Playing You (Omega's Luck #3) - Claire Cullen Page 0,41

suddenly, and Brendan realized Riley wasn’t the only one at risk of her trademark interrogation. “You need to shift more often. Both of you. If not here, then find somewhere in the city. There are parks and places, aren’t there? Or have they been paved over by the concrete jungle?”

“There are still parks, Grams. I’ve got a membership to one. I’ll make sure to bring Riley along with me from now on. It’s just that I hadn’t quite realized…” He wasn’t sure how to explain without breaking the omega’s confidence.

Riley came to his rescue. “He didn’t know I was a shifter, because I hadn’t told him. I, um, I sort of thought my shifter animal was gone, that I’d lost my chance.”

“Oh, it’s never too late,” Grams said, smiling softly at the omega. “Your ocelot is a part of you, Riley. A beautiful reflection of your soul. If you nurture him, give him the space and light that he needs, he will balance out the human side of you. A perfect equilibrium.”

“Grams is a big proponent of holistic living,” Angie chimed in. “She thinks modern life has eroded our true natures.”

Grams nodded seriously. “Once upon a time, all humans could shift. Now it’s only the Type-S’s, and most of those don’t shift past adolescence. For those who aren’t Type-S, nothing can be done. For the rest, well, it’s a choice. We can set people on the right path, or we can neglect that side of us and suffer the consequences.”

Brendan thought this was probably too heavy a conversation for the dinner table, but Riley looked thoughtful.

“I wish…” The others waited patiently for him to finish his thought. “… that I’d had the chance to be a shifter as a kid. The rules were always telling us that we were wrong or dangerous or violent. All I wanted was to play and run free and be myself.”

Grams reached across the table and took his hand, her eyes brimming with tears. “We can’t change the past, Riley, none of us. We can only change what happens next. If it’s within your power to change, then I’m confident you will.”

Riley managed a tremulous smile, but when he glanced Brendan’s way, that smile grew stronger. Brendan was beginning to realize that he may have made a mistake. He’d brought Riley along in an attempt to keep his family off his back. He’d never expected them to take to the omega so strongly. He should have worked that one out, given how much he liked Riley. Why wouldn’t his family feel the same way? And how, exactly, was he going to extricate himself from this mess once the weekend was over?

After dinner, he and Riley went for a walk, just the two of them. Riley seemed deep in thought, and Brendan hoped his musings were more pleasant than his own.

“Can I ask a question?” the omega said suddenly.

“Sure, ask away.”

“What’s an ocelot?”

Brendan was momentarily dumbfounded.

“It’s what you are. In your shifter form. Didn’t anyone ever tell you?”

The omega shrugged. “I saw my file once, and it just said ‘cat form.’ I thought maybe I was a leopard or something.”

“Nope, definitely an ocelot.” He tugged his phone from his pocket and brought up an image of the cat in question. “See, this is you.”

Riley stared at the ocelot’s picture for a long moment.

“Wow. I guess I look a lot thinner than this ocelot.”

Brendan didn’t like the self-recrimination in Riley’s tone.

“Your form is very beautiful. The pattern on your fur is striking. Sure, you could do with filling out a bit, but so could most shifters when it’s been a while since they’ve changed. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

“Your family is really nice,” Riley told him. “I can’t believe how kind they’ve been, how welcoming.”

“In my experience, many people are, but my family more than most. They’re happy to have you here.”

“If they knew the truth…”

Brendan huffed at that. “They’d be pissed at me, but they’d still adore you. What about you? Today has been pretty intense.”

Riley stopped walking and turned to him, grinning happily.

“Today has been the best day in forever, as far back as I can remember. Thanks to you. I know this weekend was supposed to be about you, and we could have just told your family that I wasn’t a shifter, but… thank you for letting me have this.”

Brendan tugged the omega into an embrace.

“I didn’t ‘let’ you have anything,” he murmured. “You deserved this. If it can go a tiny way