Page 6 of Sizzling for His Omega

Too good to be true.

It had to be my age. His mating instinct must’ve gotten the best of him, making him say yes in the first place. But once he got home, he thought of all the things that could go wrong. I was older. That meant his kids would have an older father. I would in all probability die before him.

Or maybe an older alpha simply wasn’t what he needed.

I shoved my hands into my pockets and decided to take the long way home, meandering around town for a while. My jackal wanted to break from me and scent the omega down, submit to him and make him want us again, but he had no manners or dignity when it came to Tobias, apparently.

I nodded and waved to some couples as I passed them and even stopped at the coffee shop for a late-night latte. Yeah, it was late but with the events of the night, there would be no sleep for me anyway, so I might as well get my treat beverage. Getting canceled had earned me a treat.

While I sipped my latte, I strolled the streets of Oliver Creek. My jackal’s senses were on high alert. He was still hoping our omega would come around a corner and tell us he was sorry. That he’d changed his mind and wanted us to go outtogether—or even better, stay in together. I passed the bustling new restaurants and food trucks. The smells on a night like tonight made my mouth water, but my appetite had disappeared completely.

I took long, deep drags of cool, fall air through my nose and let it calm me a bit.

Then the thought hit me.

What if he was hurt? What if something had gone wrong at the restaurant and he’d hurt himself, burned himself, or had to go to the healer?

Perhaps something caused him to shut down the restaurant.

Gods, I’d been selfish all this time, thinking like the victim when maybe my omega was in danger or wounded or emotionally hurting.

I would reach out to him the next morning. I would bring him flowers or breakfast, something to show him that I still wanted to pursue him.

If he said no again, I would have to accept it.

There would be no choice.

I’d stopped on a corner, intending to go home when I noticed a home at the far end of the street. The front lights were on, and something on the porch swayed back and forth.

My jackal all but pushed my feet forward, toward the movement. The house was small, a cottage. Yellow paint. White shutters, and the closer I got, the faster my heart beat. My feet moved of their own accord now, drawn, pulled in, tethered to the person on the swing out front.

Tobias. My omega. My bear.

Swinging, looking up at the moon, appearing like a dream—a fantasy.

Chapter Seven

Tobias

I beat myself up after canceling the date. My bear was in an uproar, literally roaring inside me every moment I was awake. But once burned…I just now had my life together, and the idea of letting it collapse again because of a relationship was not good. Not the direction I wanted my life to take.

Business offered an outlet for my creativity and success. Mating? Probably not just for me. And that would have to be all right. Few people got all their wishes, and I was just too rattled at the idea of attempting to date someone else. No matter how much I liked him and thought he was the right person for me.

I’d thought that before and look what happened. No, I needed to keep my head about me and not do anything that could go wrong and distract me from running my business. It was going well, but I had a long way to go before I could rest on my laurels. Sitting on my porch swing, moving slowly back and forth, I continued to make excuses for why I couldn’t go out for a simple dinner with an attractive, mature jackal shifter.

It was a beautiful evening with a light breeze that carried a scent to me. One that had me tipping my head back and inhaling deeply. Even though I’d only been in front of Leon for a fraction of a second before spilling all that food all over him, I knew it was him. I scooted off the swing and made a move toward the house. If he was passing by, I did not want him to see me and ask me for an explanation as to why I canceled our date. What was he doing in this neighborhood anyway? I had one hand on the door, almost home free, when Leon called out my name and the gate creaked. I peeked over my shoulder.

“Tobias? Wait.” He double-timed up the walk and the porch steps. “Where are you going?”

“I-I was. Umm…when did you get here?”

He stopped and tilted his head, eyeing me up and down. “Just now. I think you saw me on the sidewalk?”

There was absolutely no way I could run into the house now, and not just because it would make me look like a coward. It would be rude and probably make my bear mad enough to bite. It was more metaphorical, as in no actual blood would spill, but the couple of times I’d upset him enough, it hurt just the same.

I turned the rest of the way around. “Hi.”

Leon came even with me on the porch. “So, what’s with pretending not to see me? Or…for that matter, canceling our date. I know it’s not my breath because I brush my teeth twice a day and even more often if I eat garlic or onions.”

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