Page 23 of The Lab: Rigg

I nodded. “Yeah, my shift is almost over, but you guys have a great night.” I walked to the far end of the counter and began closing out. I was beat, and I could tell Rigg was anxious to head out too.

After I clocked out, I went out the back door and found Rigg waiting at the car with the phone to his ear.

“Right. I’m gonna drop him off at home, and then I’ll head over after that.” He nodded and said a few more things before finally hanging up.

My eyes were narrowed when he turned back to me. “You’re dropping me off?” I scoffed and got into the car with a slam of the door behind me.

He climbed into the driver’s seat and started the engine. “You know I don’t wanna leave you alone but there will be a lot of heat on the pack. You’ll all be safer at the cabin where no one will find you.” He took a deep breath and pulled out of the parking lot. “You heard what he said about the kids. People are looking for them.”

I wanted to throw up, but that wasn’t a good reason for us to be separated. “That’s all the more reason for us to stay together.” I reached across the center console and held his hand. “Where you go, we go. All together.”

14

RIGG

I knew I was fucked. "Take us with you." Niles’s hands were curled protectively over the top of his rounded belly, and I knew there was no way I could leave him behind.

I dragged my hand through my hair, staring down the long highway toward our home. Our family. "Fine, but it's gonna be crazy. I’ll be working, gone a lot of the time, but you can stay with the other omegas. Alden said you and the kids are welcome. Grandpa Joel too, but I know he’ll want to be at home."

“Thank you, Rigg.” He leaned across the center console and threw his arms around my neck. “We won’t be in the way, and you won’t have to worry about us. And just as importantly, I won’t be worried about you by myself. I’ll have friends to support us.”

I nodded and briefly kissed the side of his head before Niles scooted back to his seat. It was clear that I was making the right choice. Maybe not the safest, but the right one. Niles needed a pack, and this wasn’t something he should have to do alone. “We’ll pack up the kids and head out there tonight. We’ll call it a camping trip.”

He shook his head and sighed. “They’re gonna be so excited to see other kids like them.”

* * *

Connor stood in the doorway with a little stuffed wolf, clutching it in one hand and pointing the other right at me. "Let’s go, Daddy Rigg. Our friends are waiting for us." He narrowed his eyes, like he was daring me to defy a three-year-old.

"If we stay up too late, we’ll miss breakfast tomorrow," Lily chimed in on her way to the car. “Let’s hurry so we can sleep fast and eat soon.”

I chuckled. “Did Grandpa Joel forget to feed you tonight?”

“No, but that was part of today’s food. I don’t want to miss tomorrow’s food.” These kids were too smart for their own good. “Are you ready yet?”

“Yeah, I’m ready.” I gave my grandpa a hug and thanked him for watching the kids. “Everyone in the car.”

Ever since learning that the labs were actually creating disposable soldiers and that our children might be the model they planned to use for mass production, I was particularly motivated to end this nightmare.

For us, for them, and for every other shifter or omega who could be hurt by them.

A few minutes later, we were back on the road, with the kids dozing off in their car seats and Niles shaking his leg to the music beside me. As much as my gut boiled at the thought of driving them into the belly of the beast, there were so many other shifters at River's Edge that they really would be safe there.

That was the only thing that would keep me focused while I took care of business.

There were also plenty of humans mixed into the population at River's Edge. That also brought me peace of mind. They would need more protection, so those left on pack lands would be fully secured.

“We’re gonna be okay, Rigg.” Niles held my hand as we drove into the unknown. “As long as we’re together, we’ll figure it out.”

Platitudes didn’t make me feel any better but having my family surrounding me did, so I just nodded and kissed the back of his hand. “Yeah, we’ll be fine. I’m sure of it.”

* * *

We drove into the center of River's Edge to a large house with kids and adults in various stages of arriving and leaving.

"What's that?" Lily pressed her nose against the window, and the excited words puffed into fog on the glass.

"The pack is setting up for an important meeting." I didn’t want to scare her, but I didn’t want to outright lie either.

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