Page 56 of Legally Mated
Holland’s voice, low and concerned, caught my attention again. “Don’t try to fool me, Quin. You’re not sleeping either. You need to let this go.” I turned back to really look at my Alpha and realized Holland was right. There were deep shadows beneath Quin’s eyes, and his face was drawn-looking, paler thanusual.
“I can’t sleep when you’re not happy,” Quin said, and pulled Holland away from us. They spoke a few moments longer, voices too quiet to be heard over our determined chatter at the table, and then Holland came back wearing a fixed smile and a new look ofdetermination.
“Let’s get our ideas down on paper and sort out who’s going to do what. Then I’m putting both my fussy boys to bed.” He winked at Bax, but there was something sharp, almost deadly about him now. The dark side of the moon made flesh in my Alpha’s Mate. A shiver chased itself over my skin, though I couldn’t have said whether it was anxiety oranticipation.
Things werechanging.
Chapter46
We spentthe rest of the morning making our plans. Or the omegas did, while I played devil’s advocate until they threw cookies at me infrustration.
“You make it sound like we’ll never win,” Baxcomplained.
I gathered up the cookies that had landed in my lap and shoved half of one into my mouth. “I was always good at this part in law school,” I mumbled through a full mouth. “Finding the holes in someone’s arguments. I did well in Moot Court.” It had been fun, arguing against an opposing team that our interpretation of the law was the correct one. Our team had won all the competitions we’d entered that year, a bright spot on my otherwise slightly gray law schoolexperience.
My companions looked blankly at each other and I missed Laine again. He would have understood the joy of pitting your wits against an opponent. I suppressed a sigh and stuffed another cookie in my mouth. “It’s good to be prepared. It’s a guarantee that they’ll come up with something we hadn’t thought of, so the more we think of, the fewer things can creep up on us in the dark,” Iexplained.
Jason snorted. “Okay, that, I can understand.” He stood and stretched. “I don’t have any contacts in Montana Border anymore, except my uncle. I’ll ask Dad to get a message to him, to start spreading the word that we’re taking all omegas who want to come to us.” He drained his coffee and set the mug back down on the table. “I should go, it’ll be lunch soon and Mac kept the pups home today to play with them.” He mock grimaced. “I hope the house is stillstanding.”
“I should go too,” Bax said. “Do you want me to call Mom and let her know what we’re up to?” he askedHolland.
“Probably better than calling my mother.” Holland stood, wiping frozen raspberries off the baby’s face, a trick he’d used to keep the pup quiet while we talked. “Or talking to Quin’s. I’m tempted to send her back to yourplace.”
“I’ll just kick her out again and she can sleep in the park,” Bax said with a snap in his voice. “Why do youtolerateher?”
Holland got that harassed expression on his face again. “Because she was Alpha’s Mate twice—you don’t think there’s some knowledge there that Icoulduse?”
“You know, you aren’t actually doing that bad a job of it,” Baxtoldhim.
Holland grimaced, and opened his mouth, but I interrupted him. “No, he’s right,” I said. “You don’t do what she did, but sheneverhad to deal with the things you’ve handled. Green Moon, your career, your surgery. This.” I shook my head. “If we had her as Alpha’s Mate, we’d still be scratching out a living behind these walls instead of undermining them.” I stood, and Bax and Jason stoodwithme.
“I wasn’t Alpha’s Mate for Green Moon,” Holland protested. Inanely, I thought. So did the others, since we all four gave him identical incredulous looks. “Okay, fine, so I was acting a little bit asAlpha’sMate.”
Bax shook his head. “You’re not going to find a mother in her,” he saidkindly.
“I’m not—” Holland began, but whatever he was going to say was lost in the banging of the door against the wall as Dorian and Agatha pounded through it. “Walk, pups!” he scolded. “And easy on the door. You’re going to send it off into space if you keep hitting it that hard.” He bent down to hug them. “Where’s your grandmother? You were supposed to be with her thismorning.”
“Do we have to?” Dorian asked plaintively. “She’s no fun. And I’m always introuble.”
“What doyoumean?”
I don’t think I was the only one who heard the warning growl underneath those words. Jason and Cale took one look at each other, gathered up their notes and took their leave. I started edging toward the door myself, absolutely not needing to be in the middle of the fight for dominance that was roaring down on us, but Holland froze me in my tracks with one look. The anxious-to-please omegawasgone.
Dorian tried to climb into Holland’s lap, and Holland handed the baby off to Bax, whispering something inhisear.
Bax let himself out of the apartment, going through the door into the Alpha’s office, and Holland turned back toDorian.
“Now, tell me what Grandma isdoing?”
“She’s not our Grandma,” Agatha burst out. “Shesaysso.”
“Is she telling you that?” Holland’s voice waseerilycalm.
Dorian nodded and huddled in against Holland’s chest. Holland reached out and gathered Agatha in as well. I wished he’d let me go—I didn’t know why he wanted methere.
“Don’t worry, pups. She won’t be around long. You are our babies, as much as Zane is. And if she doesn’t want to be your grandma, then we’ll just find you a new one and adopt her. A nice one that willappreciateyou.”
“Like you adopted us?” Agatha asked, obviouslyintrigued.
