Page 25 of One Wild Omega

“Cass!” Harrison said behind him. “You don’t have to go.”

Cassidy nodded. “I do. Have fun tonight.”

Fitz watched the beta depart, shocked. Cassidy and Harrison always seemed to have a great relationship. Rock-solid. He felt terrible seeing the two of them at odds. His stare flipped to his brother, who looked devastated.

“You okay, man?”

Harrison closed his eyes and shook his head, silent. When he reopened his eyes, he sighed. “Come in.”

“Maybe I should just go and we can reschedule this for another night.”

“Thisis the reason we fought,” Harrison said. He turned and walked back inside. “Having another one probably isn’t a great idea.”

Fitz followed and closed the door behind him. “You mean us going out?” Cassidy had never seemed the controlling type before, so it didn’t compute.

“Exactly,” Harrison said, pulling two longneck bottles from the fridge. He uncapped them both before handing one to Fitz. “He’s terrified I might find my omega and leave him behind. I keep telling him I would’ve found my omega by now if there was one out there for me. Hell… I just turned thirty. Dad met Papa by the time he was twenty-two.”

“Yeah, but Dad and Papa grew up in a different time, before the Omega Rights movement took hold. Omegas weren’t on drugs back then. They couldn’t hide who they were.”

“Now you sound like Cassidy. He’s under the impression my omega is likely coming to a point where he might be readier to settle down. Have a family.”

“He might not be wrong,” Fitz replied.

“Heis,” Harrison blasted. “IloveCassidy. I love him with everything I am.” He looked down at the untouched beer in his hands. “I keep telling him that… he won’t listen. He’s broken up with me three times in the last eight months. Says I need to be free so I can find my omega.”

“I had no idea.” Fitz eyed his brother. “What happens if youdofind your omega?”

“No omega is coming in between him and me.Period.”

“That’s easy to say… but we’ve all been told about the instinct. You might not be able to stop the pull toward your omega if you find him.”

An angry look crossed Harrison’s face. “I saidperiod.”

For someone usually so wise, Harrison was being completely illogical. The fact he couldn’t see it only seemed to speak volumes about what he felt for Cassidy.

“I like Cassidy. He and you are really good together.”

Harrison relaxed some. “We are.Reallygood together. When he’s not running off to ‘free me.’ I’ve been able to drag his ass back here each and every time… but this shit is getting old, Fitz. I don’t know how much more I can do to prove how much I love him.”

“Maybe stop denying there’s a chance you could find your omega.”

Harrison glared at him.

“Oh come on, Harry. You’realwaysthe voice of reason. Youhaveto know how crazy you sound right now.”

Harrison remained silent.

“Instead of denying the chance… and at the same time, denying his very legitimate fears… meet them head on. Talk it out and let him voice his concerns. You lying and saying it can’t happen isn’t going to calm him down.”

His brother shoved a hand through a mop of hair that looked like it had been experiencing that same motion all afternoon. “As Dad has told us over and over again, there aren’t enough unmated omegas in this province to go around. You know what he says—make our own happiness. I’m thirty. How much longer should I spend alone, waiting for some omega who might or might not show up when there’s a beta right here, right now, who I love more than life itself? So I’m following his advice. I’m not sitting around, waiting for fate to drop someone in my lap. Cassidyismy happily ever after. I know it, deep in my gut, I know he’s mine. I just need to figure out a way to make him know it, too.”

“Youcan’tknow that.”

Both Fitz and Harrison turned at the sound of Cassidy’s voice. The beta stood just inside the doorway to the kitchen.

“I should go,” Fitz murmured.

“No,” Cassidy said, shaking his head. “I just came back to grab my phone charger. I don’t want to start another argument. You stay.”

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