Page 13 of Mating the Omega
“You’re certain about this?”
“I am. I’m tired. I want a home. I want a garden. I need to look after things. He’ll get some pups on me, and then you can be Grandpappy.”
He chuckled. “Your mom was looking forward to spoiling your pups and sending them back to you.”
“You’ll have to do double duty then. They’ll never want to live with me when you’re through with them.”
His arms tightened around me. “All right.” He sat up and his grip loosened. “Let me meet this suitor of yours, and I’ll let him know if he’s good enough to mate you.”
“You’re the best, Dad.” I wanted to stay there, and not put an end to our last few moments as a family, but I didn’t know how long the alphas would leave us be. “They’re just outside. I’ll invite them in?”
He nodded, and let go so I could go to the door and beckon the two men inside.
The Alpha entered first. I was surprised when he nodded respectfully to my father and call him ‘Sir’. Then Mac came in, closing the door behind him, and repeated the performance. It had to be a performance—Dad wasn’t an alpha, not even a beta, just an average delta wolf, an ordinary guy. But they treated him like they were negotiating with the head of another pack, asking if he wanted changes made in the contract, initialing the new part that said I had the right to leave if I wasn’t happy, or that he could take me away if he had reasonable belief that I was being abused. They spent an hour hashing out what reasonable belief was, and what standard of proof should be expected. The Alpha surprised me again by hobbling himself even further by giving me two months to decide if I wanted to mate within the Mercy Hills Pack, and that in the meantime I would be hired to work in a new section of the community gardens, paid at a rate that made my eyes widen. No one paid omegas; their labor was required.
“We pay omegas,” the Alpha said gruffly. “Your housing allowance comes out of it, and standard food rations, but there’s always a little left over. Amazon does deliver to our gates, even if some other mail-order places won’t, so you might want to set yourself up with an account. We’ll get you a credit card you can use there.”
“I…Thank you.” I took the contract to read it over, as well as I could. I used to love to read when I was younger, but I hadn’t done much the past six years and my skills were rusty. I knew what all the words sounded like from years of watching TV, but matching the sounds up to the letters on the page was sometimes a challenge.
All three of them waited patiently while I parsed the words and asked my questions. We made a few changes, guaranteeing me a minimum of ten hours a week in my garden, and extra help if my garden needed more time but my duties kept me busy elsewhere.
Duties. I suppressed a snarl, and then the sigh of resignation that came after. This was it, the end of my life as an individual. From now on, I would be an accessory, the mate, and I’d have to beg and bargain for everything I got. But, looking at the shitty hotel room, our cheap-ass clothing, and thinking about the all of forty dollars in my wallet—currently in the Alpha’s possession—I couldn’t regret it. Maybe later I would, but right now, I knew this was a choice that had to be made.
I passed the contract to my dad. “Sign it.”
He leaned toward me and whispered, “I won’t let anyone hurt you.”
“I know.” And then I watched him sign my life over to the Mercy Hills pack.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
It had taken shockingly little time to gather up the two newcomers’ possessions. Mac packed the backpacks and the laptop into the trunk, but Jason refused to be separated from the blanket, so that went into the back seat with him and his father.
He and Abel exchanged looks over the roof the car. “You ready?” Mac asked.
Abel nodded. “Fingers crossed.”
Mac laughed. “We need more than that.”
“Maybe the omega will help.”
“Maybe.” Abel bent to get in the car, and Mac followed.
As they drove, Abel coached their passengers on what to do and say when they got to the gates. “Give me your wallet,” he said to Jason’s dad. He passed it over without comment. Abel took the cash out and put it in his, then tossed the rest out the window. “You were mugged waiting for us. They didn’t bother with your backpacks.” He paused. “Damn, the laptop.”
Mac glanced over at him. “Do you want to stop and put it under the seat?”
Abel checked the time. “No, we’re going to be cutting it close to get back by curfew as it is. I’ll claim it as mine.” He twisted in his seat to look at Jason. “Is it passworded?”
“Yeah.” Jason paused. “They’ll never believe it’s yours. It’s full of movies and stuff.”
“Damn.” Abel rubbed his hand over his mouth. “We’ll have to try anyway. You may lose it. I’ll replace it for you if you do.”
“I don’t need charity.”
Abel smiled. “You say we’re going to end up mated. What’s mine is yours.”
Mac watched as Jason sagged back in his seat and turned his gaze on the world passing by.What are you doing?Mac mouthed. He was happy to see that Abel seemed to have changed his mind about the mating.
