Holly Ch. 08

"Yeah, I noticed. I don't know if it's the same for omegas, but after the first two months, I felt wonderful."

"How many times have you been through it?" MK asks.

"Just twice. Daim has two girls with me and Diana with his ex, but I prefer to think of her as mine, too."

"I'd bet she feels the same about you. Are you and Damian going to have more pup-babies, I mean?" MK asks.

"We haven't talked about it for a while. Guess it's different for A/os, right?"

"I think we'll have as many as my body will allow. I won't know how many are inside me this time until I go for an ultrasound. Single births are rare the way triplets are rare for betas. It's not unheard of, and maybe my body can't manage more than one yet. I've only just recovered my omega hormonal balance," MK explains and hopes she won't have to go into too much detail about how she lost it in the first place. She's not in the mood tonight. Besides that, she's not an expert in the same way Elle surely doesn't think of herself as a gynecologist.

"Holly did that, huh?" Elle says. "He's kind of amazing, isn't he?"

MK grins wide enough it stretches her scent glands and she can taste a little of her secretion mixed with chapstick.

"When I opened the door and first saw him, it was a revelation. I knew I was meant to say yes to him."

"Is he pretty even for an Alpha? I'll admit, the first time I met him I got a little tongue-tied. And the way Damian looks at him is not the way he looks at any other guy. I've joked with him that Holly can be his 'hall pass' if he wants one. But it's mostly a joke! You don't have anything to worry about-I can see that all over Holly's face."

MK stands with her head tilted in her thinking pose as she considers. "It wouldn't shock me if Holly felt the same way about him. He never mentioned being bisexual, and he probably isn't, but he's capable of deep feeling and he's got the sexuality of an Alpha. If they're best friends, there could be a little attraction there, too."

Elle looks relieved she didn't cause a blow-up of some kind. After all, she doesn't know MK well enough to know how she'll react to what she says. "Mostly we just want to protect him, which is kind of dumb with someone like Holly. He's tough, but he's been through a lot. Maybe that makes us want to look out for him more than if he was needy and weak."

MK raises an eyebrow. "When you say he's been through a lot, anything, in particular, I should know?"

Elle glances side to side even though they are the only ones in the ladies'. They talk alternately to each other and their reflections in the large mirror above the sinks as they fuss with strands of hair and touch up makeup to look the same as when they walked in. Elle's lips tighten the way gossips' do when they're about to share something that they know, deep down, is a secret.

"Well, when Holly came to ask Damian for work, he was living in his car. He didn't know nearly as much as he knows now about bikes, but Damian liked him and took him on. He had Daim's permission to stay after hours and take apart bikes that were finished and put them back together to learn, right? He took him up on that and started to sleep in the shop when he slept at all. He'd practice and clean up and organize. Damian was very happy with him.

"One night another employee came into the shop drunk with two chicks. So he found Holly with a bike the guy had just rebuilt in pieces all laid out on the floor. They had words and the guy just lost it and beat the shit out of Holly. Damian went to see him at the hospital, it was that bad. But then, two days later, Holly walked in to get to work without a mark on him! Nothing. He asked Damian to punch him in the face as hard as he could so that he'd have a bruise. Damian couldn't do it-he's a lover, not a fighter. They called me and asked me to come in right away and bring my sluttiest dark eye shadows. I managed to give Holly two black eyes so the rest of the guys wouldn't ask questions. It wasn't even that great a job, but people see what they're expecting to see and they weren't expecting to see Holly's perfect face all healed up.

"Then there was the fire. Craig, the shit who beat up Holly got out on bail, got hammered, then went back for revenge. He threw a bottle bomb through the shop window. Holly could have got out, but as the building's going up in flames, he stayed in there looking for Tom."

"Tom?"

"The shop cat. Holly had burns to most of his body, including his neck and the side of his face. That's why he wears his hair kind of long and falling into his face. It's to cover the scars that aren't there."

"Please tell me they caught the guy who did that!"

"Oh, yeah. He had motive and pretty much confessed to people in a bar what he was gonna do to get back at that "alpha-loving queer"-my husband- so he's in jail for extra years by making it a hate crime, too. And all he did was give Daim a huge insurance payout, so when you visit Good Omen you'll see the new and improved version. And Holly wasn't even hurt, which is the main thing, of course. I mean he was hurt badly, but you can't even see it. That must be an alpha thing, right?"

"Not that I ever heard of. They aren't fireproof, but I'm glad mine seems to be," she laughs weakly. "No, that's something else. He's something more, it would seem."

It would seem Holly's even more of a miracle than she'd considered.

From across the dining room, MK smiles as she sees Damian talking to Holly with big, dynamic hand gestures. Her mate has moved to her seat to face his friend. She can see Holly's broad shoulders shivering with laughter, which seems to spur on his friend's storytelling. He interrupts himself when Elle takes her seat beside him. "Hey, thought ya fell in," he tells her with his eyes still lit up with enjoyment. He rests his large hand on her shoulder and leaves it there for most of the evening.

MK gives Holly an extra-affectionate bunt with the corner of her fragrant lips before sitting down beside him.

"Hey, what was that for, darlin'?" he asks.

"That one was from Tom," she says. He's only confused for a second. His mate must know his secret. He sighs and raises his untouched glass of Merlot. "Here's to Tom, God rest his soul."

"To Tom," they echo. Damian looks a little misty-eyed about that cat. "And to new beginnings. And to Holly finally getting some!"

They all laugh, even MK, who feels slightly embarrassed but doesn't mind it tonight. After all, she and her mate have sex coming out of their skin. It's powerful and friendly betas can't help getting caught up in it.

Beautiful food arrives and MK praises Elle's choice of restaurant. The place tries without being pretentious but isn't so folksy as to be the opposite kind of gimmick. "Deconstructed" cuisine that looks like pieces of something thrown on a plate doesn't impress an omega, nor do they require their food made into a diorama. This strikes the right balance before she digs in.

MK makes sure to sit up straight, not hunched over her plate, and employs the old trick of quietly setting down her knife and fork between bites so it's less apparent she grew up in an institution. At St. Andrews, there was always enough to be healthy, but not enough not to feel hunger frequently, especially late at night. Now that she's pregnant she must remember her hunger isn't as desperate as her body seems to think.

The conversation turns to tattoos. Damian asks what A/os think of the beta custom of tattooing since they can't do it.

"I've got a tattoo," MK says. "Just a little one on the back of my neck. I'd have more, but to get work as a stunt double you can't have too many distinguishing marks that take time to cover up."

"Oh, is it different for omegas?" he asks.

"Different... how?" This was a new one for MK, that alphas don't get tattoos.

"You see this one on my hand?" Damian points to a black rune on his hand.

"Yes, that's nice work," MK says.

"It means 'friendship.' At least I hope it does, haha. Holly got one, too, but the ink all fell out."

"On a black line tattoo?" MK asks. She's heard of tattoos needing a touch-up because some ink "fell out," but black ink never completely vanishes.

Holly looks apologetic like he spoiled something between them. "Yeah. It was a nice idea, but my skin wouldn't accept it. I guess I'm just odd like that."

"Odd" is not the word MK would use for supernatural healing ability. MK feels a spike of panic that takes her by surprise. She can hardly believe it, but she's afraid of him. No. She's not afraid of him, just that he couldn't possibly exist and she's lost her mind. She'll have to ask him about this in private. There was probably a rational explanation. Maybe his injuries just weren't as bad as Elle had thought. Maybe he got lucky and received excellent medical care. Maybe he had the tattoo removed because he didn't like it and told Damian his ink fell out because that was something his friend wanted for them to do together. There was a rational explanation.

Holly is not an angel.

"You doin' okay, love?" Elle asks her.

"Oh, yes. Yes, I was just thinking about dessert."

"You mean the kind they serve here?" Elle jokes.

"Well, now that you mention it, I'm thinking of... other tasty things. But perhaps some cake first."

They each order a pumpkin creme brulee that is wonderful and too small.

"Hey, look over there!" Holly exclaims.

"What did I miss?" MK asks, looking around. Her mate has replaced her scraped clean ramekin with his one, barely touched. "Eat it," he says in a bossy Dom tone. It's an easy command to obey.

The group stays and chats easily about a range of subjects until the waitstaff shows signs they're getting ready to close. They take the hint and leave reluctantly. "It's a good thing I smoke or I wouldn't want to get off my ass and go out in the cold," Damian laughs. "You want one?" he asks Holly.

"Mmm, can I have a drag of yours? I'm gonna quit in solidarity with my woman," he replies.

"You sure you wouldn't rather have a shotgun?" Damian jokes.

"Man, that ain't real. If ya want to kiss me, just say so."

Damian stoops to kiss the top of his head. "Wiseass," he mutters.

"That's why you keep me around," Holly replies.

They'll see each other at work the day after tomorrow. MK and Elle agree they'll make a point to get together again soon.

"They're very nice," MK tells Holly as they walk back to his truck.

"Uh-huh. You're very nice, yourself. And you look gorgeous tonight. They didn't wonder for a second why I chose you."

"Did you, though? I mean, it feels like it just happened."

"What's on your mind, 'mega? That sounds a little like cold feet to me and I don't like that."

She stops walking and turns to face him. Flurries of snow begin to swirl high above them.

"Holly, why do your injuries heal like that?"

"If I knew, I'd tell you. Doesn't mean it will always happen and I don't try to test it. It's not a bad thing, right?"

"No, it's not. Why didn't I know? It's a remarkable thing, you have to admit it."

Holly pulls his coat tighter around him. "Would you believe it just hasn't come up? Making the pair bond with you is more remarkable to me than anything that's ever happened to me. It's more improbable, you know? I'd be happy to show you all my scars, but they're all on the inside."

"You can still show them to me. When you want to. We're together now and it's fast but it's permanent so you can take your time."

"Thank you. Thank you for understanding and not being afraid of it."

A snowflake lands on his long bangs that he does wear pushed to one side like he's concealing something. She stares at it as if it's proof he's real because a snowflake can't land on a figment. Unless it's also a figment...

"I'm afraid of myself."

"Why is that?" he asks.

"Because I love you so much, so soon, and now I wonder if you can be real."

"Let's go home and I'll show you how real I can feel. All over."

"Yes, Alpha."