But we wait, cycling between elated and concerned.
I should have talked more about how amazing Hestia is at this job, made it clear I’m not saying that just because she’s our mate. What if Alana tries to fire Hestia along with us? We never arrived at an answer on that.
The door suddenly swings open, and I catch myself on the frame to stop myself from falling in.
“She’s not going to fire us!” Hestia says.
“That’s right, Alana can’t fire you,” Charm says reassuringly.
“No, not just me, you too! She’s going to let us keep working together!” she says excitedly.
When I process what she said, I swing Hestia up in my arms and carry her back to the computer. Alana is waiting for us with a smile.
“You’re not letting us go? We get to keep working together?” I say, disbelieving.
“Yes, you’ll keep training Hestia as you have been. We have a no-fraternization rule to protect our employees, butexceptions can be made. After talking with Hestia, I’m confident she wasn’t pressured into anything. Although I’ve told her if anything changes, we’ll relocate her. Your pack is full of amazing rescuers, and you’ve done so much to help people over the years. I see no reason to lose you if you continue to be upstanding men,” Alana says. “However, don’t go dating any more subordinates.”
Cato scoffs. “Our pack is complete, we have no reason to.”
“Why won’t there be any repercussions?” I can’t help asking.
Not that I want them, but I never imagined we’d be allowed to stay onandkeep working with Hestia.
“Like your omega said, it hardly seems fair to punish you for finding your scent match. Ishouldreprimand you for breaking the rules and hiding it instead of coming to me from the start to work something out, but I’m in a good mood. I love love, and I’m happy for you. So I’m going to let it slide just this once on the condition that you train her well and keep treating her well,” she says.
We agree and get off the call quickly after that, with promises to sign some paperwork to make HR slightly less unhappy with us.
Everyone is quiet for a moment after I hang up, but then we swarm Hestia, hugging and kissing and scent marking her.
Our pack spends the rest of the night celebrating in our omega’s nest. It’s not the most prudent idea since we have to get up early for work, but we can make it through one day on little sleep.
Chapter 54
Hestia
Now that I’m allowed to tell everyone about my mates, I have been.
After we finished this last round of being on call, we’ve been going on dates in Starsfallsin public. Dates where I held their hands and kissed and hugged them as much as I wanted.
I toned down the PDA after we got some wolf whistles, but still. I can sloppily make out with my pack in the street, and it won’t get us fired! That’s peak relationship goals right there. Well, that, and being bonded to my mates.
They asked to court me now that we have permission to be together, so we’re as official as a couple can be without a bond.
And I have no reason to complain about not being bonded down yet. It’s only our first Yule together, and I’m still just so thankful we don’t have to hide our relationship.
I showed off my mates all around town earlier this week, and now I’m ready to spend some time at home with them for the holiday.
Magnus and I harvested the icicle pansies the other daywhile Pete supervised. We had a great crop of them with a mix of big, colorful flowers and tiny, cute ones.
Pete still acts haughty, but ever since he saved me from that giant monster, I feel safe around him. At the very least, I know he won’t let anyone else bully me, it will just be him kicking dirt at me if I accidentally mess with one of his nests or rearrange things in a way he doesn’t like. I won’t have to worry about any other demons in the garden with my little green demon there.
I helped Henri turn our pansy crop into his special winter ice cream. I’ve never made ice cream before, and it was fun seeing how it’s done. He showed me how to flavor it using the pansies, and we ended up making so much of it that we’ve been eating ice cream with every meal. The flowers give it a mild wintergreen flavor, sweet and cool like a winter day.
Eating homemade ice cream in front of the fire is the best way to do it.
At one point when I was “helping” Henri in the kitchen (taste-testing food while he cooked), I complimented his kitchen skills, and he got quiet and tense. Eventually he confessed he was worried I wouldn’t approve of his homemaking interests now that they’re courting me. That I might not want an alpha who takes care of the decorating, cooking, and cleaning, when omegas usually like to be in charge of the house.
I narrowly avoided saying I love him as he is. I don’t want to just blurt that out the first time I tell him. I assured Henri I was happy for him to do those things, adding that it wasn’t very omega of me not to be a good little homemaker. He was quick to say he didn’t care about that, so we came to an agreement that we’re happy with who we are.
