Page 63 of Excess

“You never said she’d invited you into her nest,” Dad said accusingly.

Leo looked between us. “Who? Who is this omega?”

It felt a little jarring to be on this side of the interrogation.

“His client,” Dad supplied. “Inika Dara. Jasper’s heard of her, you know. The Om-Guard heiress.”

Leo’s eyes went wide. “Bit out of your league, isn’t she?”

“Obviously,” I snapped. “She wasn’t asking me to be her mate. She was asking me to service her through her heat.”

Dad and Leo exchanged looks like they were debating which one of them would have to give me the birds and the bees talk again.

“I know that usually ends in a mating bite,” I added, exasperated. “I may not have ever had a mate, but I do understand how it works. It’s different for rich people. There are services they can hire. Alphas they can borrow for heats.”

Dad choked on the sip of beer he’d just taken. “How does that work then?”

“Do we need to talk about this?” I groused. “There are muzzles involved. And a support crew outside the nest. Birth control shots. Probably a bunch of other stuff that I’m forgetting.”

“And your client just asked you out of nowhere to be her knot-for-hire?” Leo asked in disbelief.

“Well, he was already shagging her.”

I glared at Dad. “Thanks for that.”

“I just don’t really get what you’re doing here then,” Leo sighed. “You must have liked her enough for that—”

“I like her a lot more than that.”

“—and if you can use these muzzle things, you’re not going to commit to a mating you’re not ready for.”

“Which is wise,” Dad added. “I want you to find a mate, Blake. But it’s not a decision that should be entered into lightly, and you haven’t known this bird very long.”

“Right,” Leo agreed. “So he could just spend this heat with her—which I’m sure she’d appreciate, poor thing must be miserable—and then date her afterwards. And then maybe go into her next heat muzzle-free. Or breakup if it doesn’t work out. What’s the problem here?”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” I snarled. “I can’t just up and leave for five days. I’ve got responsibilities here. And what would I do with a mate? What have I got to offer her? What kind of life would I provide an omega—let alone one like Inika?”

“A great life,” Dad replied, affronted. “A little unconventional, sure. But omegas are generally very sociable—that you’re close with your family probably wouldn’t be a deal breaker for the vast majority of them. You’ve got a good career. You’re a very caring, responsible alpha—”

“A little too responsible,” Leo interjected, though he’d lost some of his ire. “Did you really intend on never taking a mate because of us?”

An awkward silence filled the room, the two of them watching me expectantly for an answer.

“It hasn’t been high on my priority list.” That was an understatement, but I didn’t want them to feel responsible for my decision. Neither of them had ever outright said that I shouldn’t take a mate—I’d made that choice on my own.

“I swear—I swear—that I will do every school drop off and pickup this week. I’ll stay home every night. No fights, no going out. I’ll be one hundred percent there for Freya, okay? Now, will you go?” Leo asked. “I’m not saying you have to make any other decisions right now, but the heat one should be easy.”

“Should it?”

“Fuck yeah.” He gave me a sidelong look. “She must have trusted you to ask you. And you must care about her to have considered it.”

I grunted in agreement.

“Well, then, it’s a no-brainer, isn’t it? Unless you’re fine with the idea of her in excruciating pain for five days, I guess.”

I growled immediately, annoyed by how smug they both suddenly looked.

Dad pulled the phone out from under his ass, holding it out to me. “Call whoever you were talking to. Get it arranged. Leo, drive him up there—he’s in no state to do it himself.”

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