Page 61 of The Omega's Alpha
Obviously, he knew exactly what had happened, but he confirmed it by saying, “The joys of pups and technology.”
Then Quin was on the phone. “Hey.”
“I’ll call you before I go to bed, let you know how the meeting went.” I saw Mac checking the time on his phone. “I can’t stay long, we’re heading down now. Can you put the phone on speaker so I can sing a bedtime song for the pups?”
“Sure.”
A moment later, the voices in my ear took on that underwater sound that told me I was on speaker. “Everyone there?”
“We’re all here,” Quin said, and the pups—Bax’s middle two as well—chimed in to let me know they were there.
I nodded to Mac and started toward the door. We’d just barely be on time as it was, but my daughter was going to get her song. So we walked slowly down the hallway toward the elevator, and I sang the song about the ten little pups who went hunting, but one by one they all got distracted, until there were no little pups left hunting. We had to wait outside the elevator, which was the only reason I got to the last pup, but I made it and if the song was a little rushed at the end, the pups didn’t seem to mind.
Quin came back on as the doors slid open. “I’m going to put them to bed now.”
“I’ll call you as soon as we’re locked in.”
“Okay. Talk to you soon. Love you.”
I flushed and smiled, avoiding the eyes of the alphas with me. “Love you too.” I ended the call and stepped inside the elevator. The hiss as the doors closed sounded like the future. I hoped a bright one.
Chapter Fifty-Two
Mac knewthe layout of the hotel already and he led us straight to the bar where we were supposed to meet Freddy and his friend. Edmond was doing his best to appear nonchalant—I doubted the humans noticed his nervousness—but I could smell it in his scent and thought Mac could too, from how he went out of his way to be pleasant and relaxed whenever we saw a human.
I couldn’t really claim that I wasn’t nervous myself. I’d never stayed in a hotel before, though Abel had coached me on what to expect when he’d noticed how anxious I was while packing. I didn’t want to do anything that would cast the pack in a bad light. Or to make Quin worry about me, which meant I had to be strong even when I didn’t feel it.
We walked into the bar and stopped for a moment to look around. It was small, dim, with little tables scattered around. I didn’t see Freddy. “Where should we sit?” I asked.
“Is he here?” Mac scanned the room.
“No. We might as well pick a spot to wait.” I had a sudden nervous thought that maybe he was late, or wasn’t going to come at all, that the designer had said no to working with a shifter and we’d come all this way and spent all this money for nothing.
“There’s two tables close together at the far end of the bar,” Edmond said in a low voice. “They’ve got a good view of the door.”
“Then that’s where we’ll go,” Mac decided. He nodded to Edmond to lead us over, falling in behind me like a good Head of Security.
We sat with Mac and me facing the door, Edmond with his back to it. A young human woman carrying a round tray started toward us, then abruptly turned and walked off, her steps jerky and hurried. Automatically, my hand went to my collar, where the tabs shone like Beware of Dog signs.
Mac sighed. “I guess we’ll have to go get our own drinks.”
“I’ll get them,” I said and stood up.
Mac pulled me back down into my chair. “Edmond can get them.” He passed over a credit card. “What do you want, Holland?”
Oh. “Uh, water is fine.” The alcohol was tempting, but I didn’t want to get too relaxed.
Mac raised his eyebrows, but when I didn’t change my mind, he shrugged and sent Edmond off for my water and a beer for him. With Edmond out of earshot, as long as he didn’t borrow from his wolf anyway, Mac dipped his head near mine. “Quin put me in charge of your security. I don’t want you doing that omega waiting-on-the-alphas thing, because it takes you away from me.”
I tilted my head close to his. “Jason was out in the human world for six years. And I’ve been getting regularly pummeled by you and Quin. I can look after myself. I just don’t want to offend the humans.”
“Jason had his parents with him, and lived a shitty life for those six years. Andhewasn’t holding hope for the entire pack, and maybe all packs, in his hands. Quin asked me to make sure you were safe and that the only things you needed to think about were the things you came here for, the modeling, the designer. Whatever. Not for you to be worrying if Edmond or I are thirsty or hungry or might want…whatever. You’re Alpha’s Mate, too, which makes it more complicated.”
Oh again. I hadn’t considered that. It was all so new, I still felt like just an omega. “Okay, I guess. I’m just not used to it yet.”
Mac smiled and leaned back. “I don’t imagine. It’s been what? Twenty-four hours? Tomorrow’s enough time to figure it out. And I think you’re doing fine.”
Edmond came back with our drinks and as he was setting them down, I saw Freddy walk in with a short, wiry man with heavy dark-rimmed glasses, wearing a pair of jeans that I likely would have turned into rags already. I stood up and waved awkwardly at him, my knees gone suddenly to rubber.
