Page 71 of Duke's Baby Deal
Duke looked up, intending to get his weight off Bram before he crushed him, and discovered a pair of wolf eyes watching them from the shade of the cloud-covered moon. He watched the voyeur until the clouds shifted, and he could identify the interloper.
Justin.
Duke bared his teeth at him in a triumphant grim, then turned back to kiss his mate. The rustle of leaves and the Doppler fade of Justin’s footprints let Duke know that they were alone again.
Bram opened his eyes with obvious difficulty. “I should take you out on full moon more often.”
“Take me out as much as you want, sweetheart.” Duke kissed his nose. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
First semester started in a week, but they were moving early, to give the babies time to settle and for Bram to go to the school and make arrangements there. Unexpectedly, there were supports for young parents wanting to go to college, but you had to let them know and get your name on the list before you could use them. And, in a moment of surprising understanding, Bram had mentioned that he wanted to get to know the layout of the college, in case he had to run for it. Duke hated to think that Bram might end up in a situation like that, but if he was going to go to college, these were things that had to be considered. Duke packed the last box into the van and turned to find Abel standing behind him. For a moment, he wondered if Abel had figured out who the mysterious alpha was that Justin had gotten into trouble with, the alpha that had caused him to leave for Montana Border the very next day, taking the rest of the Montana Border shifters with him.
Apparently not. Duke swallowed a sigh of relief when Abel held out his hand, two small aerosol bottles balanced on his palm. “Pepper spray. For you and Bram, just in case.”
“Thought you figured this was a good idea.” Duke took the pepper spray anyway.
“I do, I’m just starting to have nightmares. I’ve never sent an omega outside walls to school before.”
“You aren’t sending him. Bram applied, Quin okayed it, and Bram wants to go. Besides, thought you didn’t want to be Alpha any more.”
Abel grinned. “I don’t, but it’s a hard habit to break, even with Quin giving me dirty looks.” He stuck his hands in his pockets and watched Duke carefully. “You okay with all this?”
Duke leaned inside the van to tuck the pepper spray into one of the boxes, then stood up and leaned his arm on the back of the van. “You know what? I am. I really am.” He glanced up at Abel, trying to guess how much Abel knew about the way omegas worked. He likely knew a bit—his omega was as smart as Bram. “You know he broke Justin’s influence on him?”
Abel’s eyes widened and a subtle tension that Duke hadn’t realized was there until it wasn’t disappeared. “I’m glad to hear that. I wasn’t happy about you offering for him.”
“I knew that. You did a good job hiding it. Well, after that first conversation.”
“Bax talked to me.”
Duke grinned. “He could talk a fisherman out of his boat.”
“When he wants something badly enough, yes. I’m glad he doesn’t use his power for evil.”
The alphas laughed, and Bram came out of the house, carrying the baby bag. “This is the last of it. Except for the babies.”
“Don’t want to forget them.” Duke stole a kiss from Bram and jumped when Bram grabbed his ass. “You know, that’s not very omega-like.”
“How would you know? I think it’sveryomega-like.” Bram patted the ass-cheek he’d just grabbed and turned to go back inside the apartment.
Abel moved up to stand beside Duke. “Okay, I’m way less worried about you now.” He grinned and elbowed Duke. “Or at least, not in the same way.”
Duke threw him an admonishing glance, but Bax and Bram were coming out the door with the pups, and his chance was lost.
In the end, Abel ended up going with them. Quin had planned to drive the truck with the bulk of their belongings down behind them, but ended up delegating to Abel when a surprise visit to the solar panel factory by some human inspectors derailed that plan. Not that Abel seemed to mind, though he and Bax shared a long glance as Abel pulled away in the truck.
The drive was quick, and Duke couldn’t help comparing it to the drive to the hospital, with Bram in the back seat and Duke’s stomach in knots. Now, Duke’s stomach might have still been in knots, but they were ones he knew how to deal with.
Bram was excited, talking a mile a minute, his face pressed to the window as they drove through parts of the city that he’d never seen. “Oh, damn,” Bram said suddenly, sitting bolt upright in the seat. “I just realized that I can get a hamburger and I won’t puke it up now!” He stared out the windshield as if picturing his future dinners, then added, “Probably.” He flashed a grin in Duke’s direction and turned to check on the babies. “Now I know how to get them to sleep. Why have we never tried this before?”
“When do we ever drive inside the enclave?” Duke countered, and made the turn onto the second-last street before the one the pack’s house sat on.
“We’ll have to find an excuse with the next one,” Bram said, turning back to peer at the houses as they rolled past.
Here we go again. “We don’t need to have a pup right away.”
