Page 13 of The Omega's Alpha
I finished with my eyes and put the pencil down. “Do you want help herding your pack over to the park?”
“Please!” he exclaimed, and we laughed together.
Because it wasn’t Harvest Moon, the meal before the run was potluck. Bax and I had made pineapple upside down cakes to bring as our contribution and Jason’s mate, Mac, came by with the truck to get us all there with the food on time and in one piece.
The air was chilly and Bax and I both ended up running back into the house for jackets to put on over our party clothes. Jason opted to sit in the back with us despite the cool air, leaving the cab to Mac and the four oldest pups. The rest of us sat in the back and bumped along the rough road, trying to keep the pups from falling on top of the cakes.
“Mac wants to get these roads paved if the solar panels do well,” Jason said after a particularly sudden bump.
“Abel wants a movie theater,” Bax told him with a grin.
“What on earth would we do with a movie theater?” Jason said, and laughed in amused disbelief.
“I think he’s hoping to sit in the back seats and enjoy some pup-free time,” Bax said with a mischievous grin and a waggle of his neat eyebrows.
Jason laughed harder this time. “Who’s going to explain to him that it’s not going to be one of those theaters?”
I stared at him in confusion then glanced at Bax, who looked just as confused.
Jason shook his head. “You know, the kind where they show dirty movies and people get all worked up? Those kinds.”
“There’s theaters like that?” I asked.
He looked puzzled. “You guys didn’t know?”
Bax shook his head. “We’re not allowed out much, and then once you’re mated, you don’t have time to go learning other stuff. I don’t know much about human society, except for dealing with the gate guards.”
“How did you learn to drive then?”
Bax’s lips twisted. “My mother. She said it would be a useful skill, and that my mate would find it handy.” He glanced over at the pups and pulled Noah away from one of the cakes. “Itwasuseful, in the end, but not the way she’d planned.”
Yeah, I’d heard the story. It didn’t surprise me in the slightest that Bax would take his pups and run. What had surprised me was that he hadn’t done it before. Though really, where would there have been to run to? His family would have just sent him back. I knew, because it was my family.
We pulled up at the park and I jumped down to help the pups out. Jason and Bax handed out the food, which we carried over to the table before rounding up the pups to take them over to the puppy shelter.
Abel showed up out of nowhere as we walked between the playground where the older pups would be staying and the baby pen. “Hi,” he said, and leaned down to kiss Bax’s cheek. Bax pinked and smiled like he’d caught a fresh rabbit and I squashed a flash of—admittedly weak—jealousy. He deserved a good, happy mating. We all did. I wouldn’t get one, but I could pretend, especially for tonight.
Mac strolled up with a big grin on his face. “Looks like your nagging worked,” he told Abel.
“I don’t nag,” Abel said mildly. Bax glanced between them and I wondered if I was the only one who noticed the slight anxiety in his posture.
But then Mac said, “Well, I just saw Quin all dressed up, over by where the musicians are setting up. So whatever you did, it worked.” And the tension in Bax’s shoulders disappeared.
I sidled over next to him and whispered in his ear, a bare breath of sound. “You okay?” I didn’tthinkAbel was that kind of alpha, the kind that took out his anger with other shifters on his mate, but you never knew what went on behind closed doors. Even when you also lived behind them. And I did worry about Bax, after everything that had happened in Jackson-Jellystone. Iwantedhim to be happy.
“Yeah,” he whispered back. “Just… Patrick. Don’t worry.”
Okay, I’d try not to. But between the two of us, Bax had always been the good boy, despite being a flirt. If Patrick was still alive, I’d smack him. With a two-by-four. Because I was pretty sure Bax had buckled down once it was done and had made a damn fine job of his mated responsibilities. Which would have been a hell of a lot more than I would have done for the man.
Mac’s phone rang and he turned away to answer it. Abel picked Noah up to put him on his shoulders, then put an arm around Bax, and we headed for the little white-fenced yard.
“I’m going to pick up Duke and Bram,” Mac called. “I guess Duke’s been taking lessons from you.” He grinned at Abel’s rude gesture and jogged back toward the truck.
The light was dim and pack members moved around the space, setting up lamps so that we could see. Some of them were regular-type lamps, some were torches that gave off a sharp, citrus-like scent that made me want to sneeze. Abel and Bax disappeared with the babies, leaving me on my own in the crowd.
Chapter Thirteen
Well, I could wander around and see who was there, maybe find this dressed-up Quin of legend and try to coax another kiss out of him, see if there was more to the kitchen episode than it was looking like. And it wasn’t as if I didn’t knowanyone, but I’d kept pretty much to myself so I didn’t have any particular friends. Plus, there was the amount of attention I garnered when I was out. I mostly ignored the young ones—I knew my reputation was in shreds as far as they were concerned, but they rarely ever bothered me. Still, I was always careful never to put myself in a situation where I could be at risk.
