“Good. Now, we have another excursion tonight.”
“We do?” she asks, and when Devon crawls off her, she rolls, almost tipping sideways into his thigh.
“Yep. Come on, pretty omega. I’d appreciate it if you'd get your rear end up and moving, so we could appreciate the night’s entertainment.”
She picks up a pillow and lobs it at his head. Devon ducks out of the way, but with Sofia grumbling and Danger barking, the residual unease dissipates.
“You are so cute,” Devon teases. “But you still throw for shit, Rebel!”
She roars and jumps after him, chasing him down the stairs. I clean up the mess and follow Mack. At the ground floor, instead of finding her out by the SUV, I find that she’s staring at one of the artworks on the wall.
“Who did this?”
Mack sighs. “You did.”
She shakes her head, studying it.
“No, I don’t remember this.”
“Sure, you do. You did it and gave it to me about a month before the day you asked me to go out with you.”
It’s a picture of him sitting at his desk, focused intently on the teacher. Even though he’s young and he’s not grown into his face yet, he’s got the same intensity that Mack always has. Somehow, she managed to capture it.
“I have treasured it.”
“You kept it all this time?”
“Yes. I actually ran away from my uncle the day he came to collect me and ran home to get a bag of things. One of those things was this picture.”
She clears her throat and then looks up at the ceiling, fanning her face. “I’m having a moment. Stay back.” She holds up a hand to stop us from approaching.
Devon sighs. “Are you crying again? Do you need a hug?”
“Stay away from me,” she snarls, but we can all tell she doesn’t mean it.
He comes closer, and I see something flicker on her face. She takes a hesitant step back from him.
“Devon,” she murmurs.
He reaches out and cups her cheek, and she just melts into his hand, her eyes closing, body relaxing. If we didn’t have enough proof already that she’s our omega, this here is it. This one moment of complete trust, just from a gentle touch, says it all. She is the omega for us.
Our scent match.The words bloom in my mind and feel absolutely right. There is no us without her.
“You don’t have to be scared. I’m not going to hurt you,” Devon murmurs. “None of them are going to hurt you. We won’t push you. This is between us, and it’s something special, and I don’t want to lose it.”
Her eyes open, and she stares up at him, but there is so much vulnerability in her expression, I don’t even think she knows it.
“It’s temporary. Fake.”
Devon’s intense expression disappears, but I can feel his disappointment through the bond. He smiles and boops her nose. “I want to see that smile I love because tonight is going to be fun.”
“I don’t know what we’re doing yet.”
“And that’s the fun of it. Don’t you like surprises?”
She shakes her head. “Not at all.”
He leans in close. “Liar. My Rebel used to love the surprises I left for her.”
