“He’ll need papers for that and it’s the weekend. We’ll never get them for tomorrow.”
The light, slightly flirtatious tone came back. “Oh, you just leave that to me. I have a friend or two who can help. Expect me before noon.”
They said their goodbyes, and Abel flipped through the contacts on his cell phone until he found Garrick.
“Abel,” Garrick answered.
“What are you doing tomorrow?”
“Working on the omega project. Why?”
“Laine Montague wants to come out to talk about suing Montana Border over the car crash. You want to sit in?”
“I’d love to! What time?”
“He said to expect him before noon. He wants to borrow you for a case he’s working on too, if you don’t mind. And maybe for some others.”
“Really? That would be fantastic!” The excitement in Garrick’s voice vibrated out of the phone, but then he paused, and his tone when he continued was less enthusiastic. “I don’t think I have the time. I got tied up in the service contract for your new client, and with the government over the brewery, and I’m behind on the omega thing.”
Abel leaned back in his chair and bent his arm behind his head. “How is the research going on the omega thing, anyway? Anything new?”
“Not much. I found a story from turn of the century about an alpha who suddenly shot to the head of his pack, and his mate was an omega female, but I can’t tell if his rise in power happened before or after his mating.” Garrick sighed. “I’ve pretty much exhausted our resources here. I’ve interviewed all the way down to the forty-year-olds, and the stories are getting repetitive. As in—they came from someone I’ve already interviewed. Do you want me to try with the other packs? Or Harvey mentioned that about fifteen years ago, some professor came asking questions about our history and our culture. I could track him down.”
Abel scratched at the back of his head and thought about that. He didn’t even know if there was anything to this True Omega thing. Certainly Jason had never shown any sign of their fabled magical powers. Except for that way he had of calming everyone down when things got tense. And that knack he had with plants, though surely that was a gift anyone could have. But what if it was real? He had one sitting inside his own walls. Did he want other packs sniffing around it? And what the hell did it mean for Mercy Hills? “No, I think we’ll bury that carcass until we know enough to be sure it’s worth digging up again. Can you put what you have together for me to look at?”
“Sure. It might take me a week to get everything transcribed, though.”
“That’s fine.” He paused. “I may have help for you for that. I just hired someone to work in the office, looking for funding and such. Send your stuff over and I’ll have him start in on it on Tuesday.”
“That would be great.” Garrick’s relief was audible even over the cell phone. “I’m getting behind on the legislative stuff. There’s some new laws being talked about that I don’t like the sound of.”
“You can bring me up to speed on that tomorrow too. Let’s hope we can get ahead of the curve this time.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
After Abel left, I sent Teca off to play on the slide and sat down in the grass with Noah in my lap to watch the pups play.
“How was your tour?” Jason asked.
“Great. We got the babies signed up for daycare, and I know where all the important offices are. The Alpha says I can stay in the guest quarters, wherever they are, until things get sorted.” I gnawed on the inside of my cheek. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.” Jason boosted Macy up a little higher on his shoulder and patted her bum. “What do you want to know?”
I kept an eye on my other pups. Beatrice might not be old enough to understand anything we said, but Teca might be, and Fan would almost certainly get the gist of it, if not the reasons why, so I wanted to be certain they were out of earshot. “I wanted to ask you about single males who might be interested in mating.”
His eyes widened, but he kept his composure pretty well. I suppose it was a bit blunt.
“I could probably find a few. Are you sure you want to be mated again so quickly?”
“I’ll be mated again in the spring, and they’ll foster my babies out if I don’t find someone here. It’s that, or I take the van and disappear into the human world.”
He glanced around, taking in Beatrice, who had changed shape and was now trying to figure out how to get out of her little T-shirt without hands to help. “That might be a bit tougher for you than it was for my parents. I was thirteen, and an only child. With four of them, all so young…” He shook his head. “You’d be caught by the humans before your pack ever thought to look for you.”
His words sent a chill down my spine. It was an ugly truth that I knew but had refused to accept before. “I think I need to keep it in mind, as a last hope.” I caught his gaze and tried to impress on him how important this was. “I will not let them take my babies away and shove them on people who have no reason to love them. It’s bad enough they lost their father, lost their home, and lost their status. I won’t let them lose each other too.”
He looked thoughtful at that. “I’ll talk to Mac. He knows more people than I do and he’ll know who’s gotten to that age, if you don’t mind someone older. I don’t know if the younger ones would agree to mate on short notice. They’re all such romantics.” His tone was wry and I grimaced in response. Omegas were supposed to be the romantic ones, but somehow, they never got their happy endings.
Macy began to wriggle and fuss. “Hey, what’s up with you?” Jason sniffed and checked her clothing for anything sticking into her. “Just hungry, I guess. Pass me that bag off the wagon?”
I looked behind me and found a faded canvas bag hanging half over the end of a long, high-sided wagon. I handed it over and watched as Jason pulled out a baby blanket, tightly crocheted in soft pink wool, and draped it over his shoulder and the baby. “I hate people staring,” he said, and movements underneath the blanket indicated he was undoing the buttons on his shirt to nurse the baby. “Omega is pretty rare here, so everything I do is just short of newsworthy.” The tiny distressed noises of a hungry baby disappeared, replaced by the low smacking of a pup still learning how to latch on.
“Is she eating well?” I asked. Noah seemed to know what was going on, because he turned, grabbing at my chest and making urgent noises of his own. “Greedy pup. Just because Macy’s being fed doesn’t mean you’re dying of starvation.” But he probably was hungry—I’d been a couple of hours wandering around Mercy Hills with Abel. “Um, you don’t have a spare blanket, do you?” Because I suddenly realized, if Jason was covering up, that I couldn’t just pull off my shirt and sit down with my baby like I’d been used to at home.
“Here.” He dipped into the bag and pulled out another one, this one in blue. “You can keep it, if you want. I have tons—wasn’t much else to do at the end with Mr. Over-Protective refusing to let me lift much more than a plate full of food.”
I laughed dutifully at that as I accepted the blanket, but I couldn’t fathom not doing a full day’s work, even while I was in labor. With Teca, I’d cooked a meal for Patrick and a group of pack members who were trying to organize a mechanic’s course for themselves at one of the nearby human colleges. They’d finished eating, and I’d cleaned and cooked enough meals ahead for the next few days before I was forced to take to my block of foam in the porch. That had been exceptional though—she’d come a couple of days early, and in a rush, and I’d barely had time to pack away the last of the dishes before my Omega line had begun to separate. The others, I’d been more prepared for, and the only work I’d had to do that day was meals and dishes.
It only took a moment to copy Jason and tuck Noah in underneath my T-shirt. He settled contentedly against me, and I felt the sudden relief of pressure as he began to suck.
Jason was watching us with an odd expression on his face. “I suppose you’re worried what
another family would do if they saw his Omega line. I’m sorry,” he added at my startled look. “He needed to be changed earlier.”
I nodded, wary of his interest in my baby. I’d kept it hidden in Jackson-Jellystone, hoping to escape them before it became an issue. Then I realized I was being an idiot. If anyone understood what I was feeling, it was Jason. “I’ve only ever been in Buffalo Gap and Jackson-Jellystone. When I was younger, we used to talk about drugs you could take to suppress your heats. I wanted him to have a chance, you know?”
“Yeah.” Jason looked down at the bump where Macy’s head filled out the blanket. “I’m glad she acts like an alpha. It’s such a load off my mind to know there’s a good chance she won’t turn out to be omega when she hits puberty. I know things are different here, but still—you worry, right?”
I nodded agreement and looked down at my own worry, contentedly kneading at my chest as he filled his belly. “Although, I wouldn’t change him for anything.”
Jason smiled. “Me either.”
Not long after, my other pups came running over clamoring for food.
“Why don’t we take them to the restaurant?” Jason asked, bundling Macy’s supplies back into his bag with one hand.
“I don’t think I can—I don’t have credits yet. The Alpha paid for everything this morning, until I can pay him back.”
“It’s okay, I’ll get it. Saving credits isn’t going to do me any good anyway.”
“What do you mean?” I switched Noah to the other side, and noticed that Jason was having problems with Macy. “Is she not latching well?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. It hurts too.” He grimaced and slid a hand in under the blanket.
I crawled over to him—Noah was an old pro by now and hung on easily. “Sometimes it takes a while. Can I look?” I lifted the edge of the blanket, careful not to expose too much of what was going on under, and watched as he tried to get her suck again. She didn’t seem to be having any more difficulty than any other newborn—they’re all awkward and clumsy at that age. I shooed Fan, who thought he had to know what was going on as well, away. “I think you’re fine. I have a salve I can give you for the chafing, but she’s just impatient. She’ll get the hang of it soon.”
“You sure?” He grimaced and adjusted her in his arms again.
I laughed and pointed at Noah, blissfully sucking, though I could tell he was getting full. “Number four here. You’ll be fine.”
He smiled ruefully. “Little alpha. Though she gets the impatience from me, I can’t blame that on Mac.”
“They’re funny little beasts, aren’t they?” I agreed, and pulled Fan against me for a hug. Teca climbed into my lap, and then Beatrice tried to climb into Teca’s lap, without success. She began to wail, and wouldn’t stop, though Fan’s attempts to pick her up with his little arms might have had something to do with that. Luckily, Noah decided he’d had enough and popped off, and I was able to put myself back together and set him on the grass to be burped, making room for Beatrice on my lap. “So, why is saving credits not going to help you?” It sounded strange, and anything that wasn’t quite right sent my anxiety about my entire situation into the sky.
Jason turned his head to watch a group of pups playing on the swings that I’d missed earlier on my tour. “How much do you know about my story?”
“Not much, just what was on the news. A little Abel told me.”
He frowned and adjusted Macy. “You know I have spring and fall heats, right?”
That was news. “No, I didn’t…shit. I should have guessed, since you were pregnant in the fall. That’s why…”
He nodded. “Supposedly, that makes me a True Omega, though no one seems to know what the fuck that is. But the Alphas are all convinced that I have some mystical power that they can borrow to consolidate their power bases.” He snorted. “Mac and I haven’t noticed anything.”
Oh. That was…unexpected. “I thought they all died out.”
“There must be some genes still floating around somewhere. I just happened to get the short straw.”
I didn’t know whether to pity him, or envy him. True Omega could be a powerful card to play, if he wanted to. I was guessing he didn’t; he was more like me, wanting a quiet life with his pup and his mate. “But you’re here, and you’re mated. What’s the problem? It’s not like they can take you from him with the evidence right there.” I nodded at Macy.
“Except that Mac and Orvin haven’t signed any papers. So, technically, I’m just ruined, not mated.”
I whistled, then clamped my jaws shut. Damn, but I needed to break that habit.
Jason grinned at me. “Oh, you got that lecture too, did you?” He lifted Macy out from underneath the blanket, and since she didn’t fuss, she must have been full, or at least have gotten enough.
I had to laugh. “Yeah. I liked whistling at the good-looking alphas before I was mated. I was a handful, now that I look back on it. But we were all wild back home. There wasn’t much to do there, so we made our own fun.”
“Anyway,” Jason said. “Why don’t we take the pups to have lunch, and I’ll tell you the rest of the story. The rush should be done. We’ll probably have the place pretty much to ourselves.”
Noah let out a huge burp and grinned. The rest of us laughed, though Teca told him, “Excuse yourself,” mimicking my tones perfectly.
“All right,” I said, and set the pups in my lap on their feet. “Let’s go get some lunch.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
The restaurant was very nice. Long rectangular tables with six or eight chairs around each of them filled the room, except for a corner with a few toys crammed into it. You ordered at a counter at the front and wrote your name in a book to pay for the meal. It was all very…luxurious.
Jason kept pushing us to order more. “I have a ton of credits, really. What am I going to spend them on? I ordered yarn and cloth online, but I got a lot of hand-me-downs for Macy. And I don’t spend much on clothes. So get what you want.” As if to prove his point, he ordered some sort of beef in a rich-sounding sauce, with noodles and vegetables, and fruit juice. “Macy doesn’t care for coffee.”
Awkwardly, I shuffled my babies up to the counter. The lady behind it smiled at me. “I thought I knew everyone in Mercy Hills, but I don’t think I’ve seen you before. I’m sure I’d remember a bunch of cuties like you guys,” she said, smiling down at the pups.
The two on the ground crowded close to my legs, eyeing the stranger warily. Beatrice, on the other hand, chuckled and reached out to the woman, and Noah squealed and flailed about in his sling, wanting in on the action. “We’re just visiting,” I explained. “Guys, behave.” I put a hand on Noah to foil his apparent determination to launch himself out of the sling.
Jason stepped up beside me, laughing. “I’ll take Beatrice and we’ll get a table.” He plucked her deftly out of my arms and took her to the table at the front, right next to the window.
I got something ordered for everyone with the help of the woman at the counter, and then we joined Jason at the table.
“Oh, look, it’s Duke.” Jason stood up and banged on the window, waving at someone outside.
“Who’s Duke?” I asked, taking the salt shaker away from Teca. Behind me, the door creaked and banged closed.
“He’s kind of the rest of the story.” Jason pulled out a chair beside me, and I looked up. And up. And up. I thought Abel was tall. This Duke was a mountain on legs. He also had the last stages of a really good black eye, a cut lip, and an arm in a sling. And then I remembered he’d been on the security team at the gates when I’d arrived last night.
“Duke,” Jason said as the big man sat down. “This is Bax. He’s come to visit for a couple of weeks.”
“Hi, Bax,” Duke said, holding out a hand to shake. “These all yours?” He nodded at the pups.
I nodded in return, and shook his hand, though his size made me nervous.
Jason smiled. “
Perfect timing. I was just going to tell Bax here about the car accident.”
I raised my eyebrows, waiting for the explanation.
The other two shifters exchanged a glance.
“My old alpha tried to either kill me or take me back. We’re not entirely sure.” Jason tried to pass it off lightly, but I could smell the fear underneath the scent of bearer and baby and fatigue. “They crashed their car into ours, hit the back fender and spun us off the road. Orvin dragged me out and I hit him and took off.”
Duke chuckled. “Smacked him good, too. I wasn’t long getting out of the car, but you were already into the woods and Orvin was staggering around holding his balls like he was afraid they’d fall off.”
Jason grinned sheepishly. “I wasn’t really thinking.”
“You kicked him in the balls?” I asked, then realized the pups were listening to all this with wide eyes, soaking in everything. “Why don’t you guys go play in the corner?” I told them, not really expecting they’d go.
Fan’s gaze was fixed on Duke. “You’re big,” he said matter-of-factly.
“I am,” Duke said gravely.
“What happened to your arm?”
“I broke it.”
“Why?”
“It wasn’t planned.” Duke gave Fan an amused look. “I got into a fight.”
“Dabi says fighting’s bad.”
“It is. But sometimes you have to.”
“When you’re big,” I interjected, not wanting to encourage Fan’s martial tendencies. “Your job right now is to grow. Leave the fighting to the adults.”
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