“No idea, some kind of rodent, maybe?” I said, while shoving my feet into my sneakers Rowan had thoughtfully bought. I grabbed up the bag and torch my mate had brought. He was well prepared for a hike through the woods.
“It has back feet like a kangaroo.”
“Use your phone and look it up.”
Teaching Rowan how to use tech was hilarious. He and the kids had had a pretty basic phone to contact Malik, but I’d ordered better devices with a heap of apps for them to use for their schooling. Berry and Sandy were much quicker at picking things up and already shared a tablet with educational programs. Yeah, I’d looked into a homeschooling curriculum. It had been a busy week. They were awesome at using the web, Rowan not so much. He preferred to stick to books.
“This says it’s a quokka. They are a marsupial, native to what is Australia in the human world. So it’s a prey shifter, right?”
“Yeah, an omega, too.” This close to it, I still could pick up the subtle omega pheromones designed to trigger an alpha’s protectiveresponse. The last of his heat was done. We were out of the worst part.
“Is that… bad? You’re an alpha, right?” Rowan blushed. “You, um, had sex. I can smell it.” He wrinkled his nose.
“Yeah, we did. Don’t worry, I’ve got control of myself, I’m not in a rut anymore. He’s safe with us.” Years of practice made my words sound certain. I didn’t tell Rowan this was my mate.
Picking him up, I followed Rowan, who had conjured some light for us now it was so late.
“Sorry I was so long. He, uh, went into heat. Really fucking stupid of him. Dangerous. If it was anyone else…” my words trailed off.
“It’s, uh… it’s fine. I just got worried.” I could hear the lingering anxiety. His scent was tinged with the bitterness of it.
“You better not have thought I wasn’t coming back.”
The look of shame on his face told me he had feared it.
“Kid, you’re mine. You’ll never lose me, okay?” This was why I had to get rid of the little quokka, as cute as he was.
I laid the creature on the sofa. The movement must have jostled him out of sleep. He shifted back into his human form and reared back,readying a scream at the change of place. His nose twitched. He took a deep breath and practically yelled.
“Where am I?”
“My house.”
“Are we going to bond now? I feel so good after my heat, thank you.” His cheeks reddened prettily. He had dirt smeared over his body, leaves in his hair. I’d never seen anything so beautiful. His scent beckoned me to him, demanding I protect him.
“No. We’re not. Remember? One and done. I’m going to take you home.”
“What? I thought you were kidding! You’re my fated mate!”
His eyes strayed to Rowan. Who did he think he was? Did he think he could shame me into accepting him or something? Anger rose inside me.
“No, I’m not,” I automatically denied while looking him over.
He stood, bristling with anger, and I got a better look at him under the lights of the living room. He was shorter than me. Omegas usually were. He was maybe five-eight to my six-three. His pale skin was flushed, his pheromonesworking overtime to allure me into protecting him. His beautiful blue eyes welled with tears.
“You are!” he cried. He drew closer to me, his nose still sniffing out my scent. I tried not to groan at his proximity.
“I can smell me all over you. You shared my heat with me. You can see how good we can be together! Why can’t we be mates?
“I’m a dingo, remember?That’s why I can’t. Predators and prey aren’t a good match.“ I latched onto any excuse to get him out of my house.
He paused, just a moment’s hesitation before he shrugged it off. “You still smell like my fated mate.” He obviously had no survival instincts. “Fate clearly doesn’t care what either of us are.”
Slumping down on the sofa, he pulled a throw blanket over himself to avoid Rowan’s gaze. I was grateful for that, the alpha in me demanding we stop anyone else from looking at our mate.
“Well, I care. It matters to me.” I crossed my arms over my chest defensively while I lied my ass off. “You’re just confused,” I added. “You were going into heat, found me attractive, kissed me and got caught up in the hormones. When your heat started, I got pulled into a rut.Basic biology. We had fun, but that’s all this was.” I felt like the biggest asshole.
One glance at Rowan told me he was watching us avidly. “Rowan, could you get…”
