Page 129 of The Other Omega

Alaric was halfway through saying something when I reached him, but I didn’t care. I wrapped my arms around his waist and put my face against his chest.

He stopped talking immediately and held me, one arm around my back and the other settling against the back of my head.

I breathed him in.

His scent wrapped around me, and some of the pressure that had been building in my chest finally eased. I stayed there for a bit, just holding him and letting him hold me.

Then I noticed how quiet the room had become.

I lifted my head and found an awful lot of people suddenly very interested in pretending they weren’t watching their General hold his mate in the middle of what looked like a military operation.

I looked up at Alaric.

“We need a Pack meeting. Now.”

Alaric Stormforge actually looked taken aback, but he recovered quickly. “Clear the room.”

Holograms disappeared. People picked up their pads and documents and filed toward the doors. Once the last person was gone and the doors shut behind them, I turned back to my mates.

“New Pack rule.”

Alaric's brow lifted again.

“We do not have an entire team of people move into our home without letting me know first.”

He inclined his head. “Agreed.”

That was easier than I thought.

“I should not be finding out from Eira that you're all going to be busy for a week or possibly longer.”

“Sweetheart...”

“No. I am your mate, not an employee of yours.” I took a breath and continued. “I know you're very busy right now, so I'm going to make this very easy for everyone. You have ten minutes to explain what's going on, why there are enough people in our home to start a small government, why somebody has taken my sitting room apart, why we suddenly own six more residences because of ‘security reasons’, why Caius is being deployed for God knows how long, and why none of you thought to tell me directly.”

All five of them looked at me.

“Ten minutes. Go on.”

Alaric sat on the bench and pulled me onto his lap. “Very well, my heart.”

The others settled around the table, and Alaric kept one arm around my waist.

“The activity you see here concerns several unrelated matters. Many are attached to my command or Caius’s legion.” He kissed my temple. “Others are here in connection with Lucien’s work. Their presence is necessary today.”

“What about this... reinforcement business of our home?” I searched for the right words. “Are we in danger?”

“There is no known active threat against this Residence,” Darius said.

I looked at him for a second.

“Or against us? Any of us?”

“There is no known active threat against the Pack,” Darius said.

I got off Alaric’s lap.

“And none of you could have come and told me this yourselves?”