookies for them or some other kind of sweet treat. Actually, being an omega maybe wasn’t appealing to Winter after all he had seen in his years with the pack. Perhaps he was just happiest as he was.
It was bitterly cold as we walked to our house from the mansion. Our breaths puffed in front of us in the air. If it hadn’t been for the food, I’d have suggested going in fur. I loved seeing my mate’s massive alter form. His tiger outweighed the tigers at the pride so he had gotten used to shifting less.
I wrapped an arm around him so that he didn’t slip on the icy path as we made our way through the woods to our new home. “Hmm, this is nice,” Hiroshi said into the quiet night. The stars twinkled above the treeline.
“You know I have no issue with you having two mates, right?” I wanted to turn him around so he could see my face. It was too cold for that, though. “But I am glad to have some time just us. It feels like we didn’t celebrate your pregnancy properly.” He squeezed me closer, agreement flowing down our bond. “I didn’t get to show you how much it meant to me. You doing this with me so soon after mating.”
“It was a simple decision to make. I knew you would always give me a choice.”
It truly was as simple as that.
“How about we take this food to bed and have a picnic there?” Hiro asked with a sly grin.
“You have the best ideas.”
I followed him up the winding stairs, looking at his plump ass the entire way. Pregnancy was a good look on my mate.
He set the plate on the bed and began removing his clothes, setting them in the hamper item by item.
