“Yes,” I panted in my dreams, in my bed. “Yes.”
Chapter 11
When I woke to the muffled sound of someone talking to Mum downstairs, I assumed it was George come for brunch. I rolled out of bed, sweeping my hair up into a messy bun and pulling on an old tracksuit before running down the stairs. But my pace slowed dramatically when I saw Mum’s good crystal vase with a stunning bunch of irises in it and him. He looked too big, too wide, too alive, too bright to be in our house, his auburn hair shining redder in the morning light streaming in through the windows.
Brendan.
“You sure I can’t get you some eggs, Brendan? At least some toast?”
“No, no thank you, Ms Rhodes, though I’m sure they’d be amazing. I have to keep an empty stomach if I’m to survive a meal with Ma. She’s mad on cooking, always pushing us boys to eat, eat, eat! She takes it personal if I don’t try everything, and anyway, I’m sure you’ve got a million things to do rather than cook for me.”
“Oh, yes, I do actually.”
God, Mum, get some social graces, I thought furiously.
“But it’s been lovely chatting with you. Thank you so much for coming by. Cyn assures me everything is fine and everyone’s just ‘feeling things out’ and that I need to chill.” That small frown formed again. “I have exactly zero chill when it comes to my daughter. We only really started connecting again recently. A lot of family therapy and…” She waved her hand, dismissing everything she said. “You don’t want to hear about that.”
“It’s obvious that you love your daughter very much. She’s a credit to you both.”
And just then, I saw that even betas were susceptible to alpha charm. He sounded so bloody sure of what he was saying, I watched Mum’s shoulders drop and her spine soften.
“She is, isn’t she.” But then that sixth sense of hers kicked in, and she spied me on the stairs. “She’s also here. Come and have some breakfast, Cyn.”
I slunk in like a beaten dog, feeling their eyes on me as I grabbed some juice from the fridge.
“Anyone want any?” I asked, shaking the container but not making eye contact. Kai or nothing, I wasn’t up for alpha jousting today. I felt raw and frazzled, like someone had been stroking me the wrong way.
And what way is that? my mind queried.
“Love some,” Brendan said. I could feel his eyes on me as I grabbed the glasses and poured the drinks, but I didn’t want that attention right now. I felt like a naked, insignificant, scruffy little nothing right now, so I carried the drinks over and placed one in front of him, sitting a few seats down at the kitchen table.
“Well, I’ve got a conference call to convene. Again, lovely to meet you, Brendan.”
He said something nice and pleasant in response, waiting for Mum’s footsteps to fade away before he spoke to me.
“Sit next to me, omega.”
He was the dark horse, the smiling one, the one who didn’t seem like an alpha until you realised what was happening. I was up and out of my seat and slotting into the one next to him, my juice still in my hand, undrunk. Because what was a dry mouth compared to this? I breathed in, getting something domestic from him. The scent of gingerbread and cider and autumn nights, where the air gets crisp enough to snap. I took one long breath, then another, feeling my body—
“I sent you a message, but you might not have had time to read it. Omega?”
“No,” I replied finally, staring at the bright orange glow of the juice. “I slept…weird, stayed in bed too late. I thought you were George.”
“Did you now? Well, drink your juice.” I frowned, my fingers tightening around the glass. “Drink it. You’ll be tired and dehydrated, and I don’t want you getting a headache. God knows my family will give you one as it is.”
“Is that what you wanted from me today?” I asked, chancing a sidelong look.
Oh fuck no, that was not smart. Broad shoulders, T-shirt worn soft from too many washes, thick forearms, big hands that tipped the juice up to his lips and swallowed it down, while I was unable to look away as his throat worked. And then he put it down, fixing me with eyes the colour of amber.
“I want you to drink something, omega. I’ve made that clear.”
A long breath escaped my nose, and I grabbed the glass, drinking deep from it in a series of noisy, graceless gulps.
“Good girl.” A hand landed on my bare knee, making me jump, then squirm. “Now, I won’t be taking up much of your time. I’ll be leaving that to the others. I don’t have much to offer you, not like they do. I just do the fucking donkey work, keep shit running smoothly. But my parents, I think they’re a bit like yours. They hear stories about me running with an omega? The first thing they do is get on the blower to me, demanding a meet and greet. I talked them down from a BBQ with the entire clan to just a little brunch with the immediate family. Though I bet the whole fucking clan is there by the time we arrive.” The last bit was a muttered aside. “If you want to cry off, pretend you’re sick, I’ll respect that.”
I chanced a look at him, saw the set of his shoulders, the slight frown.
“This isn’t for you.”