Page 47 of Abel's Omega
But there was another one. Actually, a couple, lounging by a tree about twenty feet away from us. Older, settled, in their forties, one maybe in his fifties. Old enough not to ask for more than I could give. I caught the eye of the darker one, smiled briefly, then looked away as if overcome. I wasn’t, but he looked interested, and I knew a sense of triumph when he left his companion behind and crossed the grass to stand in front of me. “Hi,” he said. His voice was deep, but it lacked the authoritative timber of Mac’s or Abel’s. “I’m Jim.”
“Bax,” I replied, and relaxed one hip so my jeans fell just so, stretched across my thigh to show off the length of my legs. He smelled like a gamma. Good.
He breathed deeply, taking in my scent, and a puzzled look grew on his face. “I thought you were omega.”
I tilted my head to one side, exposing my jugular and the delicate flesh under the edge of my jaw, and smiled. “I am. And I have four pups to prove it.”
Jason gave me a hard look, but kept his peace. He knew why I was there, though I could tell he didn’t approve of it. I think he still thought Mercy Hills was special enough that an omega could live here without a mate. I hoped he’d given up on matchmaking me to Abel.
“Oh, you’re already mated,” Jim said.
I liked the sound of the disappointment in his voice. “No, not anymore. My mate passed six months ago.” This had potential. He wasn’t bad looking. Didn’t seem pushy either, which was a blessing.
Music started up behind us, and the crowd began to stir. “Do you dance?” I asked.
Jim looked uncomfortable. “Uh, not really.”
Oh. Okay, I could live without dancing. And it wasn’t like I couldn’t dance with other shifters, as long as Jim didn’t mind. I ignored the music and took a step closer, opening my mouth to ask another of my ‘potential mate’ questions, when I was interrupted by a hand on my arm.
“Come dance,” Abel murmured in my ear. “You know the old pack dances, right?”
I did, and I was good at them. Sure, I could dance to the modern stuff, the human music and the human-influenced pack music, but I loved the feel of the pack dances, the fast pace, the skill needed to follow the figures and not bump into someone. The slow ones, too, the more intimate ones usually just performed by courting couples. I knew them all, and had danced most of them. The only ones I’d never had a chance to dance were the lovers’ dances, because I’d been mated before I could get serious with anyone.
But Jim was watching, and I’d just been flirting obviously with him. “Jim and I just met,” I explained.
“Oh, Jim won’t mind.” Abel grinned at me rakishly and I felt the first stirrings of arousal. I did like him, the way he looked, the way he talked, the way he’d casually toss a complex problem on my desk and disappear, as if he had no doubt of my ability. He’d wormed his way into my heart and I didn’t have the strength to bear the pain of tearing him out. But for all those reasons, I didn’t dare dream of him. I should really say no.
Still, it was just a dance, right? I did love to dance.
I glanced up at Jim.
He raised his mug of beer in salute. “I’ll be here whenever you’re done.”
Ah, so sweet.I patted his arm, downed the last few mouthfuls of my cider, and handed my mug to Jason.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Abel had a plan. Bax only had a couple more days here in Mercy Hills, and Abel wanted him to stay. If not to plan a mating, then at least to give Abel a chance to prove he was different from Bax’s experiences. He’d called Buffalo Gap the other day to ask their Alpha about Bax, and had gotten the whole story of Bax’s mating. It made him sick, and sad, at the same time. He understood the absolute urgency of needing a new well when the old one collapsed, but essentially selling a fifteen-year-old into a mating to finance that…
Though, with Mercy Hills’ current financial insecurity, he could see the temptation. Mated to an Alpha of a richer pack, financial aid, and promises of mates for other omegas when they came of age. It would have looked like a good mating from the outside.
Why couldn’t Patrick have waited?
But looking at Bax, the moon gleaming off his fair skin, the ebony curls waving around his face, the grace with which he moved…
No. There was no excuse for what Patrick had done.
They stepped into position for the first set, a fixed smile marring the beauty of Bax’s features. Abel did his best to be charming, over the noise and conversation of people getting into place, and then the music started, and he stepped forward to take Bax’s hand for the first turn.
They spun and stepped and separated, trading partners with other dancers, and as the song wound on, Abel saw the tension leave Bax’s face. His smile became more natural, and soon he was laughing as loud as the rest of them, his eyes bright in the moon and lantern light.
Abel could see now why alphas had spent so many years keeping omegas down. Bax, should he choose, could issue any command he wanted and rule the pack from his place at an Alpha’s side, simply by smiling. Abel found himself jealous of the other males as they took Bax’s hand to whirl him through the dance, but consoled himself listening to Bax’s joyful laughter as he moved through the pattern like dandelion fluff, practically floating through the steps.
Finally it was his turn to take Bax around the waist and spin through the dance. Bax’s cheeks were flushed and he shouted, “Thank you!”
“For what?”
“For inviting me to dance.”
