Page 1 of Duke's Baby Deal
CHAPTER ONE
I was working morning shift at the daycare today, usually the busiest shift of the day, but my mind wasn’t entirely on my job. There were only two days left until Harvest Moon night and I was so excited I could have just exploded. Not only was the pack celebrating the new Alpha—massive party, anyone?—but Bax was so pregnant he could hardly move. He’dhaveto go into labor soon, and he’d promised he’d send someone to get me so I could be there for the birth, and I’d been neardying, waiting for it to happen. I’d never seen an omega birth before—just a couple of regular female births that Adelaide got me talked into, that being the best she could manage in a pack with no other omegas.
Mysuggestion that I get to go on a road trip to visit other packs was shot down by my parents almost before the words got out of my mouth, but I didn’t have long before Adelaide called me to help with a birth, and I forgot all my mad. No, it wasn’t omega, but even watching a regular baby birth had been amazing, and afterward I got to thinking I might want to do more than look after other people’s pups for the rest of my life. Like, Adelaide was run off her feet all the time, trying to keep up with treating sick pack members. Maybe I could do something like that? Or even just look after the pregnant packmembers, and free Adelaide up to look after everything else.
No matter—I still had time to think about it. Most of my high school courses were done, but I’d been putting off the history requirement for ages becauseboring. So I still had that to finish, but I figured I could probably be done in February, even if I asked for extra hours to bank in case I did decide I wanted to go to school outside walls. Assuming they’d let me—I wasn’t a hundred percent sure there was anyone who thought an omegacoulddo college, but I thought Bax might be on my side if I needed some extra weight in my corner.
Which brought me back to Bax and his gigantic belly. This was going to be special—my first chance to see an omega birth, since Jason had had Macy by accident in the woods outside Mercy Hills and spoiled all my plans forthatone. I knew the steps from my notes and some stuff that Adelaide had loaned me. But the regular births I’d seen hadn’t been exactly what I’d expected, and I could hardly believe that an omega birth would stick to the plan any better. Would it be better? Easier? Harder?
Scarier?
And I was curious—this was what it would be like for me, someday, whenever I found a mate. I knew the one I wanted; it was just a matter of convincing him he wanted me too.
Which reminded me that it was time to take some of the older pups outside to run off their energy and, if I was lucky, I could take another crack at Duke.
The man was so frustrating I wanted to hit him with one of the pups’ baseball bats. I wasn’t really sure when I first noticed him—sometime after Jason had arrived, I thought. No, actually, I knew exactly when—it was after Macy was born, and he was walking around all beat up, with that alpha energy just pouring off him because he couldn’t work and he was almost twitchy with it. He literally made my breath stop one day when I ran into him, and I stuttered and stammered and then raced away like an idiot.
After that, I’d tried flirting with him, like I did with the alphas my age, and sometimes I thought it worked, but mostly I didn’t know what was going on. He’d seem interested, then the next time he’d seem amused, and then the next time it was like he didn’t want to be bothered with me. I couldn’t figure him out at all. Maybe I was going about it the wrong way, but I didn’t seem to be doing anything different from the older pack members I’d spied on, trying to learn new things to try out on him. I was starting to worry he thought I was too young, even though Mac and Jason had almost as many years between them as there were between us. And the only way to know was to keep pushing until he made himself clear.
I checked the clock on the wall of the room I was supervising today—almost eight thirty.
So, I made all the pups clean up their toys, and then followed them toward the door. “Come on, pups, let’s go get rid of some of that energy before you blow the place up!” I chased them into their sneakers, took back all the small toys that were guaranteed to get lost in the grass, and herded the whole eight of them outside. I had the five year olds today, their last year before they would start school. I kind of liked the younger ones better—teaching letters and words and stuff like that bored me. But story time, and dress-up and making up plays—I was so down with that.
I had to yell to keep them from running while we were still inside, but they were pretty good, and didn’t turn into a rampaging pack of wild beasts until we were off the path and headed for the climbing bars. I slowed down and let them run ahead, taking the opportunity to scan the area to see who else was hanging around in the park today. Rosie, one of my best friends, waved as she jogged across the park on her courier run but didn’t stop. I didn’t see Zara or Sama, but they were still working on Math and Science, so they were probably in classes this morning. History, you could pretty much do on your own, so I just took my lessons with me and did them whenever I had time.
I couldn’twaitto be done. Though I was beginning to expect that my parents were never going to see me as an adult, even once I was done school. Ha! I’d show them.
Somehow.
A few of the younger alphas, the ones not old enough to be apprenticing around to see what job they wanted when they graduated, hung around under the trees. I caught a couple of them watching me with interest, but they were too young for my taste, so I tossed my head and ignored them. They weren’t who I was waiting for, anyway.
The guys who made up Mercy Hills’ Security, all sixty or seventy of them, worked out each morning and evening and always ended up in the park for the last bit. It was usually a mixed bag, depending on who was working what shift, but no matter who showed up, it was always an impressive display of rock-hard sweaty muscle that I hated to miss. Of course, I wasn’t the only one who found an excuse to hang around in the park at those times, but I liked to think that some of the boys and girls showed off a little bit more when I was around.
And, just as I thought that, they came around the corner at the far side, feet pounding in unison, and I imagined the scent of testosterone in a cloud around them.
Diego, Matthew, Paddy, Edmond, and a few more of the younger alphas, guys the other omegas called my ‘harem’, were running in the middle of the pack. Their faces were flushed, but they kept up pretty well, and it wasn’t long before I was wishing that today was my day off, because they were all handsome and fit and I suddenly really wanted to get my flirt on.
Duke brought up the rear of the pack, but not because he was old or slow. He jogged along with Mac, and they seemed to be deep in conversation. I thought he glanced in my direction, and I was pretty sure his eyes got stuck for a moment on my legs. I did have nice legs, if I did say it myself, long, and just muscled enough, and if Duke wanted to fondle them, I’d gladly let him. I smiled at him, but then his eyes went back to the men in front of him and I was left in that frustrating state of not knowing once more and, well, it made me kind of cranky. And I’ll freely admit, I don’t always make ‘good choices’ when I’m cranky. So I decided—two could play at that game.
I turned my back on the runners, now reassembling on the grass to do push-ups and whatever else they did to keep their muscles as nicely toned as they were. Ignoring them was almost a physical pain, but I did it, and focused on encouraging the more timid of my pups to climb the bars, holding their hands and telling them how brave they were, then shouting with triumph when they made it to the top and launched themselves into my arms.
“Bram, Bram, watch me!” I heard from the direction of the slide. One of the youngest of the group was poised at the top of the biggest slide, grinning widely. As soon as he had my attention, he launched himself belly down onto the slide, moving like lightning until he tumbled into the sand at the bottom. “Did you see? Did you see?” He ran over and grabbed my leg to hug me.
“I did. Well done! But you’re filthy now.” I tried to brush the sand off him while he giggled and squirmed and finally escaped. “Don’t you put a hole in your pants again!” I yelled after him, then turned to catch another pup as he leaped off the bars.
Bax and Abel’s oldest pup, Fan, swung along underneath the bars like a hero in an action movie. I was glad to see him doing so much better—last fall had been hard for him, and for the pups that got in his way. He still had a tendency to roll over other pups, not helped by the fact that he was one of the most naturally dominant young shifters I’d ever looked after, but he was learning not to use that to his own advantage.
Sort of.
“Mac!” Fan yelled suddenly, and ran toward the Security team.
Dammit.I was supposed to be ignoring Duke, and now I was chasing Fan straight toward him, while yelling at the other pups not to jump off the bars until I got back.
Life just wasn’t fair.
CHAPTER TWO
A tiny “Mac!” greeted Duke’s ears as the Security team arranged themselves on the grass for the strength training part of their day. Abel’s oldest raced across the grass, Bram in hot pursuit. Duke felt that tug in his gut again, and lower too, and turned his attention back to the grass beneath his nose. He had no business lusting after a man more than ten years his junior, no matter how often said young man flirted with him. He likely only did it to rile up the alphas he was really interested in—he had his pick after all, and he was obviously enjoying his status.
