Page 34 of Taming The Omega

“Hardly.” Will hefted a pouty Annie onto his hip. “You were mated after all. I’d be surprised if you weren’t tired.” He winked at him, then frowned at his daughter. “No fussing now, Annie. Be a good girl and come eat your lunch and you’ll get a cookie for dessert.”

The pup’s frown disappeared, and she clapped her pudgy hands. “’Ookie!”

“That’s right. Come on, Seth, the others have already headed back. We don’t want Caleb to come looking for you.”

He got to his feet and stretched before following Will out. “Do you think he’ll let me have a cookie if I eat all my lunch?” Just thinking of food, he realized he was suddenly ravenous. His appetite had returned and then some.

Will grinned. “Boy, the way that gamma looks at you, I’d say he’ll give you anything you want.”

Seth gave him a wan smile back. Not everything. He didn’t say that out loud, of course. He didn’t want the others to pity him for having a loveless mating.

As they approached the back of the longhouse, he saw the very gamma they spoke of waiting at the top of the steps. Both his feet and his heart tripped at the sight. The guy was so handsome and strong. Virile in the way that he’d always been told his mate should be. It went way beyond being cared for, though. For the first time, he knew what having such a shifter mounting him meant. Sure, Caleb would sire healthy pups off him, but more than that, Caleb had the power to make Seth’s world spin in a surprisingly delightful way.

Even if Caleb might never come to love him, it didn’t mean Seth couldn’t harbor those feelings for his mate.

Caleb smiled in greeting. “Hey, how was your morning?” With a nod to Will, he met Seth at the top of the stairs and tucked him in under his arm.

Seth allowed himself to melt into the embrace, taking strength and warmth where it was offered. “It was good, thanks. I’m, um, sorry I was so cranky earlier. I don’t know what my problem was.”

“No need to apologize. Your life has changed pretty dramatically in such a short time, I can’t blame you for being emotional. It’s only that I was worried I’d done something wrong. You know, last night?”

“Oh, no, not at all,” he was quick to reassure his mate. “You were great, actually,” he added shyly.

“Yeah? Good to know. What did you do after leaving with Will?”

“I played with the pups and took a nap.” Here was a test, he realized. Would his mate chastise him for lazing about while others worked?

“I’m glad to hear it. You need rest. Plenty of time to do chores once you’re at full strength.”

The response didn’t surprise him. Not really. Caleb had been nothing but kind and caring since the day he’d first tracked Seth to the cave. It was silly to keep expecting him to change now that they were mated.

They entered a great room filled with the usual pack noises. He liked how they ate communally. It was a good way for the small pack to reinforce their ties to each other on a continuous basis. Caleb sat him down and started loading up his plate. Lunch was nothing fancy, just chicken and egg salad sandwiches. Caleb gave him his choice, and Seth shyly asked if he could have both. That answer seemed to please his mate immensely. Afterward, Seth ate two cookies and half of Caleb’s.

As they both polished off the rest of their dessert, Caleb jerked his head. “Come on, I want to show you what’s been done so far for the cabin.”

The idea of having a home of his own thrilled him. It also terrified him. He’d be responsible for its upkeep, for making a nice space for his mate to retire at night. No one had ever taught him those things. Caleb took his hand and held it on the way to the yard. The gesture was such a simple, yet sweet, one. Seth loved the feel of the big, warm hand holding his. They stopped in front of a large area staked out with string running along it.

“So, we figure we’ll put the one big room here,” Caleb said, gesturing to their left. “And, the bathroom will be on the right side. What do you think?”

It took him a second to realize his mate was actually asking him his opinion, not speaking rhetorically. “Oh, um, whatever you say, Gamma.”

Caleb sighed and tipping up Seth’s chin, peered down at him. “Please don’t call me that. I like it when you use my name, okay? And, this is going to be your home, too. You have a say. A big one.”

With a flutter of his lashes, Seth managed to nod his assent. There was something too intense about the way his mate looked at him. “It’s hard for me to picture it, but it looks right to me.”

“Good. There should be enough room for us and the first pup.” Caleb cleared his throat. “We can add a second room on the left when our family gets bigger.”

Seth automatically palmed his abdomen. “Are we going to keep our pups with us as they get older?”

“Huh?” Caleb forced Seth to look at him again. “Why would you ask that?”

Seth licked his lips and tried hard to hold his mate’s gaze. “Well, except for Annie, all the pups in the pack are still pretty young. So I didn’t know if the alpha plans on having a separate cabin for them as they get older.”

Caleb shook his head. “I’m still not following you.”

“In my old pack, pups sired by the alpha, betas and gammas were handed over to sigma nannies as soon as they were weaned.” He had to look away, and bit his lower lip. “I guess they didn’t want them around to interfere with their sires breeding more pups.”

“Fuck, that’s terrible!” Seth looked at Caleb again and cringed at the guy’s fierce scowl. “Pups belong with their parents until they grow-up and find their own mates.” He pulled Seth into a tight hug. “There will be no housing our pups separately. We’ll add on as many rooms as we need.”

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