Chapter Twenty-One
Lucky
Ford had decided they should go for a drive after dropping Pip back at Wynna’s, since his parents were being so supportive. Ford’s decision to adopt Pip before Lucky’s heat had convinced Lucky’s parents that he couldn’t have asked for better mates.
“We should have brought Pip,” Lucky lamented as Ford flipped the turn signal and the houses filtered away into farmland. “Where did you say we were going?”
Chase laughed from the back seat. “Let him surprise you.”
He stuck his tongue out, and wasn’t surprised that Chase laughed harder.
“Am I even dressed appropriately?” He’d only chosen a simple outfit this morning—black leggings with rips in the knee from overuse, an oversized black jumper over a tank top, and his hair tied into a messy bun to keep it off his face. He was hardly date material.
“You look great.” Ford accepted the cigarette Chase passed him, took a puff and handed it back, then let his hand rest on Lucky’s thigh. “If it makes you feel better, I figured we needed a proper date. That’s why we didn’t bring Pip. It ain’t a date if we’re luggin’ our kid around.”
Lucky bit his bottom lip to fight the smile that threatened whenever Ford called Pip his kid. “You’ll be an amazing dad.”
Ford did a double take as a frown creased his brow.
All he could do was laugh and reach out to smooth the lines. “I’m so lucky to have alphas like you. You’ll both be incredible fathers,” he said, unable to resist picturing their future as they added more children to their small family.
“Roll back those fantasies, baby,” Chase chipped in from the back seat. “I might be on board with adopting Pip, but I ain’t ready for those five kids yet.”
Lucky laughed, surprised Chase remembered.
Ford almost missed a turn. “Five kids? Fucking Azrah, you were serious?”
“You didn’t expect any less from an omega with a list of backup alphas, would you?” Chase said, clearly teasing Ford and enjoying the reaction. “I believe it was…a list of twelve? Then a backup list of twenty?”
Lucky played along, giving Chase the finger to show that he wouldn’t be cowed or embarrassed by his preparations. “You shush or you’ll spend the first day of my heat sitting on the sidelines.”
Chase grinned, aware he was teasing, but it was the loud laughter that slipped from Ford that made Lucky’s stomach curl with delight.
Things had been tense for him, going back to work to find that other agents had taken over Lincoln’s case, then Wynna had officially banned him from taking it back because he was personally involved.
Add on all the stuff with Pip and his parents, and none of them had had an easy time this past week.
Seeing Ford able to laugh and relax made all the secrecy of tonight’s surprise worth it.
Ford drove the lazy country roads, veering down a narrow dirt track with a tall banner over the open field gate. Lucky leaned forward to read the sign. North Dales Farm, Spring Festival.
“This is so pretty.” Flanking a long road, twinkling white lights looped from one tree to another.
Grinning with something akin to pride, Ford slowed along a metal grate and past another set of open gates.
“Your papa said there’s no curfew. I told him if it were too late, you’d stay with me or Chase,” he added, with a cheeky smile that suggested he might just make sure they were out so late Lucky couldn’t reasonably go home.
It sounded perfect.
Stepping free of the car, Lucky lifted a small satchel bag over his head, big enough to hold his wallet, phone and keys.
Chase stepped from the car, rolling his shirt sleeves to his elbows. He looked like a man prepared for a date, in a simple stone-grey shirt, dark navy jeans and a bomber jacket. He hadn’t had the benefit of knowing this was a date, but he still looked good.
“Good surprise?”
“Brilliant.” His heart fluttered as he took Ford’s hand and held on tight, beaming at the two alphas flanking him, not sure he’d ever been happier. “This is the best date,” he confessed, already excited about whatever came next.
Lucky was fascinated by everything—the handcrafts, the paintings, the food stalls. He bought peppermint sweets for his papa and a new wallet for his father’s birthday.
By the time they stopped for hot dogs, his stomach was growling, but he was happy and excited. He took his first bite and licked relish from his top lip while Ford led the way to a picnic table nearby.
“I never knew this place existed.” Chase straddled the bench to keep the market in view. “I heard someone say it’s on every year.”
“It’s all new to me. I haven’t been this far from home since I was a kid, when my father could take us on day trips during the summer.” Lucky confessed, catching a drip of relish with his thumb.
“You shoulda said something,” Ford grumbled, cupping his chin to tilt his head up.
Lucky blinked, not sure why he looked so intense until Ford ducked in and darted his tongue against his chin. Scrunching his nose, he wiped his chin with the back of his hand, to find a smear of sauce.
“Well, I’m not allowed to drive until I’m claimed.”
Ford hummed, looking confused even though the ORT knew all the laws about omegas. “Not allowed to learn, or just drive? ’Cause we can teach you to drive.” He lifted a piece of zucchini and sniffed it, eyes narrowing with suspicion.
Chase caught his hand and nibbled the vegetable from his fingers.
Lucky took another bite and pretended not to look at the flirty pair. “I’m not sure my father would allow it,” he said, drawing the distracted attention of both alphas. “The driving lessons.”
Ford sucked his thumb where Chase’s mouth had been. “Don’t worry ’bout your pa. I’ll fix it.”
“Okay.”
Ford changed the subject to Professor Juniper, where even Chase talked about how much of a tyrant she could be, even to alphas. Lucky was sure the omega students were actively having information hidden from them, just because Juniper was a stout, shackle-omegas type of alpha.
When they were finished eating, they headed back to the market stalls.
Ford charged ahead, clearly having a goal in mind.
When they stopped at a stall with fortune telling, Lucky opened his bag to get money, thrilled with the prospect of getting advice from Omha.
Twenty ohmns was a bargain, and he could clearly see the woman’s hand reaching for payment from another customer, revealing a line of familiar sigils on her inner wrist.
Before he could place the notes on the table, as the other customer left, Ford flipped out his hand, holding three notes. “A reading for the omega. And the extra.”
The woman slipped the notes from Ford’s hand and tucked them under a hardback book to her right. She gestured for Lucky to take the single seat in front of her table, then looked to Ford, assessing and cautious. “You can both stand over there. Readings for omegas are private.”
Lucky blushed, but Ford didn’t argue when she pointed to a large tree across the thoroughfare that would keep Lucky in his line of sight. Did the woman realise that Ford needed to keep an eye on Lucky?
“Let us know when you’re done.” Chase brushed a hand over his shoulder and stepped away with Ford, heading for the tree.
Smiling at the woman, Lucky took a steadying breath. She smelled of beta pheromones, but there was no mistaking that this was an omega Seer, an omega who had spoken to Omha, acting as Her conduit and servant, to spread Her wishes amongst omegas.
Now he understood why the readings for omegas were private. His heart pounded with a blend of anticipation and fear that Omha may have a message for him.
When she held her hands out, Lucky placed his hands over hers, palm to palm. “Your markings are beautiful, my dear.”
It should have been unsettling, but where most fortune tellers kept to the old training of reading palms, cards and auras, an omega Seer found everything she could need in the eyes. Lucky felt calmer than he had in weeks as she cocked her head with curiosity.
“Omha has blessed you.” She smiled, the stud in her nose glinting in the light. “I have a gift for you.”
Releasing his hands, the Seer stepped away from the table towards the back of her small stall. While she rummaged over high shelves behind her sale counter, Lucky checked on Ford and Chase. They were clearly enjoying the privacy, as Ford was already kissing Chase.
The Seer returned and said nothing as she laid a small pouch on the table and covered it with both hands.
“The tall one who paid is your bodyguard and protector. The other is your true mate.” The Seer folded her arms over the table, attention drifting to where Ford and Chase stood.
“You are unique, but I wasn’t sure how deeply you understood your gift.
Now I see you have been left blinded in a world of danger, unprepared to fight.
Yet you have forged weapons and are prepared to wage battle, even if you must do so blindfolded, shackled and mute. ”
There was approval in her tone that gave him shivers.
Swallowing the uncertainty, Lucky accepted the bare-faced truth.
“I’ll do anything to be with them. The same way my true mate is the other half of my soul, Ford is a missing piece that binds us.
” He spoke without caring about the consequences, uninterested in who might overhear or their opinion.
Cryptic riddles or not, this Seer plucked his fears into the wide open, refusing to let him hide.
“Omha showed me that the bond ran through all three of us, and I refuse to let anyone―even the law―keep us apart or put barriers between us,” he said, making that promise to himself, the Seer and Omha Herself. He wouldn’t let anyone take his alphas from him.