Page 10 of Rome's Mate: Hunted Omegas

Amelia felt a tug that felt like a drumming need that was coming from deep inside. She had to take the next exit. Changing lanes on the highway still scared her unless the lanes were empty. Those big eighteen-wheelers could make her swear off ever driving again. Highway driving wasn’t like driving in her smalltown. If her life wasn’t on the line, she might have never done it. Now she needed to merge to be in the right lane. Deep breath. She flicked on her turn signal and cautiously merged. Someone gave her the middle finger. Screw you, buddy. She’d done it.

It took longer to get to the exit than she expected. What worried her was that she was the only one who took it. She traveled down well-paved roads for about an hour before she felt the need to turn. Soon she was on a bumpy road that reminded her of her small town.

She slowed down as she approached a large sign on the side of the road. It read, “Welcome to Huntsville.” Then it gave the population, which she didn’t care about. All she noticed was that the population was more than one and less than a city.

Reaching the town took longer than it would take to reach the small town she left behind. What kept her attention was the abundance of trees and the thick canopy. It was the definition of what a forest was. She wanted to explore, but she needed a place to spend the night first.

She drove through some streets, looking at the houses. Most seemed older, but they were large, with lots of land and well taken care of. Her next turn took her onto what she assumed was Main Street. It was busy as people moved from place to place. It was also friendly. They were calling out to each other and waving. She found a parking spot and pulled in. She scanned the area, looking for a place to eat and hopefully a place to stay.

There was a diner called Just Eat. It was down the street. As she got closer, she saw they advertised they had the best beef in Huntsville. That was the place to be.

The awning was blue, and there was a glass front door. She had to admit she missed Jack’s, probably because it was the first place she went to on her own. Or maybe because there was magic in the air. There was no magic in this place. A bell rang as she went in. There was a teen slouching against the podium.Probably the owner’s child. He stood up tall, then stared at her like he was seeing a ghost before finally shaking his head and putting on a smile.

“Welcome to Just Eat. The place where all your culinary desires will come true.” Well, that was a heck of a sales pitch. “Table for one, or are you waiting on others?”

“Not today.” He picked up a menu and took her to a nice table close to the back exit.

That was weird, right? She pulled out her phone and cautiously looked around to find several people looking at her. Their gazes shot away when she caught them looking. What was it about her that was different?

She looked at the menu. As much as she wanted two entrées, she settled for one. When her server came back, she’d put in another order for carryout.

“Ready to order?” Her server stood in front of her. He was also a male, but older than the one that met her at the door.

“Yes. Can I get an order of your spaghetti and steak? I’ve never tried that combination before, and I bet it’s wonderful.”

“It is. You’re going to love it.”

“Can I also get the 16 oz. porterhouse special to go with fries and coleslaw? I’ll take a coffee and a glass of water too.” As much as she wanted another glass of soda. Shifters needed large quantities of water to keep their bodies in shape.

“Sure.” He hesitated, looking at her.

“Ask.” She wasn’t sure of where the authoritative voice came from. It worried her, but she pasted on a smile. That was her issue, not his.

“Your hair is white, and I’ve never seen eyes that color before.”

He didn’t deserve an answer to those questions. She knew he was asking for the diner, and whatever she said would be all over town before she was done eating. If she didn’t answer,then everyone would draw the wrong conclusion and if she did answer, some would still draw the wrong conclusion.

She laughed, inviting him to join in the joke with her, and then her smile turned upside down, her sadness radiated from her body, her silver eyes looked almost gray.

“My dad said when I was born, my hair was a dark brown. Then mom died. Two days after that, it was white. He said I went into mourning for the mother I’d never know. My mom gave me her eyes, something to do with her genetics. Her eyes were silver, too.” The look in his eyes said that he could feel her sadness, and so could the rest of the room. Passing along a feeling wasn’t something she was good at, but it had kept her from the end of a fist more than once. Her cousin, though, she could make a room feel what she felt, and it would linger for hours.

“I’m so sorry, and that was rude of me. I’ll tell you what. Dessert is on the house.”

She beamed at him. It was a slow transition as she pulled on the sadness and gradually allowed genuine delight to take its place. She could see how he felt at the end. She probably shouldn’t play with the humans, but if they were going to ask intrusive questions, she was going to defend herself.

“Dessert sounds great. Is there a place a traveler can lie her weary head around here?”

He directed her to a bed-and-breakfast and then went to put in her orders. She looked around the room and saw most of the people were talking and eating. There were one or two people who were watching her, but there were always going to be a few.

This small town might be the place she was looking for. There was a part of her that wanted to run in the forest on four legs. What the hell?

Chapter Six

Rome sat in hisoffice in the city. He was in a high-rise building with an office five floors from the top of the building. He could have taken the top floor, but it was a little too pretentious for him and too much name recognition came from being on the top floor of the building. Hailstorm Enterprises occupied the top floor. They should have just announced to the world what they were. As long as everyone was whispering about the brothers, no one was paying any attention to Hunter Enterprises. That was the way he liked it.

He ran his business from his pack office and sometimes from a small office in Huntsville. When he needed to meet with the board or clients that he would never allow around his pack or the town that he protected, he met them in his office in the city.

There was a knock on his door. He was looking out the window, watching the two rivers as they met at the point, making a third river. It made him think of children. Two parents coming together to form a third. There had been three new births in the pack over the past six months. It had left himfeeling more alone. What if Luna gave him a mate? The goddess of the Dark Night cursed them to have omega children. Did that bother him? No, he could see a beautiful daughter that looked like his mate. His arms ached to hold a child, to hold his mate and never let her go. He would kill anyone who got too close to his mate or his child.

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