Page 21 of Single Omega Dad
I crawled back into my bed, pulling the covers up tight over my naked body. I closed my eyes and immediately Mathias’s dark visage was there in my mind.
Yes, of course I wanted him. But any chance I had was minimal. I had another Alpha’s kids, which made me not the greatest catch in the world. Worse, I was pregnant. Plus, the lunch I’d offered him had been inadequate. He hadn’t finished his sandwich. And he’d left too quickly afterward with the excuse of having appointments.
Now there was no reason for him to see me again. He was my financial guardian who promised to keep his distance, and that was that.
I pretty much resigned myself to being alone for the raising of my kids. I needed to get my mind off Mathias and focus on my family and my two children who were on the way.
Turning onto my side, I forced my mind to quiet. My body and my thoughts, however, had other ideas.
I tossed and turned. After a long time, when I finally managed to fall into a doze, there was Mathias waiting for me in my dreams with those sleek, narrowed eyebrows and a look that was made of barely held back impatience and condescension. He was probably an ass and a terrible lover anyway, thought my dream-self.
But my mind did not want to get rid of him.
Chapter Seven
Mathias
I sat at the long, sparkling table, Trigg at my side and Father seated, as always, at the head of the table. Our little brothers, Mica and Bren, sat facing us. Both boys were eighteen now and had already experienced their first Burns. Together, they were studying for their degrees in business and finance, never apart, even sharing the same dorm room at college.
They were on a break for a few days and had come home.
“It’s nice to see my boys all together,” Father said. “We don’t get to do this often anymore. Cheers.” Father held up his glass of three hundred dollar a bottle champagne.
Trigg grabbed his glass, as did Mica and Bren. I sat for a moment staring at my shining plate, seeing the dim reflection of myself in the surface: smug, hard, maybe even sinister since my eyes were always tightly drawn and my eyebrows pressed together.
Something didn’t feel right tonight. I usually got along with Father, and my brothers were no problem. But tonight I was restless and uncomfortable. Not at all hungry, though the smells wafting in from the kitchen were wonderful.
The last food I’d eaten had been a sandwich. One I’d made myself from the cold cuts in Saber’s fridge. I did not remember its flavor, or anything about it, really, except the company.
Saber.
I squirmed in my seat, the thought of his name and the image of the Omega’s face in my mind making me feel too hot.
Suddenly, I realized everyone at the table was looking at me. They all had their glasses raised. I had not even touched mine.
“Mathias, are you not drinking for some reason tonight?” Father asked.
I didn’t look at Father but slowly reached out to pick up my glass. The liquid swirled gold within.
“Kris should be here,” I said softly.
I saw Bren and Mica’s eyes widen and they glanced at each other. Trigg cleared his throat.
Father said, simply, “Why?”
I saw my own face tighten even more in the reflection of my plate. “Because he’s our brother. And your son.”
Father set his glass down hard. It made an odd thunk that echoed in the dining room and momentarily took away the glimmer and glamour of the dinner table.
“I think you understand the reasons why Kris isn’t here.”
“Yes. He’s different. And he married your neighbor across the street, a marriage you didn’t sanction.”
“No more words need to be spoken of it.”
I stole a glance at Father and saw his face had reddened a bit. There was more to the story than that. Father didn’t want Kris around for other reasons as well. One of those reasons was that Father, in the confusion of a sudden early onset of his Burn, had tried to rape Kris.
What an Alpha did during his Burn was considered private, and if he broke the law, Alpha law was lenient. If you were truly considered a threat, you were labeled a dangerous Alpha and that went into official government records. Before any mate-bond marriage, that declaration had to be known by all parties upfront.
