Page 53 of Shifter Omegaverse AU

Milo swiped a large bite of pancake through the syrup pooled on their plate. “First of all, the only urgent thing I see happening here is your delicious pancakes going cold.” They waved their pancake-laden fork at Rowan and waited until he dutifully picked up his fork and knife before continuing. “I might still have the number for the grief counselor I saw a few years back. Although, I guess that’s not exactly what you’re looking for.”

They should still probably find that number. They would text Ray about it to remind themself later.

If he ever responded.

“I appreciate the offer, but I think I may know of one,” Rowan said.

He cut a tiny piece of pancake and ate it, without syrup, which could probably be classified as a misdemeanor in their state. The small smile that curled his lips afterward almost made up for it, though.

“The pancakes are pretty good, aren’t they?” Rowan mused. “It’s my omega mom’s recipe. She loves pancakes, but my alpha ma doesn’t really eat breakfast, so we had pancakes for dinner a lot.”

“I love how close you are with your family,” Milo said, ignoring the way sometimes even just that word could make the fog begin to lick at their ankles. “I’d love to meet them all one day.”

Rowan cut another small piece of pancake. “Well, you’ve already met Ruben. If you hang out in this area long enough, you’ll probably run into Riley, too. She lives in that building right there,” he said, nodding out the living room window towards a chic-looking glass and chrome building.

“I do hope to be in the area more moving forward,” Milo said, nudging the syrup back across the table, just in case Rowan had somehow forgotten it was there.

As if maybe he actually had forgotten, Rowan gingerly picked it up, pouring a single stripe of syrup across his plate. “You already met Troy, who’s Raina’s mate. She’s a bit harder to pin down. Right now, she’s doing a show on the West Coast, but she should be home in two weeks. My moms are the same way. I think my alpha ma is on a hike in Yosemite, and my omega mom was going to a gala in London, last I heard.”

“Uhm, wow, that’s impressive,” Milo said, the pancakes sinking like rocks to the bottom of their stomach. “As far as people you need to meet for me, you already met Ray and Courtney, who are basically the only two friends I’ve had in years. And you saw Ethel at the movie theater, but she’s definitely going to want to meet you after…”

Something Milo hadn’t felt in a very long time, like since they’d been a small, sort of odd child, clawed its way up the back of their neck. Milo’s pony pawed at the ground and shook out their mane, like they could shake away the feeling, but as they glanced out the window at the luxury apartment building, the feeling sank its teeth into them.

“Uhm… Can I tell her we're fated mates? Are you going to tell your family?”

Andrew had never told anyone they were dating. Now, that made a little more sense, since it was probably due to him being a Cheaty McCheatyface, but at the time it had always made Milo feel…bad.

Rowan stopped poking at his pancakes and put his fork down. “Of course you can. And you can tell Ray and Courtney, and whoever else you’d like. I’m planning on telling my family, but I might wait until everyone is back in town.”

That made them feel a little better. It didn’t seem like Rowan was embarrassed or ashamed of them, and they trusted him when he said he would never cheat. Andrew had always made it clear he and his friends and family were light years above and beyond Milo, their diner job, and their thrifted clothes.

The clawing sensation settled into a mild tickle, and Milo rubbed their palm absently across the edge of the table. It was smooth except for the few crumbs and a streak of syrup that Milo must have dropped on it.

“It’s going to be pretty big news,” Rowan added, wiping his mouth with a napkin and placing it on top of his still mostly uneaten food. “Raina and Troy are the only fated mates among us.”

Milo wasn’t sure if they should admit that Anabelle had found and left her fated mate. It wasn’t like the news would make Rowan any more likely to leave them, but it wasn’t exactly breakfast conversation.

Not that any of this was.

“The only person I know who found their fated mate was Anabelle,” Milo said, dragging their last piece of pancake one way across their plate and then the other. “They didn’t end up working out, though. Wrong time, wrong place, I think.”

Anabelle had always added “wrong lifetime” at the end, but Milo refused to say that. They couldn’t imagine a lifetime where they hadn’t met Rowan. Even if all they were ever capable of being was fated best friends, Milo was convinced they were supposed to run into each other at the movie theater and then again at the coffee shop.

“I think that’s fair,” Rowan said. “If we’d met while you were dating Andrew and while I was…in a bad place a few years back, I’m not sure if we would have stood a chance.”

Milo’s mind went in two directions, wanting to know what had happened a few years back, but also wanting to ask if that meant Rowan thought now might actually be their time.

Their pony decided for them, spurring them to reach across the table and put their hand, palm down, a little way past the middle. “I think we met at a good time for both of us.”

Obviously, it would have been better if they’d met when Anabelle was still alive, but there was no use thinking like that. They could only go forward from here.

Rowan laid his hand next to Milo’s. “I genuinely hope so. I want to figure this thing out with you, one step at a time.”

“Like, by going on our first official, romantic date?”

Rowan nodded, and his eyes flashed yellow, as if his hawk was agreeing, too.

“Well, then let’s get to it!” Milo said, shoving the final piece of pancake into their mouth. It was cold now, and a little chewy, but they swallowed it and eagerly pushed back from the table, nearly upending their chair in the process.