“No rush to move out.” Spencer poured his morning brew and joined me at the table. “You know your brother and I love having you here.”
“You love that I can watch the kiddo while you guys go out on date nights.” I laughed at Spencer as he bowed his head, knowing I was right. “And I know Nicola loves when I stay over with them, as well. But I can’t keep living with my brother or sister for the rest of my life. What if I find my omega soon and want privacy? How can I get that with all my nieces and nephews around?”
“True.” Spencer nodded and reached for one of the muffins I had out on the table. “But the house will feel empty without you around.”
“It’s not like I won’t be coming over all the time to gossip or to babysit Cookie.” I pushed down the urge to make fun of my niece’s name. The sweet little ray of sunshine did not look like her name, Fortuna. My nickname fit her better.
“Why do you have everyone calling my daughter that now? I gave her a perfectly good name, you know.” Spencer rubbed his growing belly and sighed. “Should I even bother giving a name to this one if you are just going to change it?”
“She still has her legal name,” I pointed out to my best friend, who had been getting even more sensitive as his second pregnancy progressed. “It’s just that her sweetness deserved to be given a great nickname, and that’s the job of a loving uncle. I was only doing my job. As for the little nugget in your belly now, we will have to wait and see what personality the little guy has first before I bestow a nickname onto him, so make sure to give him a proper one to use while we wait.”
“You are so funny.” Spencer rolled his shoulders and groaned. “Why does everything feel so much heavier with this one? I don’t remember being as emotional and achy last time.”
“You were pretty much the same.” I thought back to when I first moved back from the city after my best friend found his fated mate in my twin brother and got knocked up right away. “There were a couple of days I was afraid to even ask you where the sugar was kept in case you burst into tears. I think omegas forget about those things after the babies are born and remember only the good parts so that wanting another baby later seems like a good idea.”
“Perhaps.” Spencer shrugged. “Liam mentioned a similar theory when I brought up trying to conceive this one. But in the end, I convinced him he was misremembering and that I was always a delight to be around.”
“You have him wrapped around your pinkie, that’s for sure.” I stood and rinsed out my mug, placing it directly into the dishwasher. “But I’m sure you’ll be able to say the same about my mate and me one day. If I ever manage to find him, that is.”
“Still no glow from that tattoo, huh?” Spencer looked at the intricate dragon on my arm and tilted his head to the left. “I bet it will happen in the next week or two. I’m not sure why, but I have a feeling that the tattoo already led you to where you should be, and now you just need to wait for the moment to come.”
“Maybe.” I looked down at the sigil and remembered how it stopped tingling when I was in the city visiting friends, and how the sensation returned once I came back to town. So far, there was no glow emitting from the design. That would happen only after I’d encountered my fated mate. Until then, it would just continue to let me know if I was close. “Do you really think it’s so quiet because I am already in the right place and just waiting for the right time?”
“That’s exactly what I’m thinking.”
“Alright, I guess we’ll see if you’re right.” I looked at the time on my phone and walked toward the door. “I need to go meet Charlie down on Main Street. The latest book in that zombie series was released this week, and we wanted to see if Once Upon A Page got it in yet.”
“If you find the newestOmega Beachrelease, pick it up for me, okay?” Spencer was obsessed with the romance series written by an old college friend. “I haven’t had a chance to get it yet, but I heard it’s the best one yet.”
“I’ll keep an eye out for it while I’m there.”
I waved to my bestie and left the kitchen. Maybe he was right. Perhaps I just needed to wait, and soon my tattoo would lead me to my destiny. Until then, I had some books to read.
Chapter Three
Thomas
As soon as Jamie and I walked into Pink Coffee Café, my dragon became aware of a wonderful scent. The mixture of burnt autumn leaves and fresh rain came from a table to our left, and every fiber of my body wanted to get closer to it. I needed to examine it, memorize it, and become acquainted with its source on a very personal and deep level. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply, savoring the smell. I muted out all other senses for a moment to focus on what my nose was detecting. The music faded, the murmurs from customers dulled, and only the fragrance swirling in the air existed for a few seconds. I knew it wasn’t coming from the baked goods or any random customer or worker at the café. No, this was from someone much more important to me than any of that.
Mate,my beast roared within me. Excitement exuded from him as he pushed against my skin.Go to our mate.
I almost ran toward the direction of the tantalizing aroma, my beast anxious to meet our perfect match. But then my human brain kicked in, and I remembered the oath I made when I began my career as a firefighter.Don’t let anything ruin the dreams we had for our lives.Would meeting my mate hinder my plans to save people and be independent? That was usually what happened when an omega mated with an alpha. They started popping out babies while their mate left on business trips and let their omega drown in diapers and baby duties instead of building their careers or having a life outside of their home. I tried to calm my dragon’s excitement with the reminder to take things slow.Just look at Rebecca, we can’t turn out like that. Don’t go jumping into bed with our mate as soon as we see him. Make him prove he’s worthy of us.
Fine. Just go and meet him. Don’t let him go.
“Is that Charlie with his friend Isaac?” Jamie nodded in the direction from which the mysterious fragrance was emanating and led me to the exact table that I was concentrating on.
I heard words coming from my best friend as he spoke to his mate, but everything was just a jumble of sound. All my attention was being held captive by the sexiest, most gorgeous alpha I had ever laid eyes on. He looked at me with wide eyes and a small smirk on his lips. I felt the magical strings of our bond reach for each other, and the vibration of our connection built a foundation. Now that we had laid eyes on one another, we would always be tangled together magically, but I reminded myself that it was still in my hands to accept that bond, or reject it and live alone for the rest of my life. If this man turned out to be one of those alphas who expected me to stay home and raise babies instead of fighting fires, I was out of there.
Then another scent caught my attention, and I looked at Charlie, Jamie’s mate. “Honey.” The word came out of my mouth before I could censor myself. Fuck. My best friend was about to be a dad. “Oh yeah, I smell that too. Dragon here, our sense of smell is pretty on par with bear shifters. I would say about two weeks. Which lines up to the time you took leave, right?”
“Thanks.” Charlie held out his hand, smiling broadly. My friend was lucky to have such a friendly mate. “I’m Charlie. Can I know the name of the man confirming my upcoming parenthood?”
“Oh yeah, sorry. I’m Thomas. Jamie and I are just here picking up some coffee for the crew. Our machine broke suddenly and we need the brew.” I shook the offered hand and bowed my head, a bit embarrassed. “Why did I just rhyme?”
“Not sure, but I’m used to people who march to their own beat. So don’t worry about it.” Charlie gestured toward the mansitting next to him, and I got lost in the gaze of my mate again. “This is my bestie, Isaac. He’s probably thrilled to have someone backing up his claim.”
Isaac scanned my body, and I felt a zing of desire crawl over my skin as his eyes shifted down my frame. I decided to take the moment to do the same for my mate. A slight bluish glow from a tattoo radiated from his left forearm, but he pulled his sleeve down before I was able to get a solid glimpse at the design. I had never seen a tattoo emit such a shine before and couldn’t wait to get a better look at it one day.
