Page 4 of The Stars of the Pack

“What more do you remember?”

It wasn’t a lot, they’d both been thirteen when Ray’s dad had died in a freak car accident, after all, but chewing on sausages and listening to Josh recount them sliding down a snowy hill, each with one of his twin siblings in front of their sledge while their dad stood at the bottom to judge the winner warmed him more than any roaring fires. Some memories came back to him, others didn’t, an unexpected treat. His dad’s absence was a shadow that would never leave him, even if he’d long since learned to walk besides it, and he had his siblings and his mum to share the load with... but he hadn’t known Josh could take a little of it too. Josh took so much for Ray already, it seemed selfish to even think to ask for this.

Except he didn’t need to ask, Josh was laughing as he recalled shoving a snowball down Ray’s pants. “Your face,” he added with an irrepressible grin, “was apoem.”

“Whatever,” Ray told him, rolling his eyes at him. “You just wanted in my pants.”

“We wereten, dude.” His disgusted expression set Ray off and by the time the food was gone, so was the lingering nausea.

***

“DID THEY SAY ANYTHINGelse?” he asked, barely glancing up from his cup of hot chocolate. “Like, how long do I have to stay out?”

Josh’s mouth twisted a little in apology. “Sorry, didn’t think to ask that. I figured we could come to town for a date now and again?”

“Is that what this is?” He realised his left hand had dropped to the mound of his belly, rubbing reassuringly even though the babies were asleep, their hearts steady, and barely shifting now and again—he’d only needed to go to the loo once during the meal, a veritable miracle.

His alpha met his eyes straight on. “Every day with you is a date.”

Ray swallowed, throat suddenly a bit tight. It wasn’t fair, pregnancy made everything a little more intense than usual and it’d been a tough day already. Josh being romantic was more than he could take right now.

He was still blinking fast when his mate’s hand cupped his own around his drink. “Hey, Mr Grown Up.”

The joke—because Ray categorically refused to be called ‘baby’—made him snort, breaking through the heavy emotion clouding him up and giving him enough impetus to glare at Josh. Not very well, he was still smiling, but it was better than crying in public at sweet nothings, so he’d take it.

“You want to catch a film?” Josh offered.

Ray sighed. “Can we give them a quick call first?” He wasn’t asking for permission exactly, but he realised it was rather crazy—when they’d left, there’d been four adults at home with the children, it was absurd to be worried something had gone wrong in their short absence.

He was surprised when Josh hesitated, glancing out the window and then back at him. “Actually, they did say something, the elders, I mean. They said if an omega can focus enough, he’d know what’s going on even when he’s not in his territory.”

“Focus...? How do I even...?” He followed Josh’s gaze outside. “I’m not even standing on the ground here.” It seemed important somehow, to have a direct connection.

“Well, you can try here while we finish up and then you can try outside? And then we’ll call them,” Josh promised. It was a bribe of sorts, but if it worked it would mean never having to worry again—forget the sensors they’d installed all around the perimeter, if he could tell they were okay even from here...

It was worth a shot, if only to make Josh happy anyway. He picked up his cup and took a sip of cocoa, then placed it back on the table and closed his eyes with a sigh, pressing his tongue against his palate to fully taste it. It was a good one, dark and thick, with a bitter aftertaste after the sweetness of the milk dissipated. It was also not of his land, something he’d obviously always known in his head but could suddenly alsofeel. It was still a gift from earth but like he could distinguish shades of blue, he could tell it’d come from far.

He’d always been connected to his territory, as a child to the area ruled by his uncle and as an eighteen-year-old to the territory he’d taken as his own domain. All wolves had the ability to sense each other, though a lot of it was their superior hearing and smell. Or so he’d thought. Becoming First Omega had been like having the volume turned all the way up and he’d realised it wasn’t just physical, it couldn’t be because it worked even when he was in his human form—he couldn’t just feel the land but thepeoplein it. He hadn’t appreciated it much at the time, right after getting bred and mated by his five alphas for the first time, believing his future would be one pregnancy after another, his duty as unbearable as impossible to avoid.

It'd not helped him when he’d been taken by a rogue alpha, either. Once he’d crossed the border, the connection had been interrupted quite abruptly, like something had blocked him. It was the whole reason he’d stopped leaving his land in the first place, but it’d done little to protect him in the end—Nicholas had asked and Ray had invited him, relying on the rules of all packs to protect him, and he’d been betrayed.

And somehow, he’d gone right back to it afterwards, cowering at home, relying not just on his powers as First Omega, but on the sensors at the borders. And yet, here he was, nearly five years later and he was still so terrified to come out that he’d almost thrown up.

It didn’t matter how many precautions he took; he could neverbelievethey could all be safe. Maybe preciselybecauseof all the precautions he took. He exhaled slowly, releasing the flavours from faraway lands and thought of his youngest daughter instead. Cali was only three and with five older siblings, she’d developed fast, her latest antics included trying to climb the drapes in the living room, so Ray worried about her a little more than about the rest.

Her scent came to him first, as intense as if he had his nose buried in her fine blond curls. Then the warmth of her, her weight. And then movement, she was a pup, not a toddler, and she was running over the wooden floors, claws scraping against it as she chased... Mikey. The son Josh had given him, the one whose middle name was Trevor after his dad, and who Ray could now swear was turning around and making his little sister submit with a high-pitched growl. He laughed aloud, opening his eyes. But even then it wasn’t gone, he could sense them as clearly as if they were around him in the restaurant, chaotic and sweet and so precious he couldn’t live without them.

Josh was watching, hazel eyes wide and attentive, brows a little furrowed.Could he feel them too?“Call them,” Ray told him. “Ask if Mikey is playing with Cali.”

His alpha did as he asked, picking up his mobile with care that spoke of nerves—Ray could feel that too, but he was less aware of it than usual, half his attention back with his children.

He could overhear the other side of the conversation, but it was Josh’s look of shocked awe that really confirmed it for him. “I guess I have enough focus?”

“I guess you do,” his partner said after he’d hung up. “Cali has learned how to get out of her onesies.”

Ray shrugged. “Well, she’s no longer in nappies, she should be free to shift if she wants to.”

“I bet Marisa is going to love that,” Josh replied, smile starting to loosen up a little.

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