Page 30 of Fur-Ever Home

He nodded. "I wanted something more."

"Like what?" I pried, resting my head against his chest again.

"I knew I wanted an omega who thought for himself, not one confined by pack law and his station. The omega they wanted me to bond was sweet and complacent, and it felt so wrong."

Ha. Sweet and complacent did not describe me, even when I tried to be those things to keep peace with my family.

"I wanted a self-made man, someone who didn't let his role as an omega stop him from climbing a corporate ladder, or running his own company, or whatever he desired."

"I'm not exactly at the top of the corporate ladder," I reminded him.

"You refused to work at your family's bank, and you're a manager." I'd briefly mentioned my past to him, and he'd remembered that. No alpha had paid such close attention to me before, nor cared what I said. When he kissed the hair on top of my head, I loved him a little more.

Wait. What? I did not love him! We just fucking met!

He kissed my head, and I liked him more. That was all. Liked. Liked-liked. Gah, I was back in middle school.

I fell asleep somewherein the middle of nowhere and woke to a hellscape. Freezing rain pelted the bus windows. The rattling sound woke me from a nightmare where I was giving birth to Connor's baby, but instead of a wolf or a human, it was a person-sized rattlesnake.

I didn't even wait. I pulled up the shifter website I'd been looking at earlier and scrolled to see if there were rattlesnake shifters.

"You've been researching shifters?" Connor's voice was froggy, either from sleep or lack of use. "You even found a legit site."

I hadn't questioned the source. "There are bogus sites?"

"There's a ton of monster romance fiction out there. You could have stumbled onto an author's website, or a fan fiction wiki. They're out there."

"I'm glad I have you to verify, then." I snuggled against his chest, and something hard poked my hip.

"Sorry," he whispered. "I'm a little excited when you're this close to me."

I glanced up and forgot whatever platitude was on my tongue. My brain short-circuited and all I could think was how much I wanted him, too. I swallowed before I started drooling.

The bus driver's intercom buzzed to life, startling me from my surreal reaction. "Those of you hoping to continue on this route to San Bernardino, we will not be leaving Las Vegas until this storm lets up. There's been a rockslide on our usual route through Cajon Pass."

"Something tells me we'll be stuck in Vegas overnight," Connor said.

I had to agree. This time, being stuck with Connor wasn't an inconvenience. Despite the shitty weather, I was looking forward to it.

When we finally arrived in Las Vegas, we once again helped the driver with our luggage. The attendants were nowhere to be seen in the downpour. Once we had all bags unpacked and accounted for, Connor and I made our way to the terminal to wait for a shuttle.

"Whichever shuttle arrives first," I said under my breath, "we're staying there tonight."

I was pleasantly surprised when it wasn't a hotel I recognized. I only hoped it wasn't on the strip. I wanted a quiet night in.

The Bear Den Inn and Suites shuttle was about the size of our second bus, but it wasn't as crowded. We were the only ones to board. We sat near the front, Connor on one side of the aislewith his new suitcase on the seat, and me on the other with mine tucked between my legs.

I'd been dazzled by the lights in New York City, but the Las Vegas strip was brighter by far. After what seemed like miles with all the stoplights, we turned onto a much quieter, though still bright, side street. Soon after, the shuttle pulled up to a beautiful lodge with a log cabin motif much like last night's B&B.

The beta behind the desk took one look at me and shook his head. "You'll have to find another place to stay. We don't allow single omegas. This is a family place."

"Excuse me?"

"He's my fated mate," Connor said at the same time. "We haven't found the right time to … bond … yet, but we need somewhere to stay the night, out of the storm."

The beta frowned at me again. "He doesn't smell like your fated mate. He smells human and vulnerable, and we're having a moon party tonight."

I held my tongue and made a mental note to look up moon parties on my new favorite website when we got to the room. If we got a room.

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