Page 73 of The Other Omega

Helena smiled at the chest. “I kept a pair of Leon’s little shoes for years. I could never bring myself to part with them, even long after he had outgrown them.” She looked towards me. “When our sons formed Stormforge, we gathered the things we had preserved and set them aside for the woman with whom they would one day raise their family.”

“Of course, there is little practical need for such a custom now,” Astrid continued. “But High Mountain holds its traditions dear, and House Vaelor remembers. Now that you are here, it gives us great pleasure to entrust these treasures to you, in the hope that your own children may one day make use of them.”

She lifted the lid, revealing tiny cardigans, carefully folded blankets, soft leather shoes and little bundles wrapped in pale cloth. Everything had been kept beautifully, and among the folded clothes I spotted small labels bearing five familiar names: Alaric, Caius, Lucien, Leon and Darius.

I wondered whether they’d still want me to have any of this if they knew who I really was.

I couldn’t help smiling at the tiny clothes, though. “Were they ever this little?”

Astrid laughed. “For a very brief time.”

“They were, difficult as it may be to imagine now,” Maren added, smiling.

I leaned closer and lifted a carefully folded grey blanket from the chest, surprised by how soft it still felt.

“Oh, this is lovely.”

“That belonged to Alaric,” Astrid said.

I tried to imagine the enormous General I’d just met wrapped up in the tiny blanket and smiled as I carefully folded it again and put it back.

“Thank you for this gift.” I looked towards all three mothers. “I promise I’ll treasure every piece.”

Astrid looked pleased by my answer and closed the lid. “We shall have it taken to your rooms, my dear.”

The attendants carried the chest away just as Neetah stirred against Leenah’s shoulder and made a soft, unhappy sound.

“It seems someone has decided she has been patient long enough,” Leenah said fondly, adjusting the blanket.

Neetah’s little face scrunched up as though she’d suffered some terrible personal betrayal, and I couldn’t help smiling.

Leenah noticed.

“Would you care to hold her?”

“May I?”

I set my tea aside as Leenah brought Neetah over. She supported the baby’s head until I had her securely against my chest, warm and surprisingly heavy for someone so small.

“Hello, sweetheart,” I whispered.

Neetah opened her dark eyes and looked at me with what seemed suspiciously like disapproval before bursting into tears.

Without thinking, a soft rumble rose from my chest and grew into a gentle purr as I held her closer. She quietened almost immediately.

I was so pleased with myself that I barely noticed the conversations around us had stopped until Leenah spoke.

“Lady Elowen.” Her voice trembled slightly. “You do our family a great honour.”

I looked up in surprise and found the entire room watching us.

Astrid, Maren and Helena looked particularly pleased, and it took me a second to remember what Eleanor had explained about an Omega’s purr. Omegas usually saved them for their own Packs and the people they loved deeply, so offering one to someone else’s child was considered a precious gesture of affection and trust.

Well, that was perfectly fine with me.

“She is Lucien and Darius’s niece, so I suppose that makes her my niece too.” I smiled down at Neetah. “And you, little one, are precious to me. I can’t wait to watch you grow.”

I kept purring softly as her eyes grew heavier. By the time she drifted off to sleep, I’d settled her comfortably against my chest, one hand resting on the blanket beneath her cheek.