“Fan, you go brush your teeth while I get your sisters cleaned up, and then we can go. Take your dishes to the sink!” But I was too late with the last sentence, and he was already gone. I shook my head and piled the pups’ plates on top of each other, then wiped the girls clean. “Okay, you two. Stay here.” Like that was going to happen. I’d barely gotten the cloth over their faces before they were off scattering their toys over the living room floor. Again.
Pups.
They were good all the way over to the daycare and, despite some fussing by Noah when I handed him over to the woman in the baby room, everything went smoothly. Well, except for the curious looks I got, but I wasn’t too put off by them. Jason had warned me that the gossip mill was grinding and I could expect some whispering.
The start of my first day went well too, despite some awkward stuttering, and one uncomfortable incident where I bumped into Abel and became shockingly aware of his body as he set me back on my feet again. I shrugged it off to having spent six months too exhausted even to take care of my own needs, and tried to put it out of my mind. Except that the warmth lingered where his hands had touched me, and I ruefully admitted that I was a silly omega, falling in love with his boss on two days acquaintance.
Too damn bad this isn’t a novel. I’d know it’d end all right. No guarantees in life, though. And the sudden shock of memory last night worried me. What good was an omega you couldn’t fuck? Our sex drives were half the reason we ended up mated at all.
I promised myself to work on that. If there was something between us, I didn’t want to ruin it by being a failure.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Halfway through the morning, the sudden heaviness of my chest reminded me that Noah needed to be fed. I glanced over at Louise, whose desk I was sharing, my borrowed laptop propped up on the corner by the window. “Um, Louise, is it okay if I run down to the daycare for a few minutes?”
“What’s wrong, dear?” she asked, looking up from the stack of invoices she was trying to balance.
Heat crept into my cheeks and I ducked my head. “Noah will be hungry.” Maybe he’d be better here in the office. Maybe this was all a big mistake. No one in Jackson-Jellystone worked until their pups were completely weaned.
“Oh, that’s no problem, dear. You run along. Take that file, the blue one, with you and read through it while you get him sorted out.”
I paused, taken aback. “It’s okay then?”
“Well, you can’t let him starve.” She set the invoices down and gave me a look of kindly concern. “I gather things were done differently in Jackson-Jellystone?”
I nodded. “Females usually went back to work once the pups were weaned. I never had a job, so…” My voice trailed off; my differences from the rest of the pack were making themselves felt now with a vengeance.
“Ah.” She snorted, a delicate, lady-like snort that made me want to laugh. “Trust an alpha. We go back to work earlier here—there’s too much to be done to afford someone taking an entire year off, though I understand Abel has plans to change that at some point. But we make allowances for parents who need to feed babies. As long as the work gets done, it doesn’t matter. You go, and hug that baby for me.”
“Thank you,” I said in relief, and gathered up the folder she’d pointed out. “I won’t be long.”
She waved me off, and turned back to her invoices.
It didn’t take much time to walk across to the daycare. On the way, I passed pack members hurrying about on business, or lounging in Central Park. Pups of all ages roamed the spaces around the daycare, their happy shouts brightening the day for me. This was a good place. I needed to do everything in my power to make a home for us here, for their sakes.
Noah recognized me as soon as I walked through the door, yelling, “Dabi!” from his spot on a brightly colored mat and holding up his little arms to me.
“How’s my baby boy?” I asked, and picked him up to snuggle him close.
“Hi, you must be Noah’s… uh, parent?”
I looked up to find a young ash blond woman staring diffidently at me. “I’m his bearer, yes.” I bounced him a little and cooed at his laughter.
“He’s a great little boy.” She was still staring at me, and I suddenly realized that she had probably never seen an omega up close, except maybe for Bram. And he would hardly seem like an omega without a baby in tow.
I shifted uncomfortably under her stare. There didn’t seem to be a quiet place to nurse here, and unless Louise was completely wrong, there also didn’t seem to be any other parents feeding their babies. “Is there someplace I can feed him?” Noah was starting to root and grab in hunger. I hoped they had a separate room somewhere; it was normal to stop and nurse when you needed to in Jackson-Jellystone and Buffalo Gap, but I didn’t know the rules here and I was starting to feel just a little bit like a freak.
“Oh, yes, I’m so sorry! They didn’t show you when you enrolled them?” Her whole demeanor brightened, and my weirdness was forgotten in her enthusiasm. “It’s in the new section, the one Abel commissioned last year. Follow me!” She grabbed Noah’s diaper bag and swung out the door, leaving me to hurry behind her.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t get your name.”
“Elise,” she said over her shoulder as she led me around a corner and down another hallway.
“I’m Bax.”
She spun in a circle, grinning. “I like it. It’s punchy.”
Punchy? Don’t ask.
Elise turned into a small, dimly lit room, mostly filled with young shifter women and the quiet sounds of suckling pups. “You can sit wherever you want. Hi, Patrice.” She waved at a red-headed woman at the end of the room. “This is Bax. He’s new.”
Patrice smiled and moved her bag from the chair next to her onto the floor. “Mac mentioned you’d likely be in. Well, Jason told Mac to mention it, I’m sure. Come sit by me.”
Grateful for this small sign of acceptance, I took my bag back from Elise and dropped it on the floor next to the chair. “Thank you. Are you related to Mac?”
“Cousins,” said one of the other women. “Me too, but on his mother’s side. Where are you from?” The questions were intrusive, but it was a friendly curiosity, so I did my best to answer them.
“I was born in Buffalo Gap, but I was mated in Jackson-Jellystone.” I sat in the chair and settled Noah on my lap. He was becoming increasingly frustrated and I cast a quick glance around the room to make sure it would be okay to just lift the hem of my T-shirt and let him suck. It seemed to be a trend, so I quickly tipped Noah into the crook of my arm and set him in place as nonchalantly as possible. Rules for regular shifters weren’t always the same as the ones for omegas. I kept my ear open for any rumbles of outrage.
“Does he get enough to eat?” one of the women asked.
“Yes,” I said, puzzled. “Why wouldn’t he?”
“Well, you don’t have much up top.” She motioned at her own well-developed chest and the baby happily nursing away.
I looked down in surprise. “I guess I never thought of it. He’s happy and growing, and he’s not hungry enough to have much interest in solid food yet. Except to use it for shampoo.” The women laughed and one more knot of tension in my shoulders smoothed out.
“So, are you here visiting, or is your mate doing business with Mercy Hills?”
“My mate passed away. I’m visiting.”
“Becca says you’re here long term.” This from a dark-haired woman at the other end of the room.
“I’m not sure how long I’m staying…”
“Oh, don’t worry. Once the alphas get a sight of you, they’ll be camping on Abel’s doorstep begging him to keep you.”
I avoided responding by looking down at Noah, pretending to adjust something while he nursed blissfully away.
Patrice came to my rescue. “I don’t think he’s all that interested in a mate right now. It hasn’t been that long, am I right, Bax?”
“Six months,” I said. “But you’
re right, I do need to look for one. The life we’re living right now isn’t fit for the pups. I’m just not ready.” My voice trailed off on those last words and I hid behind my overlong hair while I fought the tears that thought caused.
Silence reigned for a few moments, then the dark-haired woman said, “They giving you shit, hon?”
“What do you think?” said a woman with mousy brown hair and stunning hazel eyes that reminded me of Abel’s. “Look at him. Of course they’re giving him shit. They’ve probably been trying to shove someone into his bed since before his mate was cold.”
It wasn’t quite that bad, but they’d hit the nail on the head.
The hazel-eyed woman came to crouch in front of me. “I’m Sharon. And if you need a place to hide, I’ve room.”
“Me, too,” said the dark-haired woman. “I’m Zelina.”
“And me.” Patrice patted my knee. “If you’re not happy there, you don’t need to worry.”
“There’s more,” Patrice said, and began to fill them in on my background despite my protests. “Nonsense,” she told me. “Mac asked me to watch out for you and make sure you were settling in, and I made him tell me the whole story. There’s not a single acceptable thing in what they’re planning to do to you, right ladies?” The other women nodded, and Patrice continued. “And for damn sure we aren’t going to let them take you or your babies if that’s their plan. We Mercy Hills shifters stick together.”
“But I’m not Mercy Hills—” I jumped in shock. Mac’s other cousin had just sprinkled me with what smelled like mint tea.
“Now you are. We’ve just adopted you.” She grinned and went back to her seat. “I’m Elspeth. Welcome to the family.”
I gazed around the room, baffled, but with a growing excitement. They seemed serious. I looked to Patrice to confirm what I thought I’d heard. She patted my knee again.
“Whatever you need. Some alphas practically demand a good kick in the balls.”
I settled back in my chair, overwhelmed by the sudden acceptance I’d found. I’d gone from friendless and alone to having what felt like a whole pack to side with me. “Thank you,” was all I could manage in my jumble of emotions, but I think they understood what I meant.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
I’d only been in Mercy Hills for a week, and I never wanted to leave. This was what a pack should be, everyone working together, and everyone working way harder than I’d seen in Buffalo Gap or even in Jackson-Jellystone.
I was happily ensconced in tracking down information on an entrepreneurial program I thought might apply to a couple of pack businesses, when Louise called out to me.
“Bax! It’s the daycare again.”
Fuck it all to hell. I shoved the mouse away and stood up. “Tell her I’ll be right there,” I said.
I came back half an hour later with an angry little alpha gripped firmly by the hand. “Fan’s going to spend the rest of the morning with me, Louise. Again. We’ll try to keep the noise down.” I was near tears. This was the sixth time this week the daycare had called. Fan had spent almost as much time sitting with me in the office as he had in the daycare, and I was at my wits end. Nothing I could do or say seemed enough to convince him that he couldn’t just barge in and take what he wanted, no matter what his father had taught him. And every time, it was the same story—other pups were playing with something, and he would either steal their toys or break something they’d built, and then start bossing them around. There’d been a shoving match yesterday when one of the other pups decided to stand up to him. I was afraid they were going to tell me he couldn’t come anymore, and then what would I do? If I couldn’t contribute to the pack, why would they keep me? And because I’d found this job so rewarding, I’d put looking for a mate on the back burner, so I had no backup plan at all.
I was screwed.
Fan kicked and squirmed on my lap, but I wasn’t letting go over a few bruises. He whined, both in words and wolf, and banged his heels against my shins.
“No. You sit there,” I said, holding tightly to keep some control over him. “If you can’t behave like a civilized shifter, you can’t be around other pups. You’re not Alpha’s child here and even if you were, you shouldn’t act like that.”
“I want down!” he howled, and flailed his arms.
His fist caught me in the eye and I lost my grip on him. He was already halfway to the door when I rounded the desk, my eye streaming tears down my cheek. Louise was out of her seat and heading for Fan too, but I waved her back. This wasn’t her problem.
Fan hit the door, and damn those lever-style handles, because it made it easy for him to open the latch and take off into the hallway on me.
And run straight into Abel.
Abel grabbed Fan and swung him up, still kicking and yelling, then looked at me. “More problems?”
I wanted to sink through the floor, but that wasn’t an option. Instead, I lowered my eyes and nodded.
Abel put his fingers under my chin and lifted my face up so he could see it. “It’s okay. He’s been through a tough time.” He completely ignored the wailing banshee in his arms.
“He knows better.”
“I’m sure he does.” He shifted his grip on my wild animal and looked at him. “Maybe it’s time Fan had a chat with his new Alpha.” He took a step back down the hallway. “Tell Louise I’ll be back in half an hour or so?” He looked at Fan and said, “You can quiet down. It’s not getting you anywhere.” And Fan shut up.
Why the hell wouldn’t he do that for me? He was good for Jason, too. I watched the two of them walk back down to the elevator with real tears blurring my vision, then brushed them away with the back of my hand and went back to work. I really needed to prove myself useful now.
Abel and Fan came back just in time for lunch. Awkward, because I didn’t have a lunch for Fan—the daycare fed them. Fan was quiet, and when Abel put him down, he shuffled around my desk to stand beside me. “I’m sorry, Dabi. I won’t be bad anymore.”
I hugged him and buried my face in his hair. “It’s okay, baby. We’ll work on it, hmm?” He nodded and I let go of him.
He put his little hand in mine and bounced in place. “Abel says I can have lunch here. Can I, Dabi? Please?”
“I don’t know…” I looked up at Abel.
He perched himself on the edge of my desk. “I called Becca, and she’s sending his lunch over.”
Oh. “Thank you.” I made myself smile at him, but I was so dismayed over the way this week had gone, I could hardly look him in the eye.
“Hey, it’s fine,” he said in what I suspected was supposed to be a reassuring tone.
I couldn’t tell any more—ghosts of Patrick’s ‘stupid omega. Smarten up!’ twisted the meaning I should have gotten out of it, and I was losing the knack of translating. But his comment called for some response. “No it’s not,” I said in a small voice. “Look, I’ll fix it, just—he needs time.”
“I talked to Becca yesterday about him; she filled me in. And Fan and I had a long talk and we agreed that there’s better ways to be an Alpha, and I’m going to help him.”
Fan nodded excitedly. “He’s going to be my mendor.”
“You mean mentor?”
Fan nodded again, and grinned up at Abel. He seemed proud of the new word, and even prouder of his new relationship with the Alpha.
I couldn’t let this happen. Abel was busy enough as it was. “The Alpha’s pretty busy. Maybe we should work on things first, and then he can mentor you later.”
Fan’s lower lip trembled, and I was reminded forcefully that what I had in front of me wasn’t the ravening beast of legend, but a three and a half year old child, whom I had just denied a treat and a chance to spend time with someone who seemed to be something of a hero to him.
Abel slipped off the desk and knelt beside us. “I think I can fit him into my schedule. You’re taking a load off me, just dealing with the stuff you’re doing now. So Fan and I can hang and do guy things, right?
” He put an arm around Fan’s shoulder and pulled him into a rough hug. Fan squealed, but he seemed to be enjoying it, and it was such a relief to see the side of him I knew was there, that I let the subject drop.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Having Bax in the office was a miracle. On Friday night, Abel gave himself permission to sleep in on Saturday.
It was a shame the world wasn’t in on the deal.
At seven in the morning, his phone rang, waking him from a sound sleep. He fumbled it off the bedside table and grunted into the receiver.
“Shit, I woke you. I can call back later.” It was Garrick’s voice, and suddenly Abel was wide awake.
“No, go ahead. I’m up now.” He sat up so as not to make a liar out of himself and swung his legs out of the bed. “What’s up? Are you back today?”
“Are you okay if I’m not? I met with the professor this week, and he invited me back again to finish up. He’s going to have a printout of a bunch of his research for me too, and he’s wondering if he can come visit and meet Jason. And I could use a few more days in the law library, both for Laine’s case and for ours.” In the background, Laine said something, and Garrick covered the mouthpiece to talk back to him. When he came back, he said, “I can probably do it from there, if you need me.”
Abel scruffed his hand through his cropped hair and rubbed at his face in an attempt to wipe away the last of his night’s sleep. “No, that’s okay. As long as everything’s getting done, you might as well be there where everything’s at your fingertips, instead of digging through the internet.”
“Well, internet’s not bad, but it’s nice to be able to bounce ideas off people. And there are a couple of law students at the library here who don’t seem to find me fearsome.” Garrick’s tone was wry, but the undertones of anger and frustration were easily picked up by Abel’s well-tuned ear.
“Then stay. You don’t get to talk to peers nearly as often as the rest of us do.”
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