Page 89 of Omega's Heart
This mating into a family thing was more complicated than I’d realized. Or maybe it was the family I was mating into that was the complicated part.
Quin and Harris left and Holland and I went back into his apartment. “Where are the pups?” That Lonnie of his was adorable. I wanted snuggles.
“Cale took them down to daycare for me,” Holland said briefly. “I have work to do.” He motioned me to a chair at the kitchen table and took the one beside it. “How are things with you?”
“I’m fine.” He just watched me as if waiting for something and for the life of me, I couldn’t help the next words that came out of my mouth. “Getting a little anxious about mating into your family, to be honest.”
His mouth twitched. “Don’t be. Quin’s so happy to have you distracting Kaden—he’s the only one that can really stand up to my mate and make it stick. Mostly because he’s not so concerned about making Quin happy, but they kind of speak the same language too. I wanted to thank you for taking the dog, I don’t think that Harris would have stayed if we hadn’t. But are you sure you know what you’re getting into?”
I chose my words carefully because something told me there was more to Holland’s questioning than just simple curiosity. “He’s like a pup we had back in White River. A problem during his birth, they said. He was always behind the other pups and I don’t think he’s ever quite caught up, or ever will. I don’t believe Hunter will be that much different.”
“I hope not.” Holland flattened his hands against the table-top. “We need Harris to come stay here. He’s already friendly to our people and at least a little familiar with us. He has skills that are in desperately short supply. And it might make it easier to attract other humans with him already in place, until we can get a few more of our people trained for things that we need.” He let out a harsh breath. “I know that construction is important, especially in a place where everything is old and always breaking, but we can’t just be looking after the buildings!”
Impulsively, I reached out and covered one of his hands with one of mine. “You’re doing that. I’m always shocked at how much you do in the course of a day. It’s just that you’ve got a hundred years of path to make up.”
Holland stared briefly at me in what I read as genuine astonishment, then laughed and shook his head. “Now you definitely have to mate Kaden. I need someone to remind me that not everyone sees things the way I do, or even sees the things that I do. I can’t always trust Quin to be truthful with me, because sometimes he tells me stuff in a way that he thinks will upset me less.”
“Which upsets you more later,” I agreed.
“It does. I know he means well, but…” Holland sighed and shook his head. “Well, that’s mated life. I wouldn’t trade it in, that’s for sure.” He leaned back in the chair. “How’s Kaden’s leg?”
“Good, I think. He seems more cheerful now.” I felt the heat rise in my cheeks. “I think he’s looking forward to being mated.”
Holland smiled wickedly. “I know he’s looking forward to being mated. He’s been pestering me almost daily with questions.”
“Questions?” I asked, dumbfounded.
He squeezed my hand. “He wants to make you happy.”
“He does.”
“I know. And he knows. But that’s how all four of them are. Alphas to the core.”
Oh. “Do you think he agreed to the dog because I wanted him?”
Holland shook his head, but it wasn’t a very confident no. “Maybe? But if he was really set against it, he would have said no. I wouldn’t worry about it. But I want you to promise me that if it turns into a problem for you, you won’t try to work through it, okay? We’ll figure something else out.” He lowered his eyes briefly, chewing on his lower lip. “Would you be willing to help out with getting Saffron and her grandmother settled? We’re not sure where we’re going to put them yet, there aren’t that many places suitable for an elder.” He sighed. “Maybe we should get Adelaide moved into the hospital now and turn her part of the building here into apartments for the elders. They could use the elevator and we wouldn’t need to worry about stairs.”
“My room will be free soon,” I offered. “When are they coming?”
“Late October,” Holland said, a thoughtful expression on his face. “It’s an idea. And Cale will be gone to school. He’s going to need a place to stay on Full Moon is the problem. But it’s hard to justify leaving the room empty just so Cale has a place to stay once a month.”
That was an issue. None of us had spare bedrooms, though Kaden and I would have one once we were in our new place. Though that wouldn’t be until spring at the earliest. “Let me talk to Kaden. Maybe we don’t need to move quite yet and Saffron can have whatever place you were going to give us.” Kaden’s knee was never going to be like it was before the grenade, but if they wanted to move us into someplace with stairs for the next little while, it probably wouldn’t bother him too much.
“You wouldn’t mind?”
I shrugged. “Home is Kaden. Once he’s back on the leg, stairs won’t be a problem for him. And it’s only temporary, right?” Which reminded me… “Where did Hunter get his leg from? Can I order one? I’d like to get one for Kaden, for a mating present.”
Holland’s eyebrows rose. “I don’t know. That’s a good idea though. I’ll ask Quin today. I’m sure he can find out. At the least, Seosamh can probably dig into the Internet and find something.”
“I’d appreciate it.”
Holland nodded and dug out his phone to make a note on his schedule for today. “It’s a good idea. Thanks for the offer on the house. I didn’t want to ask, since we know you’re going into one of the new units. We try to keep the shuffling to a minimum.” Holland stood up and nodded sharply. “Let me see what I can juggle. But back to the original question—would you be willing to help out with them when they arrive? It’s—” He paused. “We need them to be happy. Quin says Harris is good at his job and he might be the trail-breaker we need to get good humans to come work for us. The pack has tried before, but the last human doctor they hired lost their license to practice for addictions and prescription fraud and that was one of the better ones. It’s hard to find anyone competent and trustworthy who is willing to come work in an enclave. And apparently Saffron’s a bookkeeper, which would solve another of our problems.”
I stood up too. “If there’s anything I can do to help, I’m happy to. Just let me know.”
“I will. Thank you.” Holland leaned in to drop a friendly kiss on my cheek. “I have to get going, but we’ll talk soon. We have to get your tunic fitted and talk about how you want to trim it.” He beamed at me and gave something that I would have called a wiggle in anyone but my Alpha’s Mate, reminding me that he was still younger than me, no matter the responsibilities of his position. “Good luck with the dog.”
“Good luck with your juggling,” I said as I drifted toward the door.
