“Noted,” Ryder smiled weakly. “Look, Dix, blaming yourself is like...Fuck, it would be like blaming a sick person for vomiting, man. Right now, all that matters is Tessa.”
I nodded, because he was right. The past was the damn past. We had to keep our future from falling apart. “Focus on Tessa.”
“Tessa,” he repeated, moving around the island. “Cat’s not going to like that I’ve made another job for the contractor.” He pointed overhis shoulder.
“Yeah, about that. Leave the breaking shit to me.” This time I smiled, so my words held little sting.
“Double noted.” Ryder was close enough now that he could clamp a hand over my shoulder. “Tray’s got the comedy spot locked in, Dixon demolition dominates, we’ve got Mother Hen Mac, and I’ll stay in my lane as the ridiculously hot head of the band.”
I rolled my eyes at him, shaking off his hand.
“Dumbass,” I muttered good-naturedly.
We both strode out of the kitchen.
Ryderand I didn’t wake Tray or Mac—the latter of whom was now crashed out on the spot where I’d been sleeping earlier. We decided, without speaking, to let them both stay ignorant a little longer, especially if Catalina was bringing disappointing tidings. A door closing in the distance, and the sound of feet padding down the apartment stairs in the garage, announced her arrival before she pushed into the house.
Catalina took in the situation, seeing Tray and Mac sleeping and Dixon and I huddled in the shadows of the arched passage into the kitchen. She put a finger to her lips, indicating she’d be quiet, and started tiptoeing towards us. With every inch she moved closer, my Alpha grew increasingly restless. This feeling of control I was having—my ability to stop myself from raging because there was hope on the horizon—was painfully temporary. I’d calmed just from the smell of Tessa’s Omega. My Alpha had recognized his mate was coming.If that changed...
“Hey,” I turned to Ryder as Catalina approached, pitching my voice low, “if Cat says we’ve lost the match, I don’t know what I’m going to do. If I lose it, I don’t know if I’ll come back again this time. I’ve got this terrible fucking feeling that I'm kissing stage 4 ferality and it’s terminal.”
“Hell, I’ll probably join you, Dix. This is the girl of my fucking dreams. You think you got it bad for her? Imagine years of aching. Welose her? Fuck, man. We’ll voluntarily commit ourselves to Amhurst and share a goddamn room.” He wasn’t looking at me. Ryder’s eyes bore into Cat.
Amhurst... Shit, was that where our future was always headed?The California Preserve for Feral Alphas and Omegas was considered a world class resort in the ferality rehabilitation world, but that wasn’t saying much. Free range, walled forests. Padded rooms. Brutal experimental treatments. If you walked into Amhurst—or were, more than likely, forcibly dragged inside—you didn’t come out again. Apparently, they had a unit for the terminally sick which was separated from those lost to terminal feralness. Maybe, if I didn’t go fully out of my goddamn mind immediately, I could just check myself in there and wait it out. Terminally fucking heartsick.
Catalina silently pointed towards the kitchen, passing by us. We filed back inside. Our tirelessly working Beta saw the broken cabinet immediately, its door clinging for dear life by one mangled hinge. “Honestly, Dixon. The repair bill is so out of hand.”
Ryder cleared his throat. “Yeah, not Dixon this time.”
She looked at him, quirking an eyebrow. “Ah,” was all she said.
I didn’t care about a busted cabinet. “What’s the problem and how do we solve it?” I asked bluntly.
We waited. I wanted to shake Cat into responding. I didn’t. Goddamn if it didn’t feel good to have the ability to tolerate her slow response and not hit something. Ryder was the one who looked like he was going to explode.
“Look,” she finally began, momentarily staring up at the ceiling, sighing, and then looking back at us, “The Omega has a sort of request. At first, I refused. I mean, the contract is specifically written to make sure you guys get the right fit. Her request sort of… well, it might make things uncomfortable.”
“So, you refused the request and…” I trailed off, waiting for her to explain.
“Well, then I talked to a higher-level manager. He explained that the Omega’s request isn’t something she’s willing to compromise about.Apparently, the company anticipated this because of her behavior during initial testing.”
I spoke slowly; my Alpha instincts were trying to break my control. “They knew something might happen when she was first tested? Why the fuck did they—” I stopped speaking, realizing my voice was getting angrier and louder. I shook it off and apologized. “Sorry. Keep going, Cat.”
“Well, that’s the thing,” Catalina gave a half-amused, nose scrunching smile. It was her ‘I’m proud of you’ look. Or it could be that her next statement was too ridiculous to not smile over. “The Omega has a cat.”
“A cat?” Ryder and I said it together, both of us lilting up to form a question.
“Yes. A cat that she’s unwilling to lose. She even threatened to prostitute herself in order to pay the contract break fee.” Catalina put her hands on her hips. “So, you see the problem. We are at an impasse.”
“Wake up Mac,” I instructed, knowing he was the linchpin. “But if his ass doesn’t say yes, he’s out of the pack.”
"Jesus," Ryder muttered, pinching the bridge of my nose. "Of all the damn things. Giving us a fucking heart attack over a pet."
Catalina nodded, her expression a mix of exasperation and amusement. "The contract explicitly prohibits pets without prior approval. I told them no initially because, well, Mac's allergies."
"Mac will deal," I said firmly. "We're not losing our match over a damn cat." Before I finished talking, I was striding out of the room, purpose in every step. I suspected Ryder and Cat were following, but that wasn’t my focus. The minute I as close enough, I shoved Mac with one socked foot. And not gently.
“Wake up, allergies.” I kicked the sofa cushion a second time, bouncing Mac's head. “We need your sneezy ass blessing.”
