Page 10 of Golden Omega

“Yes, there I was.” And telling him I’d rushed to the window to get a better look at his ass, or all of him, would not contribute to my respect for whatever female they were marrying. They must love her a lot to be willing to step past the traditional mating and marking and do something so clearly just to celebrate her. None of the alphas I’d known would have done that for sure. Great! I’d found the only three alphas, well, besides Tawny’s and Karissa’s packs, who knew how to treat an omega, and someone else had already won them.

Mates, my wolf asserted. Ours.

No, they are some other bride’s.

Wow…a bride. I supposed if an omega got lucky enough to be hooked up with her true mates, her fated pack, the traditional mating and marking might be enough. But a whole wedding with cake and flowers and friends to congratulate her? Wow. And that was why I could positively confirm these were not my mates. If they were, they would not be head over heels about someone else.

The server came back again to refill us, and I held my hand over my glass. I wasn’t staying long enough to drink any more tea.

“How long have you been in town?” asked Orin, his dark eyes intense and focused on me. Was that a pickup line? So confusing.

“Awhile. I worked at a few different places before opening the shop.”

“I’m amazed I didn’t see you at any of them.” Sovann smiled, easy and relaxed in his demeanor.

I swayed a little toward him, like a bee to a flower, before straightening again. With Altan so commanding and Orin’s cool, Sovann might seem like the one to be least concerned about, but as we spoke about ordinary things, he chipped away at my walls, and I found myself relaxing. Not quite forgetting that these males were taken but maybe not remembering quite every second. Turned out, he did a lot of the everyday-life stuff for their pack, which was why he commented that he should have run into me at some point.

“Have you noticed that the produce prices have been higher than they should be at this time of year?” he asked. A question most omegas would have said yes to right away. But not this one.

“No. I mostly buy frozen dinners.”

“Oh, that’s not good. They’re full of salt and chemicals.”

“Hopefully not too many chemicals.” I winced. “With my shop hours and making deliveries in the evenings, I don’t have a whole lot of time to cook.”

“That’s a shame.” He let his arm drop from the booth back to my shoulder long enough to give me a pat before lifting it again. Before it was inappropriate. Before I could protest. “Nutrition is so important. We grow a lot of our own vegetables, but not all.”

“Oh, you have a garden.” Why did I sound so amazed? Most people around here did. There were a lot more houses than apartments in this town. “Do you grow any flowers?”

“A few, but mostly just things like marigolds to deter pests.”

“Does that really help?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe.” He pulled out his phone and, leaving that one arm behind me, showed me pictures of his vegetable garden. It was surrounded by open space, and I took the phone, scrolling through photos of tomatoes and zucchini and watermelons and all sorts of things.

“You have more room to expand.”

“I sure do. Hey, why don’t you come over one night for dinner and you can have a decent meal and give me ideas about flowers.”

I froze. This was so inappropriate. “Goddess. This is why I don’t date shifters. Let me out of here. Oh, never mind!” I ducked under the table and crawled out. Pausing at the counter, I paid Jenny’s and my bill and stormed out into the street. They were getting married, were already mated, and were trying to get me over to their house? What would their mate think of that? Ugh!

Chapter Ten

Orin

“What in the hell just happened?” I asked mostly myself as we sat there, still in the booth, pie half eaten.

We’d just been chewed up and spit out by our omega. She wasn’t ours yet, and after our encounter minutes before, I wasn’t sure she would ever be.

Every woman was different. They took time to get to know and learn what made them tick and what pissed them off, but if we never got a chance to even court her, then none of that learning could take place.

“I’ve never been so confused in my whole life.” Sovann was the most shell-shocked of us all. Other than speaking those words, he hadn’t moved an inch from his spot. She’d crawled under the table to get away from us, saying something about never dating shifters.

A new anger bubbled in my chest. Who hurt our omega so badly that she had sworn off an entire species of people? Had she dated a shifter who broke her heart?

My wolf didn’t like that idea one bit.

Altan opened and closed his mouth several times but managed to pay the bill and watch as the table got cleared before saying anything. “We can’t let this stand.”