Alex turns his attention to Mason the same time I scowl at my mate. “And? Not like it’s the middle of the night.”
“We’ve been at work for over twelve hours. We just got home.”
Another wave of sadness fills my chest. Fucking Mason. Can he not see the rejection written all over Hudson’s face? Even if he’s completely ignoring the emotions in the bond, Hudson’s scent has turned a little sour and, even though he’s trying to keephis expression neutral, there is so much sadness in his pretty honey-brown eyes.
“And Hudson has been home alone all day,” I say, raising a brow and mentally willing Mason to catch on.
“I thought that was why we left early, so we can spend more time with him.”
How can someone so intelligent be so damn obtuse?
To my surprise, Hudson leans forward and rests his cheek on Alex’s chest while facing Mason. “We can stay here. I don’t mind,” he says.
I stare at the back of his head while sniffing the air around him as nonchalantly as possible. That soured edge to his scent is fading and the sadness isn’t as strong. Maybe he really doesn’t mind staying here as long as we’re with him.
“Are you sure? Alex and I can take you somewhere if Mason wants to stay home like an old man,” I tease.
Technically, we’re all in the middle-aged category and at least twenty years older than Hudson. For some reason, though, I don’t see him as that much younger. Probably because my brain doesn’t recognize the fact I’m pushing fifty. I sure as hell don’t feel it.
Hudson’s head turns until he rests his other cheek on Alex’s chest to look at me. And suddenly, I’m so damn jealous of my mate. I want to be holding our omega. I want his beautiful face pressed against my chest like that.
Iwant to be covered in his perfume.
“This is perfect,” he says softly, and I don’t miss the way he nuzzles his cheek against Alex as though coating himself with my mate’s pheromones.
“You feel a little warm,” Alex says.
“Oh. Sorry.” Hudson goes to sit up, but Alex bands an arm around the omega’s back to hold him in place.
“I’m not saying that in a bad way. Just making a statement. Are you feeling okay?”
One of Hudson’s shoulders lifts and falls and his lids slowly lower as the sweetest contented sigh leaves his chest. “I feel great now.”
Now?
I frown at Alex. He’s got the same confused look on his face. I know as a fact he’d felt the same sense of rejection coming from Hudson, but was there more than simply the emotional toll of being alone bothering him?
“Were you not feeling well earlier?” Mason asks.
He runs a hand over the top of Hudson’s head to rest on his neck, directly over the place where he’d left his mark.
The tiniest shudder runs through Hudson before he wiggles until he’s fully pressed against Alex as much as he can without literally being inside his skin.
“A little…weak earlier. Kind of out of it. But I forgot to eat lunch so I’m sure I was just hungry.”
All three of us go wide-eyed as we look from one to the other. While I might have done the most research, all three of us have read as much as possible about caring for omegas, their needs, their instincts and impulses…
And what could change when they got pregnant.
Hudson is warm to the touch. His sense of rejection has been growing by the day even though we’re not truly packed with him. And he was physically unwell until we got home and he could soak up our pheromones.
“When is that blood test scheduled for?” I ask as a grin stretches across my face.
CHAPTER 27
Hudson
Alex sits behind me on the exam table, his arms around my waist and his chin on my shoulder. The doctor already drew blood and sent it off – apparently money really does speed up lab work – so now we wait.
