Page 29 of Fur-Ever Home

"Hey." I tugged on our linked fingers, pulling him to me for a hug. "It'll be all right. We'll get you home in time for your party. Who knows, along the way, we might find a Wonderdog 3000." The toys were also made in China, but I didn't want to anger him all over again.

"We won't," he said. "I've had an alert on my phone for the last six months, waiting. It's only notified me twice when stores had them in stock, and both times, they sold out before I could get there."

"I'm sorry." I dropped a kiss on top of his head. It felt so right to hold him against me like this. "Let's go back to the bus and see if we can help."

"That's what you do, isn't it?" His words sounded like an accusation. I stepped back so I could see his face. He grinned up at me, and I relaxed. He was teasing. "You're a helper. You make everything better."

"I try." I wanted to brighten my mate's day, though arriving home in time for Sunday dinner looked less and less likely by the moment.

With the bus driver's direction, we removed all luggage from the bus's storage compartment, and then we helped her stash them in the new bus when it arrived. The replacement reminded me of a school bus with the seat designs, and it was decidedly smaller than the first. Ben and I had to share a seat, which meant he was practically sitting in my lap. No harm, there, but the more he squirmed to get comfortable, the more my cock took notice.

I tried not to read over his shoulder as he sent text messages to his parents and the family group chat. I pulled up a game on my phone, hoping to focus on something other than Ben, but he distracted me with every gentle touch and the occasional kiss to my cheek.

It was the best/worst bus ride I'd ever taken.

11

BENJAMIN

Why was Connor so perfect?He was supposed to be my fated mate and all, but that couldn't be the full answer. I felt like I was back in school, staring at a blank essay test.

He was gorgeous in that carefree way some alphas had. Perfect without even trying. Stranger still, he didn't act like he was god's gift to omegas, unlike every alpha and even a few betas I knew. He was casual and carefree, and my consent mattered to him.

I found myself initiating touches and kisses with him, something I had never done. Every time, he rewarded me with the sweetest sounds, or when he'd eaten my ass … gods. I was still squirming in my seat just thinking about it.

That was the problem. I had too damn much time to think on this bus. I needed a distraction beyond my family's initial distress. My statements about meeting a kind alpha made them think the opposite, that my phone was being monitored by my big alpha captor. After reassuring them I had not been kidnapped, I apologized to my nephew via a text to my brother.

"[laughing emoji] I can't even tell you what he said,"my brother texted.

I tucked my phone back into my carry-on and turned to Connor. "Do you want kids?"

"What? No! I mean, maybe, someday?"

"I think I know what you mean." I relaxed against him so my cheek rubbed his shirt on the opposite side of the mustard stain. "I never wanted kids, either, but now that I've met you, I think I could change my mind."

I clapped my hand to my mouth and sat up straight again, trying to put some distance between us. "I mean …"

"Meeting you has changed my mind about kids," he said. "Though your family chat made me reconsider. How old is your nephew?"

"He'll be nine tomorrow."

"Alpha?" he asked.

"How could you tell?" I rolled my eyes, more at my brother and his husband than at my mate.

Mate. Fuck. I really thought of him as my mate.

"I always thought humans had better rules about alpha dominance and omega subservience than shifter packs do."

"Maybe other families, but ours has always been more traditional." I sighed.

"Backwards, you mean." He nudged me in the side.

I snorted. "Yeah, maybe. Your pack was the same way?"

"Worse. I told you, they wanted me to bond an omega mate I didn't know. It was my job to breed him until we had a full litter of pups, and then our pack elders would teach them their roles in our pack all over again."

"You refused the bond?"

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