Page 28 of Abel's Omega
“What do you mean?” I switched Noah to the other side, and noticed that Jason was having problems with Macy. “Is she not latching well?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. It hurts too.” He grimaced and slid a hand in under the blanket.
I crawled over to him—Noah was an old pro by now and hung on easily. “Sometimes it takes a while. Can I look?” I lifted the edge of the blanket, careful not to expose too much of what was going on under, and watched as he tried to get her suck again. She didn’t seem to be having any more difficulty than any other newborn—they’re all awkward and clumsy at that age. I shooed Fan, who thought he had to know what was going on as well, away. “I think you’re fine. I have a salve I can give you for the chafing, but she’s just impatient. She’ll get the hang of it soon.”
“You sure?” He grimaced and adjusted her in his arms again.
I laughed and pointed at Noah, blissfully sucking, though I could tell he was getting full. “Number four here. You’ll be fine.”
He smiled ruefully. “Little alpha. Though she gets the impatience from me, I can’t blame that on Mac.”
“They’re funny little beasts, aren’t they?” I agreed, and pulled Fan against me for a hug. Teca climbed into my lap, and then Beatrice tried to climb into Teca’s lap, without success. She began to wail, and wouldn’t stop, though Fan’s attempts to pick her up with his little arms might have had something to do with that. Luckily, Noah decided he’d had enough and popped off, and I was able to put myself back together and set him on the grass to be burped, making room for Beatrice on my lap. “So, why is saving credits not going to help you?” It sounded strange, and anything that wasn’t quite right sent my anxiety about my entire situation into the sky.
Jason turned his head to watch a group of pups playing on the swings that I’d missed earlier on my tour. “How much do you know about my story?”
“Not much, just what was on the news. A little Abel told me.”
He frowned and adjusted Macy. “You know I have spring and fall heats, right?”
That was news. “No, I didn’t…shit. I should have guessed, since you were pregnant in the fall. That’s why…”
He nodded. “Supposedly, that makes me a True Omega, though no one seems to know what the fuck that is. But the Alphas are all convinced that I have some mystical power that they can borrow to consolidate their power bases.” He snorted. “Mac and I haven’t noticed anything.”
Oh. That was…unexpected. “I thought they all died out.”
“There must be some genes still floating around somewhere. I just happened to get the short straw.”
I didn’t know whether to pity him, or envy him. True Omega could be a powerful card to play, if he wanted to. I was guessing he didn’t; he was more like me, wanting a quiet life with his pup and his mate. “But you’re here, and you’re mated. What’s the problem? It’s not like they can take you from him with the evidence right there.” I nodded at Macy.
“Except that Mac and Orvin haven’t signed any papers. So, technically, I’m just ruined, not mated.”
I whistled, then clamped my jaws shut. Damn, but I needed to break that habit.
Jason grinned at me. “Oh, you got that lecture too, did you?” He lifted Macy out from underneath the blanket, and since she didn’t fuss, she must have been full, or at least have gotten enough.
I had to laugh. “Yeah. I liked whistling at the good-looking alphas before I was mated. I was a handful, now that I look back on it. But we were all wild back home. There wasn’t much to do there, so we made our own fun.”
“Anyway,” Jason said. “Why don’t we take the pups to have lunch, and I’ll tell you the rest of the story. The rush should be done. We’ll probably have the place pretty much to ourselves.”
Noah let out a huge burp and grinned. The rest of us laughed, though Teca told him, “Excuse yourself,” mimicking my tones perfectly.
“All right,” I said, and set the pups in my lap on their feet. “Let’s go get some lunch.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
The restaurant was very nice. Long rectangular tables with six or eight chairs around each of them filled the room, except for a corner with a few toys crammed into it. You ordered at a counter at the front and wrote your name in a book to pay for the meal. It was all very…luxurious.
Jason kept pushing us to order more. “I have a ton of credits, really. What am I going to spend them on? I ordered yarn and cloth online, but I got a lot of hand-me-downs for Macy. And I don’t spend much on clothes. So get what you want.” As if to prove his point, he ordered some sort of beef in a rich-sounding sauce, with noodles and vegetables, and fruit juice. “Macy doesn’t care for coffee.”
Awkwardly, I shuffled my babies up to the counter. The lady behind it smiled at me. “I thought I knew everyone in Mercy Hills, but I don’t think I’ve seen you before. I’m sure I’d remember a bunch of cuties like you guys,” she said, smiling down at the pups.
The two on the ground crowded close to my legs, eyeing the stranger warily. Beatrice, on the other hand, chuckled and reached out to the woman, and Noah squealed and flailed about in his sling, wanting in on the action. “We’re just visiting,” I explained. “Guys, behave.” I put a hand on Noah to foil his apparent determination to launch himself out of the sling.
Jason stepped up beside me, laughing. “I’ll take Beatrice and we’ll get a table.” He plucked her deftly out of my arms and took her to the table at the front, right next to the window.
I got something ordered for everyone with the help of the woman at the counter, and then we joined Jason at the table.
“Oh, look, it’s Duke.” Jason stood up and banged on the window, waving at someone outside.
