Page 60 of The Omega's Alpha
He shrugged. “Edmond ran out to grab some potato chips and soda—he’s really excited about that.” He grinned and for a second I could see a bit of Quin in him. “Might as well throw him in the deep end of the pond. He won’t get in much trouble going to a corner store, and food’s a good distraction at that age.”
I smiled at his joke and got up to check my appearance in the mirror. Didn’t want any bedface or other distractions when I met this human who could open doors for me.
I stood in the bathroom for at least ten minutes, staring at myself in the mirror. My hair fell in sleek, shiny sheets like it usually did—I’d washed it this evening before we left. Shadows darkened the skin underneath my eyes, but that was nothing new. The photographer would just have to figure out a way around it. I ran my hands down my t-shirt, chosen specially to cling to the shape of my body. It was the one I wore when I wanted to tease Quin all day long, until he’d lock the door behind Louise with hands shaking with the effort to hold himself in check, and even now, as I looked myself over with a critical eye, it looked good. Sexy. I thought that was what Freddy had been talking about, when he’d told me to dress up my assets. Maybe I should have brought some make-up—I didn’t even have eyeliner with me.
Fuck it.
I checked my phone—it was bedtime for the pups. And right on cue, it rang, and Quin’s face flashed up on the screen.
“Hi, how was the evening?”
The sound of pups playing in the background leaped out of the speaker before Quin said, “Good. We played tag out in the park after pizza, and we just got in.”
“Don’t let them stay up too late.”
“I won’t. But they wanted to say good night to you before I barricaded them in their rooms.”
I laughed. “Put them on, then.”
Quin’s voice faded as he called the pups, and then Dorian was on. “Hi, Holland, we had pizza!”
“Did you? Was it good?”
“Uh huh. The cheese was all stretchy. I got sauce on my shirt. Teca and Bea laughed.”
“That’s okay. Tell Quin to put it in water to soak and ask Seosamh to scrub it tomorrow, okay?”
“I will. Aggie wants to talk to you.”
“All right. Goodnight, sweetheart. Put your sister on.” The phone made funny scruffing noises, then Agatha said, “Hi, Holland. Is the hotel nice?”
“It is.” I looked down at the sink and the tiny bottle of shampoo and conditioner beside it. “I’ll see if I can bring you and Dorian back something. Would you like that?” Maybe they had some treats here with the hotel name or something on them. Or maybe I’d have time to wander around some of the stores we’d passed on the way here.
“Uh huh.” The line went dead for a moment, until I began to wonder if she’d dropped it on the couch and wandered off the way young pups do, and then I heard her take a deep breath. “Holland, you’re gonna come home, right?”
“Of course I am, Aggie.”
Someone knocked on the door and Mac’s voice said, “Holland? We need to go.”
I opened the door and held up a finger, making use again of my Alpha’s Mate status. Mac shook his head and walked off to throw himself into one of the chairs and wait.
Agatha’s voice was tight and nervous. “You sure? ‘Cause there’s humans out there and what if there’s a fire?”
Lady Lysoonka, that poor child.“I am, for sure. And they have sprinklers, like we have in the apartment. So if there is a fire, it’ll be put out right away. And Mac and Edmond are here with me. They won’t let anything happen.” She didn’t say anything, but I could hear her sniffle. “Are you going to bed now?”
“Uh huh.”
“Want your song?”
“Uh huh.”
“Is Dorian still up? If he is, can you put the phone on speaker?”
“Speaker?”
“Ask Quin.”
She yelled for Quin without taking the phone away from her mouth. I winced and switched the phone to my other ear, then frowned at Mac’s grin.
