Meg Bawden

King's Loved Omega Meg Bawden

Widowed omega Quinn Collins loves his son, H. J., more than life, so it kills him that some days H. J. is barely hanging on due to an inherited illness. Quinn devotes most of his time to keeping H. J healthy, and any leftover energy goes to his art. As far as Quinn is concerned, this is his life now-lonely and stressful, but safe. Rookie fireman "King" Kingston is an alpha working at the Cherry Hollow firehouse. Freshly trained and ready for action, he throws himself into helping at the station. While assisting with a blood drive, he catches sight-and smell-of Quinn, but quickly learns that the omega is not on the market. Quinn is terrified of passing on the same illness H. J. struggles with, so he makes the decision to never be with another alpha. Yet somehow, Quinn keeps running into King around town. Quinn can't fight the allure of King's innocent interest, not to mention his devastating smile, so Quinn throws down a challenge sure to drive off any alpha. He tells King he won't spend his heats with him. In the end, King surprises Quinn, in more ways than one. This 64,000-word story is the fifth book in the Cherry Hollow series.