Page 33 of Mating the Omega
“I’m going to tidy up before they get here.” Mac put his hand out to keep Jason from getting up. “No, I can do it. Your job right now is to drink your tea, and then eat something. That’s your only job.”
“Are you going to alpha me if I don’t?”
“Would it work?”
“Might.” They’d discovered that, since they’d mated, it took a lot more effort on Mac’s part to make his alpha power work on Jason. Whether it was that he was more likely to worry about upsetting him, or if something had changed in one of them, they didn’t know, but his alpha power flowed right around Jason’s omega, leaving nothing behind. A moment of quiet passed, then Jason added, in the bright joking tone Mac had missed so badly. “I’m feeling lazy enough I might just let it work.”
“That’s my man.” Mac kissed him on the cheek and went upstairs to make the bed and make sure the bathroom was respectable.
William and Abel arrived ten minutes early to help move the kitchen table into the living room and set up everything they’d need. Mac moved Jason out to the couch, promising that he could sit at the table when the lawyer arrived, but for now, “Save your strength, will you?”
“Fine. But don’t think you’re ordering me around.” There was a gleeful glint in Jason’s eyes as he said this, and now, Mac noted, some color in his cheeks.
Maybe this is about over.He hoped so—watching Jason be miserable made Mac miserable. He brought Jason’s snacks out for him and his heart lightened a little when Jason started nibbling at a cracker, and didn’t immediately turn green.
It was just as well—another knock sounded on the door and when Mac opened it, he found Garrick and a tall human man with a briefcase and cheekbones that could cut glass standing on the other side.
“You must be MacKenzie Mercy Hills,” he said in a voice like brandied velvet, rich and arresting. It was a good voice for a lawyer.
“I am,” he said and stepped aside to let him in.
“This is quite the case.” He walked past Mac and paused. “I normally deal with criminal cases, but Mr.—” He paused. “It’s rather awkward that you all use your pack name as a family name.”
Abel shrugged and moved to the table, pulling out a chair to sit. “Pack is family.” He looked up at the lawyer, and Mac felt the prickle and roll of his power. “We aren’t human, in the end. That’s why the enclaves, right?”
The lawyer rolled his shoulders; Mac thought he must have felt something. But he had to give the man credit—he didn’t let it put him off balance. “Mr. Garrick Mercy Hills will help me with the contract law. I understand he finished his law degree but was denied the right to take the bar?”
Mac and Abel nodded, and the lawyer smiled, a wide, wolfish smile that felt very…pack. “Once we’ve dealt with your current issue,” he cast a shiny hungry glance at Garrick, “I’d like to hear more about that.”
Mac glanced at Garrick, who shrugged.
They settled around the table, even Jason, who—to Mac’s eyes—looked much better. A chance to do something about his old pack seemed to have done him a world of good. And Adelaide had said that, in most cases, the sickness rarely lasted more than a month. He hoped this was the beginning of the end.
The lawyer set out a pad of paper and a couple of pens.
Garrick cleared his throat. “I’ll do the introductions. Alpha, this is Luke Montague.”
Abel leaned back in his chair and stared at the lawyer through narrowed eyes. “I’ve heard of you. I’m surprised you’d bother yourself with a shifter issue. We’re pretty small potatoes, compared to the cases you’ve defended.” His tone was cool and aggressive, a test of the human.
Montague smiled and picked up a pen. “Let’s just say I’ve been feeling an urge to spread my wings. And Garrick—I can call you Garrick?” He tilted his head in the shifter’s directions. When Garrick nodded, Montague continued, “Garrick here was extremely persuasive.” That lupine grin stretched across his face again.
At Abel’s nod, Garrick continued the introductions. “This is our Alpha, Abel Mercy Hills. Our Head of Security, MacKenzie Mercy Hills. And the omega in question, Jason Mercy Hills.”
Montague nodded to each person in turn, making notes on his pad without appearing to look at it. “Well, now that we all know who we are, let’s start putting the details of the story down. We’ll start with you, since it does seem to be your story.” He looked at Jason, who nodded resolutely back at him.
Mac stood up. “This could be long. I’m going to make coffee.” He met the lawyer’s eyes. “Don’t tire him. He’s carrying a pup.”
Montague smiled. “Of course. And we’ll make sure you’ve had that pup before this ever hits the court.”
Macsawthe tension drain out of Jason’s back and shoulders, a visible change in his mate’s bearing. His cheeks pinked and he sat straighter. “I’d appreciate that. I don’t trust my old pack.”
“Well, you can trust me.”
Mac left for the kitchen, his heart lighter than it had been in a month.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Mid-August. I woke up at a ridiculously late hour again, but it was Saturday, and there was nothing more taxing awaiting me than my garden, which was almost as big a joy for me as Mac and the baby. Losing out on the early morning hours with my plants was frustrating, but Mac was right—I had more responsibilities than the tomato patch going on. I rubbed my hand over the mound of my belly and whispered, “Good morning, you.” He—I was sure it was a he—was still asleep. That wouldn’t last long—as soon as I got up to go to the bathroom (again!), he’d start doing a flamenco in there. “Definitely a little alpha, aren’t you? Just like your Papa.”
