Page 30 of His Forsaken Alpha

And there it was. Avery’s uncle was being overprotective. Could he really blame the guy, though?

“My omegais the one who invited him,” Wilder replied.

“And I’ve said multiple times that I should go find a hotel,” Cav added, wanting to calm things. “It’s not too late to.”

“You’ll do no such thing,” Avery declared, appearing in the foyer with Emory cradled in his arms.

Gray squealed softly, Cav forgotten as he moved closer and scooped the newborn from Avery’s grasp. “Oh, look at this handsome little man.” He lowered his nose to the baby’s head and inhaled. “I so miss the brand-new newborn scent. They lose it too fast. All Manny smells of these days is poop and breast milk.”

“He doesn’talwayssmell like poop,” Rohan said, chuckling.

“He’s our fourth child, so I know a thing or two about the back end of a baby. I have never in my life seen a child poop as often as he does.” Gray turned to Avery. “I’ve gone through more diapers than I did with the twinscombined.”

“I think you’re misremembering the number of diapers those two blasted through,” Rohan said with a grin. He moved closer to Gray and caressed Emory’s cheek, smiling. “Heisa pretty little thing, isn’t he?”

Lake and Auggie came booming down the stairs, bags in hand. The baby awoke in Gray’s arms and wailed.

“I swear the two of you are like a runaway freight train,” Gray admonished before soothing the baby.

The train.Cav’s mind immediately went back there. The scent and sounds of the machine. The scent and sounds that had come from their car that night.

“Sorry,” Auggie whispered.

“We’re used to a bunch ofloudbabies,” Lake said. “Not a quiet one.”

“What’s a runaway freight train?” Auggie asked, face twisted with confusion.

“Something that has helped remind me how old I am,” Gray muttered.

“Remember the old tracks we found?” Lake asked Auggie. “I told you about the train that they used to have between here and Blacksburg.”

“Oh, yeah,” Auggie replied.

“Before the Wildling attack,” Cav said, lost in the memory.

“Wildlings attacked the train?” Lake asked, wide-eyed and curious. “Is that why they shut it down?”

“It is,” Cav said. “They swooped in, kidnapped at least a dozen omegas—most of who were never seen or heard from again. That’s why the Western Provinces built theirs underground. It’s safer.”

“There’s an underground train out west?” Lake asked, a soft curiosity overtaking the earlier harshness in his face.

“There sure is,” Cav said. “A highspeed one, at that. You can get from Fort Seattle to Port Sacramenti in only a few hours.Fasterthan the helicopter between here and Blacksburg, which is a smaller distance. I’m sure that makes it safer, too. It’s harder to stop a speeding bullet.Train,that is.”

“Have you got everything?” Rohan asked the boys, taking Auggie’s suitcase in hand.

“Yep,” Lake said. He turned back to Cav. “You’ve been out there? In the Western Provinces?”

“I have. I’ve traveled the entire globe, as a matter of fact.”

“I’m applying to a school out there,” Lake said. He cast a look over one shoulder. “Though, my parents don’t seem to think I’m capable.”

“It’s not that you’re not capable, it’s that… it’s far, honey,” Gray said. He paused sniffing and touching the corner of his eye. “It’sreallyfar and we don’t know anyone out there. If there was an emergency, it would take a couple of days to get out there to you. If we had reliable contacts there—family or friends we could trust, I’d likely agree, but we don’t have a safety net for you. I’ve not said no to the other schools you’ve put on your list, now have I?”

“There’s only two others and they’re bothhere,”Lake snapped.

“Things are changing for omegas right now,” Gray said. “You were at the protests. Don’t you want to be here when we finally see all the fruits of our labors?”

“I want to go somewhere where omegas alreadyhaverights. I want to see what the future looks like without having to wait for it,” Lake replied.

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