Page 16 of Fractured Fang: Omega

Macs grinned. He leaned forward, slowly at first but then, when I didn’t step away, he hurried and kissed my lips.

“Thank you, mate. I’ll be back shortly.”

For more kisses, I hoped.

“All right,” I said, not wanting to keep him from his work.

Shortly apparently meant two hours. Others had gotten up and got their day started, moving around the territory. I was surprised when no one stopped to question what I was doing. Although, I got called in to have breakfast. I wasn’t going to say no to that; I did have to keep my energy up. And besides, my father took it as a personal insult if you didn’t eat one of his meals.

I hurried through breakfast. Macs was at my side; it seemed the breakfast and lunch meals were more informal than the dinners we all had together. People came and went as they needed. Dad, as always, had a large spread of about anything anyone could ever want.

He even had my favorite. I was incredibly thankful to have the massive pile of pancakes. We may have had our differences, but my dad loved me, and he put that love into his food. I would need the energy if I was going to be on my feet all day painting. And that would be my plan. Get as much done as possible. Show the Alpha Mate that I could provide something to this pack, even if it were just my art.

More and more, I thought this could be a place I could settle with Levi. Of course, I had a lot to explain to my mate about him, but Macs was an understanding Alpha; he would understand why I kept Levi a secret. And he would accept him. Not a single fiber of my being suspected otherwise.

With how this pack embraced witches and magic, it would be a perfect place for a young witch to grow up. I had briefly talked with Morgan about finalizing the paperwork for Levi’s adoption. As long as I could prove I could provide him with a stable home, there was no reason why I wouldn’t be approved. Given that the Fractured Fang pack had a covenstead already, it was almost guaranteed that the council would approve.

There were just a lot of steps before that happened, and the first was proving to the pack that I could be of value to them and not just a drain. Being the mate of a Beta wasn’t enough on its own. I knew that, and it wasn’t fair to Wilder to suggest otherwise.

And as far as my mural went, I couldn’t wait to show my mate my vision. I was ridiculously excited about the entire project. It was challenging in a way I hadn’t experienced before. I loved it.

Macs and I went outside together after breakfast. He saw how excited I was about my project and insisted he could easily get chores done on his own today and that I should get back to work on my mural. I didn’t want to be away from him, but I agreed. He wasn’t wrong about my desires, and putting a stop to the creative process to be practical wasn’t the best way to create the best final product possible.

After another far too brief kiss, he went to get more chores done, and I threw myself at the mural. I was finally putting pieces of color onto the brick and getting the outline of the house done.

Hours passed, and I got lost in my work. The stroke of my brush against the brick lulled me into a concentration that allowed me to block out the world.

Then my dad was there. I hadn’t even heard him coming over; I was too engrossed in what I’d been doing.

“What in the heck is this?” he said. “Shouldn’t you be helping Macs with chores?” There was so much judgment in his voice it was hard not to recoil, apologize, and then run to help my mate.

Instead, I stood strong. “The Alpha Mate Franklin asked me to do this mural,” I explained.

“I’m sure he meant to do it on your downtime, not while the rest of us are getting stuff done for the pack. Macs is relying on you to help him. You can’t just not!” And great, now he was yelling.

I opened my mouth to say something, but the words wouldn’t come out. Macs didn’t need my help, and Franklin did mean to do it now. But did I defend myself? No. I just stood there and watched as my mother joined my father’s side. It was like I was a teenager again instead of a grown man.

“The mural looks like it’s going to be very nice,” my mom said. “Don’t you think so, Phillip?”

Her words floored me. She was usually right there with dad, pushing me to be productive. Today? Today something was different.

Dad rolled his eyes. He didn’t even look at it. “I’m sure it’ll be great. But this is the kind of thing you do when all the chores are done. This isn’t productive, Gabe.”

Finally, I found my spine and spoke. “It is productive, father. The Alpha Mate asked me to complete a task. They didn’t ask me to do them a favor on my downtime. This is important to them, and it’s important to me.”

“They were just trying to be nice to you, to make you feel more welcome. And while I appreciate the gesture, I wish they hadn’t. It will only give you this false sense that this kind of thing is acceptable.”

Before I could respond, my father was heading back to the house, my mother mumbling something about it being pretty, but getting to my chores and then doing the same. And to think I’d thought that this place would accept Levi and me.

My phone started to buzz in my pocket, and when I took it out, I saw that it was Levi. I jogged around to where I could chat with him out of sight, set up the phone on a rock, and then opened the video chat screen.

“Hey, Levi. I missed you.” I both signed and spoke the words. It wasn’t the correct sentence structure for the signs, but I was getting better. “How was school.”

He told me about his day, including getting all five of his spelling words correct on the first try. Levi also talked about what they had for lunch and how there was a new little boy in the pack. He had a lot to say, and I was glad to have the time to take it all in.

“Show me the picture?” he asked.

At first, I wasn’t sure if I should bring it around. If someone saw me talking to him, it could make things worse for us. It was one thing for me not to share his existence right away and eventually doing it myself. I wasn’t sure how they would feel about discovering it on their own—if Wilder would believe me that I had every intention of coming to him.

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