The Omega's Heart (Wilde Creek Four) (18 page)

He took a few steps backward and set her on
her feet, turning her to face him. Even though there was no light
in the kitchen, she knew he was smiling. “You’re amazing,
sweetheart.”

“You are, too.”

He kissed her gently. He went to the counter,
rummaging on the surface for a moment, and then she heard a
clicking sound and saw a flame appear from a lighter. He found the
candles on the floor and lit them, and they each held one and
looked at the broken table.

She’d never broken furniture before.

It rocked.

They grinned at each other as they picked up
the broken dishes and tossed them in the trash, deciding to leave
the major clean-up for the morning.

She snuggled up next to him on the bed and
closed her eyes as she yawned.

“The next kitchen table we buy needs to be
really, really sturdy,” she said.

“Planning to let me ravish you in the kitchen
again?”

“As often as you want to.”

He chuckled and pulled her a little closer.
“For the record, I always want to ravish you.”

“For the record, I always want to let
you.”

* * * * *

Monday morning, Honey and Jeremiah walked out
of their house. The air was crisp, and the sky was pale blue with a
bright sun that made the light dusting of snow that had fallen
overnight glisten on the ground. Honey had a leather-bound
appointment book under her arm. Jeremiah took her hand, and they
walked down the driveway to the sidewalk.

“We can drive,” he said, looking down at
her.

“That’s just silly. We can walk the street.
When we go visit the wolves that don’t live in this neighborhood,
then we can drive.”

“Yes, dear,” he said, chuckling.

They walked across the street to the first
house and she opened the appointment book and pulled a pen from her
jacket pocket. “This house belongs to Joel. He’s the uncle of the
alpha who was in power before Acksel took over. He likes rum and
watching old western movies.”

Honey jotted down the notes about Joel as
they walked up the sidewalk. Jeremiah had just lifted his hand to
knock on the door when it swung open.

“I also like rum,” the man said.

“I already said rum.”

“It’s a truth that bears repeating. Come in
and introduce me to your lovely mate.”

Honey smiled and shook Joel’s hand as
Jeremiah led her inside. Joel had big blue eyes that crinkled when
he smiled at her.

“Joel, this is Honey, my mate.”

“Hello, Honey.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Joel.”

Joel led them into the kitchen and Honey
noticed that he walked slowly, as if his joints were stiff. He
turned and leaned against the counter and smiled. “I was aging
gracefully until I tangled with a bear on vacation about ten years
ago. The damn thing tried to take my knees. I healed okay, but he’d
really done a number on the tendons and they never did set right.
Sometimes our fast healing is
too
fast.”

Honey nodded in understanding. She’d known of
instances like that in her former pack — when a male or female was
injured and too far away for medical help. Their body’s natural
healing was accelerated, but if a bone was severely broken or
something was torn like a ligament or muscle tissue, sometimes it
healed wrong. Then, as they aged, it became a painful reminder of
their injury.

“Honey and I are just checking in with
everyone today and making a to-do list for ourselves.”

Honey handed a magnet to Joel that had both
her and Jeremiah’s cell numbers on it. Brynn had helped Honey make
them on Sunday so that they could give the retirees something more
permanent than a business card. Joel put the magnet on his
refrigerator.

“I have an appointment with my rheumatologist
next Friday. I’m almost out of firewood, too.”

Jeremiah said, “Honey will put you on the
calendar so we can pick you up for your appointment. I’ll bring
some firewood back later on this afternoon. Dade is organizing some
of the younger pack members to handle the sidewalk and driveway
shoveling. They’re supposed to show up any time there’s more than
two inches of snow on the ground. I’m going to check on the furnace
filter, and then we need to get on our way.” Jeremiah pecked Honey
on the cheek and strode out of the kitchen.

“Can I offer you a cup of coffee?”

“No, thank you. How long have you lived in
Wilde Creek?”

He folded his arms with a smile. “My
great-grandfather founded the town, and my grandfather, dad, and
older brother were pack leaders. When my nephew was overthrown for
alpha, I decided to stay here. My mate is buried in the town
cemetery, and when it’s my time to go, I want to be buried next to
her. I’ve lived here my whole life; I don’t want to live anywhere
else.”

She thought that was amazingly sweet.

Jeremiah joined them in the kitchen, holding
a dirty furnace filter. “We should get going on to the next house.
Thanks for letting us stop by, Joel.”

He pushed away from the counter and walked
with them to the front door. “I’m always happy to see you,
Jeremiah. You and your mate are welcome anytime.”

He opened the door for them and Honey smiled
warmly. “It was a pleasure to meet you.”

“You, too.” He looked at Jeremiah with a
smirk. “Next time, remember the rum.”

Jeremiah chuckled and took Honey’s hand,
leading her down the sidewalk. At the curb, he threw the filter in
the trash and said, “What did you think of Joel?”

“I think he’s adorable.”

He raised a brow with a small snarl.

She laughed and slapped his shoulder. “Not
that kind of adorable, you nut. He’s sweet, but not as sweet as
you.”

He snorted and pulled her close, gazing down
at her with heat in his eyes. “Mine.”

She stroked her fingers along his jaw,
feeling the light scrape of stubble. “Yours.”

They turned down the sidewalk, their fingers
linked, and walked to the next house. The morning passed quickly as
Jeremiah introduced her to all of the retirees on their street.
Everyone welcomed her warmly and made her feel less like a newbie,
and more like someone who’d lived in Wilde Creek her entire
life.

They made their way back to Jeremiah’s truck
and visited the handful of other retirees who lived on different
streets. Jeremiah gave her a tour of town on their way home, and
they stopped for a late lunch at Luna’s.

“So what do you think of being a steward so
far?” he asked as he pushed a thick french fry through ketchup.

“It’s neat. I got the feeling that the
retirees are just happy to have someone care what they’re up to and
that they’re doing okay. But you were already watching out for
them.”

“Not like I could have been. I was really
bogged down with other duties.”

“I don’t get why the males don’t do more. Why
do only the omegas shovel the walks and chop wood?”

He snorted. “Yeah, right.”

“No, I’m serious. You have the alpha, the
beta, and the theto, and then what? A bunch of ranked males who sit
around with their thumbs up their asses while a few of the omegas
carry all the burden.”

“The protectors also have jobs within the
pack.”

She made a face. “I know what protectors do.
I know that they guard the alphas and patrol around town. But not
every ranked male is really useful as a protector, are they? Surely
there are protectors who could be doing other things. If you had
taken Acksel up on his offer to fight for rank on the full moon,
you would have been assigned a patrol route and then… what?”

He shrugged. “It’s the way it is, Honey.”

“I thought I told you not to say that so
often.”

He chuckled. “You’re adorable. I love when
you get all feisty about my place in the pack. No one’s ever stood
up for me like you do.”

“I feel the same way. What made you want to
look after the retirees in the first place?”

He popped the french fry in his mouth and
chewed thoughtfully. “My mom’s parents were older when she was
born, and they died when I was in elementary school. I remember
listening to my parents argue about all the time my mom was
spending taking care of them. My dad wanted her home, taking care
of him. I always thought that was unfair. There was a kid at school
— a human — who had grandparents who lived with him and his folks,
and I thought, why can’t we do that? But there was no way my dad
would let the in-laws come live with us.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. Maybe because he didn’t want
to share my mom with them, or he didn’t really like them well
enough to open his home to them. When they died, my mom was really
despondent for a long while, because she felt like she wasn’t there
for them like she could have been. I didn’t want to see that happen
to anyone else. I thought that if there were wolves who were too
weak or old or injured to be part of the pack, they deserved
someone watching over them if their families couldn’t, or wouldn’t,
do it. Even before I became a
non
, I helped out a few of the
retirees.”

She reached her hand across the table and
squeezed his. “You’re so sweet. Have I told you how crazy I am
about you?”

His smile made her heart clench. “I’m crazy
about you, too, Honey. From the bottom of your cute feet to the top
of your gorgeous head, and every inch between.”

He lifted her hand and kissed the top of it.
She thought she might just go up in flames right there because he
was so awesome. His wicked grin told her that he knew exactly what
she was thinking.

After spending the afternoon working on a
calendar for those wolves who needed rides to appointments, she and
Jeremiah tumbled into bed, happy and exhausted. Her whole life
she’d never felt like she belonged or that she had any real purpose
outside of being the daughter of the alpha. Her life as she’d known
it had been built on a lie, and many people had suffered because of
that.

But here in Wilde Creek, she’d found the
place where she belonged.

* * * * *

The next evening, she found herself nervously
waiting at Luna’s with Jeremiah, to meet his mom for dinner. Her
mate sat stiffly next to her. His face was blank, as if he didn’t
have a thought in his head, but she could tell that he was
wary.

“I spoke to Trixie and Heidi this afternoon,”
she said after taking a drink of soda.

His brows rose. “I’m glad you were finally
able to get in touch with them.”

“Me too.” She’d been trying to connect with
them since things had settled down after her and Jeremiah’s
kidnapping. She’d known they would be worried about her, and she
was right. “They’re happy that I’ve found you and that things are
done with… the guy who wasn’t really my dad.”

“What did you tell them about him?” He
reached for her hand and squeezed it.

“That I wasn’t actually his daughter and we
weren’t part of each other’s lives anymore. I didn’t want to tell
them the whole truth. They’re human, and they don’t really
understand.”

“Do you want me to take you to visit
them?”

Before she could tell him that her friends
wanted to come to Wilde Creek to see her at some point in the
summer, Jeremiah’s gaze darted over her head and he tensed,
squeezing her hand.

A pretty woman with short dark hair stopped
at their table. Jeremiah stood and Honey did, too.

“Hello, Jeremiah.”

“Mom.”

Everything froze for a moment, and Honey felt
an uncomfortable silence settle over them. She elbowed Jeremiah,
and he cleared his throat. “Mom, this is my mate, Honey Williams.
Honey, this is my mom, Yolanda Kincaid.”

Honey didn’t know if she should just wave or
shake her hand or hug her. Jeremiah had a tight hold on Honey’s
hand, as if he wouldn’t let go even if the world ended. Before she
could extract her hand, Yolanda hugged her. Honey reached her other
hand around and gave her a one-armed hug.

Yolanda squeezed her gently and then stepped
away. “I’m so happy for you both. Thank you for agreeing to meet
with me. I know it’s not an easy situation to be in.”

Jeremiah snorted, but said nothing as they
all sat down.

A young woman came to the table and took
Yolanda’s drink order. “I heard about your new pack job. That’s
really wonderful,” Yolanda said.

“How did you hear?” Jeremiah asked.

“My friend, Olive, told me last night. You’ll
be so good at that.”

Jeremiah’s thumb stroked the top of Honey’s
hand, but he didn’t say anything further. The waitress returned
with Yolanda’s iced tea and then took their dinner orders. Honey
decided to break the tension, and shared about their steward duties
and their new home.

“Oh, I have something for you,” Yolanda said,
unzipping her purse and extracting a square yellow envelope. “It’s
not much, but I hope you find something for your house.”

Honey opened the envelope and pulled out a
fifty-dollar gift card to a home goods store. “Thank you so much,
I’m sure we will.”

When the food came, Jeremiah relaxed enough
to participate in the conversation, but he still seemed like he was
waiting for something bad to happen. When the meal was over and the
bill paid, they walked outside together and stopped at Yolanda’s
sedan.

“I know I’ve made a lot of mistakes. I don’t
expect you to forgive me, but I’m still sorry.” Her eyes glistened,
and she sniffled. “I’m sorry for not sticking around, for leaving
you floundering when you needed support the most. Even though he’s
a jackass, your father’s still my mate, and our marks tie us
together forever. If I was human, I could just get a divorce, but
it’s not so easy with wolves. I want to be part of your lives,
however you’ll let me be. I can’t bring you back to our home, but I
will be here for you if you want, in any way that I can.”

Jeremiah looked at Honey and she smiled in
encouragement. “Do you really want to be part of our lives,
Mom?”