Page 70 of His Gentle Omega
Seth watched me with hawk eyes, then opened one end of the candy box. Pulling out the massive Twix bar, that was as wide as my wrist, he broke a piece off and handed it to me.
“Did he even ask how you were?”
Nibbling on the candy, I muttered, “Does he ever?”
“Benny, you have to stop helping him out of the situations he makes.” Fun Seth was gone, and in his place was painfully honest, Seth.
“I know I’m enabling him, I do.” Swallowing the caramel and chocolate covered cookie bar, I sighed, “He’s my dad. What am I supposed to do?”
Seth wrapped an arm around my shoulder and pulled me close, kissing the side of my head. “Take your own advice. Do what you would tell someone at the shelter.”
He wasn’t wrong and I knew it.
Shaking my head, I gave him a wobbly smile. “I don’t want to talk about my dad’s drama. I want you to make me feel better with wine and chocolate. Hey–” looking around, I sniffed the air. Closing my eyes, I let my wolf senses take over, and the scent of chicken, onions, and cilantro filled me with happiness. “Tacos.”
“You said that like they are your lover. It’s kinda creepy, not gonna lie.”
Shrugging, I wasn’t going to apologize for my taco love.
“Tacos are in the kitchen. You know what we need first though?” Seth asked.
“Hmm?” Too busy licking chocolate from my fingers, I waited for him to tell me what he was concocting in that brain of his.
“You,” he pointed a finger at me, “need to get your wolf on.”
It had been a while since I had shifted.
“Let’s do it.”
Dropping our clothes in a heap on my patio, we took our shifted forms. I always marveled at the raw power and beauty of Seth’s cougar. His large paws pounded the earth as he raced ahead of me, looking back to make sure I was following him. My wolf was on the small side, and I ambled behind him into the woods at a leisurely pace.
Strolling along the well-worn path, my wolf ears perked up when I heard Seth’s cat let out a warning rumble that filled the air. His angry cat sounds almost resembled a scream and could be heard all over the woods. Running to see what had him so riled up, my wolf skidded to a halt, throwing a warning growl his way.
Shay stood wide-eyed in front of Seth, while Asher snapped, “Seth, I swear to the Goddess, my kids are over there, and you will act right in front of them.”
My bestie continued growling low in his throat, his tan fur standing upright along his neck.
Walking up to him, I smacked his shoulder with my paw, showing him fang when he snarled at me.
Gabe, in his Kodiak bear form, was frolicking with his twins, the two human babies crawling all over him. They were still too young to shift yet, and probably wouldn’t for another year or so. It didn’t escape my notice that the bear was keeping a watchful eye on Seth’s growling cougar.
Shay’s eyes moved from Seth to me, a soft look coming over his face as he took in my small gray wolf.
Movement caught my eyes, orange and black, and a fluffy tiger cub came bounding over. Shay went to grab him before he could run up to the snarling cougar, but the cub deftly evaded his hands. Ignoring the cougar making all the unnecessary noise, the cub who was obviously Lucas, ran straight up to me. Stretching his paws in front of him, he peeked up at me with his blue eyes, then twitched his nose, chuffing.
Lucas was so cute in his shifted form, and I lowered my head, nuzzling his soft fur with my nose. Seth finally relaxed next to me, picking up a paw and licking it like he hadn’t just been making a huge scene.
Lucas snuggled against me, and I couldn’t keep myself from running my nose all over his orange, fluffy face. It was the last thing I should be doing–scenting this cub–but my wolf didn’t care. As far as he was concerned, Lucas was ours, and we were going to make sure everyone knew it.
Shay watched, silent, his face unreadable, until my wolf was satisfied. Lucas chuffed at me again, then bounded back over to his bear uncle and went back to letting his younger cousins pull at his soft fur.
“Bennett–” Shay held an outstretched hand to me, and my wolf wanted to move closer to him. To let him stroke our fur.Seth’s cat cocked his head, watchful, but he kept his thoughts to himself this time and was silent.
Throwing his head back, my wolf let out a mournful, sad howl, then turned and walked away. Seth gave one low warning growl, then bounded after me.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Shay
