A smile spread across his face, that I couldn't resist returning.
I recalled the start of our conversation and realized we hadn’t finished. “So, the Alpha Parliament comes and makes sure that I want to become a cat. Is that alpha, like alpha wolf?”
“Well, they aren’t all wolves,” Camry said calmly.
“They aren’t all wolves? You mean some of them are wolves? Like werewolves?!”
“You didn’t think we were all cats, did you?” he asked with a laugh.
“Honestly, I hadn't thought about it…”
He smiled and patted my thigh reassuringly. His hand was warm, and I was sorry when he retracted it. “There a lot of different kinds of shifters. And, that leads me to another thing you should know... How do I explain this…” He yawned. “Let me get some coffee while I think about this.”
“I can make it,” I offered, starting to stand.
“I know my way around a coffee shop,” he told me. “Besides, I’m not the sort of alpha who expects his omega to do everything.”
“What’s an omega?”
“Oh.” Cambry paused halfway through measuring out coffee beans. “So, there are three kinds of shifters. Alphas are one. Historically we were the leaders. We’re also the only type of shifter that can change a human into one. Humans turned into shifters become omegas. They’re er… traditionally they were the homemakers. They took care of the alphas, and the betas, raised the children, that sort of thing. Of course, I’d never expect you to give up your shop for our children.” He started the coffee grinder and raised his voice. “As soon as you’ve recovered from giving birth you can jump right back into working, if you want.”
Obviously, I misheard him over the whirr of grinding beans. “Okay,” I called agreeably.
After a couple of pulses, he nodded in satisfaction and started spooning the ground coffee into a filter. “I’m also just as happy to let you take as long as you need after we start having kids,” he added. “I guess it depends how quickly we want to do things. True mates are extremely fertile. My cousins’ true mates both conceived oh, probably the night they were changed. Or at least sometime in the first week or so, judging by when their kids were born.” Cambry stiffened and looked at me in alarm. “Sorry! I’m just assuming you want kids…”
“I…” Wait, had I misheard him? “I’ve always wanted children,” I said honestly. “But uh… I’m not sure where you’re going with this…”
His eyes widened. “Right… right. Carrick said humans find this one tough to swallow…” he muttered. “Omegas bear children. All of them.”
“So, I…”
Cambry nodded. “If you wanted to.”
“And they’d be yours?”
His mouth stretched into a smile I felt compelled to return. “Ours.” He tapped the edge of the grinder thoughtfully, then added, “I should warn you, gestation is only three months.”
“That’s… fast,” I said. “We’d have a kid by spring.”
Even though I was joking, his cheeks flushed. Somehow, the idea of having a kid in just a few months didn’t seem that horrible at all. Especially not one with Cambry. It was clear he liked the thought too. Man, this true mate thing was weird. Last night I was stressing about keeping my shop open another year, now I was fantasizing about having children with a man I hardly knew.
My stomach churned nervously, loud enough for Cambry to hear.
“Hungry?” he teased.
“Nerv – yeah, actually.” Now that he mentioned it, I was hungry. “I’ll make something,” I offered. I didn’t add that I was embarrassed to have him rooting through my meager cupboards.
“Great. While we eat, I can answer your other questions, if you have any.”
Chapter Five
Cambry
The entire time that Louis was making lunch I watched him, grinning like an idiot. My true mate. He was my mate and he had agreed to be turned. And now he was making me lunch. And he owned a coffee shop. Well, he didn't really like coffee, but that could change. Right?
I could make the perfect cup of coffee for anyone. I was sure that I could find one that he would like, besides, what did it matter? In the end I had a mate at last. And who knew, in three months I might even have a child!
I wished I hadn't left my phone on the beach, I wanted to call Carrick and tell him immediately. On the other hand… My thoughts drifted to Rion, who showed up unannounced at my aunt and uncle's house with his true mate and new baby in tow. In fact, Verona hadn't even been a new baby, she was practically crawling by then.
Maybe it would be better to just show up and surprise the family like Rion had. It would certainly be fun.
Louis set a sandwich down in front of me, before sliding into his chair.
“Sorry,” he said. “I don't have much to choose from.”
“It's okay.” I took a bite of the sandwich and smiled. “It's delicious.”
“I hope you like tuna.”
I grinned at him. “Well, I am a cat.”
He laughed nervously. “Right. That's going to take a lot of getting used to.”
“We have time,” I said with a smile.
He nodded in agreement. I took another bite, savoring the first meal my true mate made for me. It was indeed delicious, maybe a little bland, but I couldn't complain, not if Louis had anything to do with it.
“So, I think I've explained most things…” I was trying to think if there was anything else that he needed to know before making his decision, even though he seemed pretty committed.
Louis nodded. After a long silence he asked softly, “So, you said your parents are dead?”
“Yeah. They died when I was still a baby,” I added, noticing that Louis was about to extend his sympathies. “They were killed by a Hunter.”
“Hunter? Like a…” He hesitated.
“Like a werewolf hunter,” I said. “Yes. My mother was actually a wolf. My father was a cat.”
“And yet, you're all cat?”
“Yes,” I said with a chuckle. “There aren't any weird animal hybrids in the shifter world.”
“No, cause that would be much weirder than humans who turn into normal animals every night,” Louis said, with a charming grin.
I returned it with a shrug. “It doesn't seem weird when you've been doing it your whole life.”
“How does that work?” he asked. “If one parent is a cat and the other a wolf.”
“You become whatever your sire is. That’s either which of your parents is the alpha or who turns you. My father was a cat and an alpha, so I became a cat. Since I'm going to turn you, I’ll be your sire, which makes you a cat.” Louis nodded along.
“So, your parents could never have had any wolf children, since your mother wasn’t an alpha?”
“Exactly.”
He pursed his lips thoughtfully. “Which means…” he said slowly. “Your father didn’t change your mother. Otherwise she’d be a cat?”
I smiled, pleased by how quickly he was catching on. “Right.”
“Does that mean they weren’t mates? I mean, like us.”
“True mates,” I supplied. “Yes, they were. But they were both born shifters, not humans. My mother, obviously, and was sired by a wolf and my father, a cat.”
“Which makes your mother…” He paused in thought, then remembered the term before I could remind him. “A beta?”
“Yes!” I said happily.
“And alphas are the only ones who can change somebody into an omega?”
“Right. Alphas and betas are born as shifters. Most are betas, actually. An alpha can only be born to a true mate pair. Rarely you do get a pair of beta true mates who give birth to an alpha. And then omegas are turned by alphas. So, our children will be a mix of alphas and betas.” I decided I should probably add, “And we’re only allowed to have four alphas.”
“What do you mean?”
“If we have…” I felt myself flushing. “If we have lots of kids.” Louis nodded and lo
oked surprised, but not opposed to the idea, so I continued. “The Alpha Parliament has a law that states we can’t have more than four alphas. So, if we go nuts and have a bunch of kids, and the first four are all alphas, we have to stop. If the first four are betas… well, we could keep going and have eight, minimum.”
“That’s a lot of children.”
“We heal fast and our gestation is only three months.”
Louis laughed nervously. “Right. Still though…”
“My aunt and uncle have six. Seven with me. And my mother was one of six as well.”
“Wow.” He shook his head in disbelief, before fixing me with a curious look. “Seven with you?”
“My aunt and uncle took me in,” I explained. “I was raised like one of the family alongside my cousins.”
“The ones you've mentioned, who have true mates?” he asked. I nodded. “That must have been nice.”
“It was,” I said.
Louis narrowed his eyes at me. “You don't sound entirely convinced about that.”
I laughed. “Oh, boy. This true mate stuff is going to be tough. You already read me like a book.”
He chuckled nervously. “So? Why wasn’t it nice?”
“It was,” I said. “Truly. My aunt and uncle, and my cousins love me. I have no doubt, but I never fit in that well with them. It made me kind of a loner.”
“How come?”
“Well, for starters, they're all wolves. I'm a cat. We can't play together the same way when we're changed. And they have different concerns than I do during the full moon. And, I don't know, I guess I always kind of kept myself at arm's length, just because…” I sighed. It wasn’t something I had admitted out loud before. “I was afraid for a long time that they’d decide I didn't really belong with them.”
He was nodding along in sympathy, but tilted his head curiously at me when I was done. “What sort of concerns would wolves have that are different than cats? And why full moons specifically?”
“Oh, crap. I didn't tell you that yet,” I said with a weak laugh. “That's probably something you need to know before you make your final decision. During full moons, we turn into our animal form the moment the sun sets, and we can't change back again until it rises, and…” I hesitated. “And we lose control of ourselves.”
Louis frowned in concern. “What do you mean lose control?”
“Essentially we become the animal for a night,” I told him. “We have no memory of what happens is during the full moon, nor do we have any control over ourselves. As far as we’re concerned, the sun sets and we wake up the next morning.”
“Oh, he said. “I guess wolves are afraid that they'll go rampaging around attacking people?”
“Actually… that's not too far off.” Well, now I was committed to explaining everything. “First of all,” I said, “I want to make it clear that, over time, shifters have taken great strides to make sure we don't attack people. The hunting drive, particularly in the larger predatory shifters, is quite strong. So strong in fact, that two adult alphas can't be anywhere near each other during the full moon.”
His eyes widened in surprise. “Would they hurt each other?”
“They would kill each other. Even cats.”
“Oh… okay.”
“Now,” I said, quickly moving on. “We have what we call bunkers; they're secluded, underground rooms. We lock ourselves in at sunset and we remain there until sunrise.”
“Sounds awful.”
I shrugged. “Sometimes we take turns running free on the island. Although I usually spend full moons in my room at my aunt and uncle’s house.”
“Your bunker, you mean.”
“No.” I shook my head. “My room. I am a cat, after all. I don’t go rampaging about endangering humans…” I turned away, embarrassed. I wasn’t sure all of my cousins even knew I could spend full moons out of my bunker.
“Unlike a wolf.” Louis said softly. He looked at me, and I could see it in his eyes. He understood. “Something else that sets you apart from them.”
I nodded. He wordlessly reached across the table and took my hand, giving it a squeeze. All of the worries about fitting in with my family melted away. No matter what happened now, I had a true mate at last. Assuming, of course, the Alpha Parliament let me turn him. And also assuming he wouldn’t leave me if I couldn’t save his café…
Chapter Six
Louis
“So, I suppose, now that we've got that out of the way,” Cambry said with a wry smile. “We should talk about how I'm going to save your shop. Which is going to be a lot easier now that we’re true mates.”
“You really think you can save it?” I asked. “And why does being true mates make a difference?”
“Well, first of all you remember me, so there won't be any complications from memory loss. Second, after October, I was going back home and you’d be on your own. Now, I’m going to stay.”
“You don't have to go back home in October?” I asked in surprise.
“Not with my true mate here. And that brings me to my next point, since you are my true mate, I have no qualms about dumping as much money as needed into your shop to save it.” My jaw dropped. Before I could even think of what to say to that, he went on. “My half-assed plan before was to just try and give you some pointers, maybe give you a couple of tasty coffee recipes, and then just hope I taught you enough for you to carry on after I left. Now however...” Cambry drummed thoughtfully on the counter for a moment. “Now, just let me know how much you need.”
“H-how much?” I repeated.
“Yeah. I can pay the mortgage, pay bills, buy whatever new supplies you need.” He inclined his head toward the flavored syrups. “I noticed pickings were rather slim. I figure I can just finance the shop and put in enough money to keep it open, and bring it up a notch, until it's good enough to stand on its own.”
I could only stare. “You'd do that for me? That's... that's thousands and thousands of dollars!” I stammered. “I mean, I don't think you realize, I'm in the red. I barely have enough money to keep the shop open as it is.”
He leaned across the table and kissed me on the cheek. His lips were warm and gentle. I leaned into it and practically felt my worries about the shop fade away.
“You're my true mate, Louis,” he said firmly. “If keeping this shop open is what you want to do, then I would give you every penny I have that happen.”
“I can't accept that much money,” I protested. “Do you even have…” I trailed off. I wasn't sure whether or not it was appropriate to discuss finances at this stage in our relationship. Whatever relationship this was.
He seemed to know where I was going with the question. “You know how much a coffee shop like this can make when it’s successful,” he said. “Plus, my family has money. I... actually have a pretty sizable sum of money that I'm not really doing anything with.”
I felt the urge to press for details. I couldn’t say why, but something about the so-called sizable sum of money seemed to bother him. Surely he didn’t come by it illicitly. Then again, I realized in alarm, I didn’t really know him all that well.
“And you'd give me that money for this shop?” I asked, trying not to sound suspicious.
“No questions asked,” he said flatly. “Although, I suppose if I'm going to save the café, I do actually have to ask questions.” He gestured around. “What's working, what's not? How did a successful shop end up like this? And I will need to know financial numbers, so that I can help pay the bills.”
“Right, right... well…” I looked outside at the still falling snow. “It’s not as if we’e going anywhere.” I leaned back in my chair with a sigh. “Where to begin... First of all, I guess you should understand just how much this place meant to my mother. She saw your shop when I was still pretty young, in fact my dad hadn't even left.” I saw him wrinkle his nose at the mention of my father leaving and it made me smile. I wondered if his parents were the ones who had opened the shop originally. “I
t was all she talked about for ages. Her dream was to retire and open it. Then she… got sick.” It was still hard for me to say the word cancer, but I managed.
“I'm sorry,” he said.
“It took a couple of years and there were ups and downs, but she beat it.” I managed a grim smile. “There was also a little incident that nearly killed her, and she ended up suing for medical malpractice and won a pretty tidy sum of money. She told me that the cancer scare made her realize life was short, and she didn't want to wait until she retired to start her coffee shop. I had just started college and wasn't living at home, and she swore that starting the shop wouldn't affect her ability to pay for my tuition, not that that mattered to me. I knew opening the shop would make her happy, so I encouraged it. She sold everything. Literally everything she owned and bought this place. She got it, renovated it, pulled everything together... when the time finally came to add some tables and chairs, her budget was nearly spent.”
The memory of the shop in its early days made me chuckle. “She got a bunch of secondhand tables and chairs, none of them matched it all... but that’s sort of what made my mother special,” I added softly. “She put them all together and...” I looked around. The mismatched tables and chairs were still a feature of the shop. At some point or another my mother had painted them all and reupholstered them, all mismatched like they were before, and somehow all looking as if they were a perfect set.
“She had an eye for decorating,” Cambry said, looking around. “I'm making mental notes on what needs to be done and, aside from some freshening up, there really isn't much I would change about the charm.”
“That's good to know,” I told him. One of the things I was worried about accepting his help was him changing the shop. As much as I wanted to be able to keep it open, I also wanted to maintain what my mother left behind. “Anyway, you can probably guess the rest. The shop ran for a few years... it was hugely popular. My mother was just a wonderful café owner. Should have been doing it her whole life. And then the cancer came back... her last wish was for me to take over the shop. And I...” I shook my head. “I really wasn't sure what was going through my mind at the time. Sometimes I think that, maybe, I resented her in some way. Not just for leaving me the shop I knew nothing about, but for dying in the first place. Not to mention, I didn't know what I was doing,” I confessed. “I stood in as a barista a few times during college breaks, so I had an idea of what was happening, but running it was... I went to school for political science. I had some lofty goals, and big dreams that didn't include a coffee shop in the middle of nowhere...”
Espresso for His Omega Page 4
