Mountain Springs Omegas #7
Benjamin thought he'd escaped his mother's machinations, but something is calling him home.
Benjamin escaped Mountain Springs once before: eight years ago when he decided to enlist rather than have his mother foist an alpha on him. His original plan had been to stay as far away as possible, but when the time to re-enlist arrives, he finds he can't do it. He returns home, unsure of his decision. Then he runs into his old high school crush.
Philip wants a mate, but without being tied down by all the alpha stereotypes.
Philip lives in a world of expectations. An alpha-born alpha, he's expected to be among the best of the best. But that's not what he wants for himself. He pursued painting rather than a typical job like business, and he wants a strong omega, rather than one who will expect all the traditional alpha mindsets. He's starting to wonder if love is in the cards for him when he comes across a former soldier, and the most beautiful man he's ever met.
The attraction is mutual, and instant. But can love blossom when meddling parents have other plans in mind?
Recipe for Romance
One Artist Alpha
One Veteran Omega
A Chance Meeting
A Meddling Mother
The Push of Fate
Artist Kisses for the Omega is a 15.2K word , non-shifter, M/M, Mpreg romance, featuring a tough-as-nails omega, a gentle alpha, some knotty fun, and plenty of being true to oneself
It was such a treat reading this one with the alpha/omega relationship not what you usually see. It's a nice blend of typical and a-typical when it comes to Benjamin and Philip's roles in the journey. It really isn't that huge a part of the overall journey but it just adds an extra level of entertaining joy.
One thing that really stood out for me here is the Benjamin's mother. I had an amazing relationship with my mom so reading bad moms always stands out and in standing out they also tend to fall under my sharper eye. What seems like a mom who wants her son to find a mate is masking something far worse, I won't say more as I feel I've leaked too much already. Just know if you want happy happy moms, be aware.
Artist Kisses is just an all around joy(despite the above mentioned mom) that entertains and warms the heart, all the things I've come to love in the Mountain Springs Omegas series so far.
RATING:
Chapter 1 - Benjamin
I hefted my duffel bag over my shoulder and stepped down from the bus. The door swished closed behind me since I was the only one getting off in Mountain Springs.
It was only as the rumble of the departing bus sounded behind me that I acknowledged that I’d come home. The noise of the engine and tires signalled the end of a major chapter in my life.
“Thank you for your service,” a random passerby said, nodding in my direction.
“Thank you,” I replied methodically before reminding myself that I needed to change into civvies when I got home.
Home… could I really call it that? Those starting years in the barracks had felt more like home in a way. At least there the expectations were clear, and not based on something as stupid as alpha or omega. I was to follow the same rules as everybody else on base, keep myself and my things tidy, and report for duty as ordered.
Nobody tried to go behind my back to set me up with alphas, and nobody cared if I didn’t want to do all those traditionally omega things. None of that mattered. My superiors wanted to see a good soldier, and I’d worked hard to be just that.
Even when I’d moved off-base with a friend the expectations were clear and reasonable.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before turning to walk to my family home.
I still didn’t know what had made me decide not to re-up. When I’d left Mountain Springs just after high school I’d been determined to never come back. I’d even stayed on active duty for all eight years, watching people who’d enlisted at the same time as me go to reserve status. But just as I was getting ready to sign on for another eight I found I couldn’t do it.
Something was calling me home.
I stopped and looked around. I’d made a point of staying away from Mountain Springs for my whole term. When I saw my parents and brother it was because they came to visit me. Instead of coming home I’d spend my leave doing all those things omegas weren’t supposed to enjoy. I went hunting with my buddies, did wilderness survival adventures, discovered beautiful places on the back of a dirt bike, and went whitewater rafting.
Nobody would have questioned my love of adventure if not for my damned womb. I was a man after all. But male omegas weren’t supposed to like manly things. We were supposed to have some sort of natural paternal instinct.
Fuck that.
My entire life had turned on its head the day I went into heat for the first time. Instead of standing up to bullies when they picked on smaller kids I was expected to let an alpha protect me instead. I was supposed to give up all my interests in order to learn how to cook, clean, and knit.
Just the thought of all that stereotypical omega bullshit made me see red.
I realized I was near the park, and decided that I wasn’t quite ready to face my parents. I found a bench in the shade and sat on it.
“Why the fuck did I come back?” I asked myself. “I left for a reason, and in eight years mom and dad never seemed all that likely to change their ways.”
One thing was for sure, just because I was back in Mountain Springs didn’t mean that I had to live with my family. Finding an apartment would be one of my first priorities. I’d socked almost everything I’d earned into savings. After leaving the barracks I’d roomed with another omega from my unit in an off-base apartment, and would carpool in with him. We’d both kept our expenses low, and I’d managed to set aside a tidy sum. I was far from rich, but I had enough of a cushion to allow me to decide what I wanted to do next.
Coming home was likely just a longing for some nostalgia, and once I got it out of my system I’d move onto someplace where my family couldn’t meddle in my day-to-day life.
I grimaced at a cramp.
“Great,” I muttered. “Just what I need: to be stinking of pre-heat just as I get home. Mom will probably have a line of alphas to introduce me to before dinner.”
I felt slick start around my entrance at the thought of alphas. It had been a while since I’d last taken a knot, and my instincts were more than happy to remind me that I currently didn’t have any other obligations, so it was the perfect time to get pregnant.
I shook my head, grabbed my duffel and resumed the walk to my parent’s house.
I wasn’t a kid anymore, and I wouldn’t let my mom walk all over me. Just because she was baby-crazy didn’t mean she could push me into having a kid before I was ready.
Even if I did feel my biological clock ticking some days.
Lacey DaizeLacey lives in New Mexico with her four critters. She’s a Jill-of-all-trades by day, but loves writing in her spare time. She dabbles in a variety of pairings, but jumped feet-first into the deep end of omegaverse the first time she read it. She loves the play on social expectations and the different ways to express romance.
Artist Kisses #7
