Page 2 of The Omega's Alpha
Bax laughed and shooed them all into the kitchen with offers of coffee, tea, and snacks to tide them over until breakfast was perfectly ready.
And there he was—Holland.
He moved like a wolf in his prime, ease and grace and surety of step. His hair shone sleek black, the barest hint of curl at the ends where they caressed his shoulders. He was cutting fruit into small pieces and arranging it onto two plates and Quin looked away before he could make a fool of himself. It was insanity to lose his heart over a man he’d only exchanged a few, awkward words with. And hesawHolland, and knew he wasn’t what the young omega needed. He was too needy himself right now to do for Holland anything that would be good for him.
Bax showed him to a chair and moved away with ponderous steps.
Holland made a face at him. “Sit down.”
“I’m fine. It’s not like it’s my first,” Bax replied. He began lining up mugs on the counter, three over by the coffee maker, another by the stove where the kettle creaked and popped as the water within warmed.
“You’re a week away from your due date,” Holland said in a wry tone that tugged at the corners of Quin’s mouth, urging him to smile.
Bax gave him a look and Holland shook his head and his lips curved gently. He began pouring coffee into mugs. “Go sit, there’s nothing left to do until it’s done cooking.” He got his way this time and Bax took a seat at the table next to Abel and across from Quin, the pups arranged around the rest of the table. The pups already had juice, and pieces of toast cut, Quin thought, according to their ages.
Holland brought the coffee over, set out a small pitcher of milk and a bowl of sugar, then moved away to pour hot water over tea bags in a mug. He brought that over to Abel, then stepped away to open the oven and peer inside. Seeming satisfied with what he saw, he lifted a stack of plates out of the cupboard and set them on the counter beside the stove.
Bax started to get up and Holland turned around and pointed a finger at him. “Sit,” he said, and Quin caught Holland’s slightly uncertain glance in his direction, as if Holland thought Quin would be angry with Holland’s tone.
In response, Quin picked up his cup of coffee and sipped at it, then turned to Abel. “I think we have the food organized for the full moon.” He nodded at Bax. “I don’t know what I’m going to do without you.”
Bax cast Abel a significant glance, and Abel nodded. “We’ve been talking about that. We thought we might ask Holland to look after the office while Bax was off, and have Cale come part time, and Bram, to help out with the pups. It’ll mean some shuffling at the day care, but they’re both interested in the extra pack credits to spend, especially with Christmas coming up.”
Abel would be paying back into the pack coffers what it cost the pack to have those two working directly for him and not the pack in general. Quin almost asked him if he could afford the added cost, but bit his tongue just in time. They were still negotiating around and through the traditional view of omegas, and he realized at that moment that he didn’t know if Holland was being paid for his labor or not. He assumed yes, knowing Abel.
“Whoever you think is best?” He didn’t know his personnel here well yet, but he trusted Abel to know which of the many talented shifters here would be good. “And speaking of Christmas, what do you want?”
Abel laughed, but before he could reply, plates laden with something deliciously savory appeared in front of them, and they fell to eating.
It was after, when his stomach was full and his guard was down, that things went to hell on him.
Something loud and heavy clanged behind him, sounding exactly like the opening salvo of an unexpected attack, and Quin hit the floor, pulling Fan down with him. The room smelled of hot metal and dust for a never-ending moment, then those scents faded, replaced by the homey smells of the breakfast they’d just consumed. He opened his eyes to see his family gathered around him in concern. Fan squirmed underneath his arm and he released the pup and pushed himself up to a seated position.
Abel held one arm out to keep Bax in his seat, but had moved to crouch out of arm’s reach of Quin. “You okay?” he said in a low voice.
“Yeah,” Quin croaked and despised the embarrassed flush that raced up his cheeks. “Loud noises. I’m okay.” He got to his feet and glanced around, to catch Holland staring at him with wide eyes and something that he read as pity. “I’m going to go outside for a bit.” He spun on his heel and headed for the front door, barely keeping his pace to a walk.
Abel followed on his heels. “You don’t have to leave.”
“I’m not leaving,” Quin said, bending to pull his sneakers on. “I’m just going for a walk.” He pushed past Abel and out into the rain.
A half hour later, completely soaked but in a better state of mind, he came back for the car. He stood beside it for a moment, debating if he should go offer Bax a drive to work or just call and tell him to stay home and Quin would handle things without him—it was no day for someone that heavily pregnant to be out.
“You might as well come in and dry off,” came a voice from the direction of the front door. Quin looked up—Holland. The other man glanced up at the sky, then back down at Quin. “You’ll get the seat of the car wet. Come in and I’ll see if there’s anything of Abel’s or Duke’s that will fit you.” He stood in the doorway expectantly, and somehow Quin found himself walking up the steps underneath the roof of the porch. He’d always thought that omegas were self-effacing and obedient, and both Bax and Holland were to a certain extent, but he could no more have refused Holland’s request than he could have flown.
Holland handed him a towel as he walked through the door. “Dry off a bit and go take a warm shower. Your lips are blue.” A small frown crinkled the skin between his eyebrows.
“Clothes are fine. Thank you.” He handed the towel back to Holland and added, “I’m sorry about earlier.”
“It’s okay. Abel explained what happened.” He raised his eyes briefly to Quin’s, like a machine-gun round to the heart, then looked away. “I’ll find you some clothes.” And then he scurried away again, though not, Quin noted with mixed emotions, without a brief, backward glance at the Alpha mooning after him.
Chapter Three
IwatchedQuin drive away through the rain and felt a pang for his loneliness. It must have been hard, to be surrounded by humans all those years, to never know if you’d be alive the next day, to never see your family. I’d seen one of the results of that isolation this morning. Abel called it Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and just said that Quin was a good man and we’d have to be a bit careful and patient around him. Of course, he’d spoiled it immediately after by saying, “Assuming he gets his head out of his ass and starts talking to someone about it.” Bax had given him a look that I would never have tried on my mate, and Abel had grumbled and kissed him and said, “I’ll talk to him again about it. And, I’m going to call Mac and see if he can drive up to get the van so you and the pups don’t have to walk through this mess.” Bax smiled at him and tipped his cheek up to accept a fond kiss, but reminded Abel that he was quite capable of driving and I wondered again at the difference between Bax’s second mating and my first. Because if I’d ever dared to comment on something that was alpha business, I would have been—at the least—sharply set down. Not that I often did—I’d known my place, and I’d had enough to do keeping the house the way my mate had wanted and learning his needs and desires that I wasn’t bothered.
Once Bax and I had the pups dressed and Abel had come back with the van so they didn’t have to make the long walk in the wet to go to school and daycare, I pulled out the phone Abel had given me. I didn’t use it often except to text back and forth with Bax and Abel about the pups, but it had some data attached to the account. Quickly, I searched out enough information that I knew I’d have to go to the library and use the regular Internet and not Abel’s data in order to really understand what was going on with our Alpha.
But until then, I had housework to do, and that last encounter with Alpha Quin to ponder. Because he’d looked at me the way an alpha looks at someone he wants to mate. And I couldn’t imagine what he’d want with a disgraced omega, unless… But no. I didn’t suspect that he saw me as an easy mark for carnal pleasure, though I’d been told that it might be the only course open to me if I didn’t somehow manage to conceive a child. They weren’t like that here in Mercy Hills. If they were, Abel wouldn’t be who he was, nor would Mac, or Duke. They were all friendly, respectful, and I never feltlessaround them.
