“Nesting,” I repeated. “Uh, wow.” Excitement stirred within me. “Is there a test he can take?”
“They don’t sell those for omegas. We’d have to get a doctor to confirm, and the only one we have for our omegas is Laura. Can’t call her back here this soon, though she’d probably agree to come in maybe a month. I get the feeling she’d like to see Nova and Eric Borders again.”
“You think they’re involved?”
Angus nodded. “Hard to miss with Nova staring at her like she wanted to inhale her and Laura turning all shades of pink in her presence when I’ve never seen her blush.”
“Ben told me he saw her hugging Eric in the kitchen the night Ben sat with Jeremiah. He said that something about it looked very intimate.”
“And you saw something in our kitchen when Nova came over that night, didn’t you?”
I nodded. It hadn’t been a kiss or anything like that, but it had beensomething.
“Well, good for her,” Angus said. We’d stopped within a few feet of where Ben had struck up a conversation with the honey seller and watched him.
Pregnant. Well, what do you know? Angus and I are going to be dads!
Angus elbowed me in the ribs. “Get that love-sick goo-goo expression off your face, and let’s buy our mate some honey.”
An hour later, the three of us sat eating barbeque at the wooden tables set up in the shade of some trees.
“Angus Angel!” a woman’s voice exclaimed. Looking up from my food, I watched Adele Adler approach our table. Standing, Angus gave Adele a friendly hug.
“And Colt Nelson,” she added, recognizing me. I didn’t know her well, but she’d gone to school with my father and mother. “I haven’t seen either of you in ages. Colt, are you still helping out at Angus’ ranch?”
I nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”
Angus said, “Colt not only helps out, he’s going to live with us. He and I are mated, along with Ben, here.” He gestured to Ben, who smiled and nodded his head in greeting.
Adele’s eyes widened comically. “My, that’s…really something! Well, congratulations, you three.” Gesturing to Ben, she said, “An omega, correct?” When Angus nodded, she continued, “Isn’t it odd? A while back, none of us could get an omega from the government, and now Maddox has one; Bertram Jenkins hasone; my brother, who tried for years and was rejected multiple times is expecting one anytime now; and you and Colt have one.”
I wasn’t sure I liked the way she was making omegas sound like objects, and I could tell Angus didn’t either. However, the situation was a little difficult to describe, so I let it pass without comment, especially as Ben didn’t seem to be paying attention anymore. I’d noticed he often zoned out when people started talking about omegas.
“Silas has been approved for an omega mate?” Angus asked, looking surprised.
“Yes, isn’t that wonderful? He’s over the moon. It gave me the incentive to request one myself for me and the husband.” She chuckled, then she seemed to realized something. “Wait. You two alphas are mated? I’ve never heard of such.”
“I guess it is kind of rare,” I said.
Adele looked at Ben, who was placidly eating while scrolling on his phone. Although I didn’t think he was listening, I intuitively felt that he was uncomfortable in Adele’s presence, her being a strange alpha. As unobtrusively as I could, I scooted closer to him on the bench. Immediately, Ben leaned into me, making me glad I’d done it.
“I suppose it’s the omega that makes it work,” Adele said with a shrug.
I looked at Angus, raising a brow. Of course, we’d realized that a physical relationship was going to feel incomplete between the two of us and that an omega would help, but I wondered if that’s what Adele meant or something else. I wasn’t about to get into our sex life with her, though.
“Well, I have to be getting back to my shopping. Nice to see you all!” With a jocular wave, Adele walked off.
“Busybody,” Angus mumbled after she left.
“You don’t like her?” I asked, surprised.
“Of course I don’t. She’s never had a bit of sense, and she feeds off gossip like a starved guinea fowl eats ticks.”
Ben giggled. We had several guineas that wandered the ranch in the summer gobbling up the blood-sucking insects along with grasshoppers, beetles, and mosquitoes.
Angus grinned at him. “You agree with me, don’t you, Benny? I bet you had that woman’s number from the moment she walked up.”
Ben said, “I don’t know about that. I just didn’t feel comfortable around her. She’s one of those alphas who puts off a negative vibe.”