“No, I don’t know because I haven’t seen him yet.” Cord pushed his plate aside. “That was lovely, thank you. The thing is, what am I going to do with an omega mate?”
Bullet looked at him as if he was simple minded. “I surely don’t need to tell you about the birds and the bees.”
Cord snorted. “I’m sure I can muddle my way through that side of things. No, after the claim, I mean. I don’t live in Frankton. My home base is in Newport. And then there’s our work. I know we only get called out once a month or so, but sometimes, we can be gone for up to three days. How is that fair to an omega mate being left alone?”
“From the sounds of things, Billy’s not going to be bothered about being on his own for a few days if he’s confident you’re going to go home to him. He’s already lived on his own for awhile already, possibly years. But he does have some semblance of a support system here with his friends. I had a couple of calls about you last night, wanting to know if I thought you were suitable for an omega mate.”
Bullet waved his finger in Cord’s face. “In fairness, if you’re going to stay on the team, which I know you’ll want to because I’d feel the same way, then it would be only right for you to relocate to Frankton. There’s some nice places for sale on the outskirts of town that are close enough that Billy can still stay in touch with his friends, and you’d still get your need for privacy with your mate when you need it.”
“That might not be a bad thing,” Cord admitted as he thought about it. “My current house just reminds me of Rapid, and chances are it still stinks of him, too. If anything was going to be unfair to Billy, it would be rubbing his nose in that.”
“Aww, look at you thinking like a mate already.” Bullet chuckled. “Well, come on, lover boy, you can help me with the dishes and then we’ll hit the town, and you can do some gift buying for your Billy.”
Your Billy.Bullet had used that phrase a few times, and Cord found that he liked the way that sounded. His wolf agreed. Lunchtime couldn’t come soon enough.
Chapter Six
“What’s with all this stuff?” Billy’s eyes almost fell out of his head as Cece and Tristan trooped in, both laden with bags. “That can’t all be breakfast.”
“Damn, I forgot the breakfast. Hang on.” Dropping his bags with a clatter, Tristan raced out the door, almost banging into the taxi driver, who was holding takeout bags and sporting a grin. “Thank you. Thank you so much. Have a lovely day.” Grabbing the bags, Tristan ran back inside again.
“Okay, right. We eat first,” Cece said, dumping his bags on the floor as well. “We’ll answer your questions, but we have to be quick because we’re going to need about an hour to get you ready.”
“Ready?” Billy squeaked, eyeing the bags with alarm as his friends frog-marched him into his little kitchen space. “I had a second shower. What else do I need? And what’s with all those bags?”
“Those, my clueless little omega, are presents for you.” Cece pushed him down into a chair. “I told my parents last night about your mate, and they’ve sent along a few things to help you feel more comfortable and to add to your celebrations.”
“And I told my brother, too,” Tristan said. “He was so pleased for you, he truly is, and he sent along a few congratulatory gifts for you as well. Truthfully, I think he’d bought them for me and had them stashed away in the hopes I might find my mate one day. But as he said, he can always buy me more, and he knew your parents wouldn’t do anything for you.”
“Your families sent gifts for me?” Billy’s eyes filled with tears. “I didn’t expect anything, you did tell them that, didn’t you?” Finding a fated one, a mate, was a huge time of celebration in most families. Billy knew, just from being around other people,that it was customary for parents or family members to buy gifts for their omegas, but as he didn’t have a family of his own… “I don’t know what to say.”
“Just say thank you and accept them. My mom and dad have always admired the way you’ve been determined to look after yourself.” Cece leaned across the table and patted his arm. “They are super proud of you and wanted to share in your happy time.”
“Same,” Tristan said, nodding as he tore open the food boxes. “Anthony wanted to hear all about your alpha, demanding to know who he was and all that. He even called Bullet, wanting to get more information, asking Bullet if he recommended Cord as a potential mate.”
“Oh, my goodness, my dad did that, too.” Cece collapsed in a heap of laughter. “Did Bullet get any sleep last night?”
“I don’t know, but I bet Cord didn’t.” Tristan pushed over a box. “Come on, Billy, you need to eat. You’ve got a busy day ahead of you, and no… we’re not saying a word about your mate until you’ve eaten something. Eat. Eat.”
“I’m not sure I can swallow a bite.” But Billy picked up a wrap, not bothering to check its contents. His friends knew what he liked. He bit into it, quietly moaning as the flavors of bacon, lettuce, and tomato hit his tongue. Cece and Tristan had been to Wonky Pigs, where they had the most amazing sauce in existence, which was added to every wrap. If a customer complained they didn’t like it, their money was refunded, and they were told not to come back. The owner always insisted it was his right to prepare his food the way he wanted, and most of Frankton supported his right to do it.
“Okay,” he admitted, looking up to see both of his friends watching him. “This is lovely and a real treat. Thank you.”
“We know what you like,” Cece said happily as he and Tristan dug into their food, too.
Ten minutes. That’s how long it takes for three shifters to finish a pile of food, if anyone was wondering. Ten minutes where Billy tried to organize the million questions he had about his mate into some semblance of order. At least he had a name now.
Cord.
Cord, who was a friend of Bullet’s.
Frankton was a relatively small town. Billy knew of Bullet, although he’d never spoken to him. But both Cece and Tristan had enjoyed lunches with the man in the past – separately, of course. But Billy didn’t remember them ever saying what sort of work he did or what he was like beyond friendly.
Cord clearly didn’t live in Frankton, or if he did, he was a new arrival. As Billy had done nothing but literally work for the past two weeks, it was possible he’d missed someone new moving into town, although he thought Cece and Tristan would’ve probably told him about it.
It was a good question to start with. “So, this particular alpha, Cord, is he new in town? How long has he been here?”
“No, no, no.” Cece shook his curls. “Those are not the first questions an omega wants to know about their new mate.”
