Page 118 of Abel's Omega
“Just you.” I set the apples on the counter. “Have you thought of a girl’s name?”
“I still like Octavia.”
I laughed. “We’re going to have to flip a coin for it, I think.”
“Well, you know,” he said, his voice dropping a half an octave. “I’m sure there are ways you can talk me around to Rhiannon.”
I laughed and started slicing the apples. “You’d have to be home for me to do that,” I told him.
“Maybe you should see if someone will take the pups tomorrow night then.” If it was possible to leer through the phone, he did it, and I felt a blush burn up my cheeks.
Voices in the background grew louder. I heard Abel’s voice, the words muffled, then he was back. “I have to go. I’ll see you tomorrow night.”
“Love you,” I said.
“I love you too. Take care of yourself, okay?”
“I will.”
We went back and forth a few more times before we finally ended the call, and I could finish putting our snack together.
I had one more thing left to do before I got Noah up. On a slip of paper inside one of my novels, I’d kept a small list of names that I hadn’t shown Abel. While Fan finished the last of his apple, I took the phone and that piece of paper back to my bedroom and sat on the bed, contemplating the names on it. Omega names, just in case. I didn’t think this baby was omega, and I hadn’t spoken to Abel about it. He hadn’t mentioned anything either, but I’d already had one—I couldn’t guarantee I wouldn’t have another.
Tiny chirps from Fan’s and Noah’s room spurred me on. I dialed the number for the population registry.
When they answered, I said, “Hi, it’s Bax again. Can you check another name?”
When we were done, I put the list of names away. Maybe I wouldn’t need them.
CHAPTER EIGHTY-FIVE
One thing Abel had managed was to get the pack council meeting held on neutral ground. There’d been some talk of having it in Montana Border, since they were supposed to be the aggrieved party. Buffalo Gap had pointed out that he could complain as well, and that this was something that was important to all the Alphas, not just Montana Border.
Lincoln, Nebraska held the only non-pack building that met all the regulations to house more than four shifters at once. Before the council had made the decision to have the packs send a tithe to cover the cost a central building, any meetings that required the presence of all the Alphas had been held at different pack enclaves, each one hosting in turn. Which would have been fine, except it was a huge expense for a poor pack’s Alpha to travel all the way across the county when the meeting was far, and even more expensive to host it themselves. Lincoln was pretty central, and had been surprisingly easy to work with while having the building built.
Abel, Quin, Mac, and Duke had come with him. Quin and Mac because they were intimately involved in how this turned out, Duke because that bratty little omega cousin of Mac’s was driving him to drink and pick fights. He needed a few days away from having Bram’s harem of devoted alphas being shoved in his face. Abel suppressed a sigh at that thought. Bax had suggested that Bram was going through an ‘almost adult’ stage and, being an omega, he’d be expecting to mate soon after. He’d also added, in a smaller but no less frustrated voice, that having Bax there, only a couple of years older, with four pups already and another on the way, might be part of the problem. Abel thought he understood some of it now, the different socialization of the omegas. He’d become more aware of the messages that were sent Bram’s way, and Jason’s, and all the Buffalo Gap omegas, and how they were different from the ones that alphas and betas got.
What to do about it, though, he didn’t quite know, but Bax seemed content to make those decisions and just pass them along to Abel to implement and Abel was never more grateful for a mate that was willing to shoulder some of his burdens.
Of course, after tomorrow, all those responsibilities might change.
They dropped their bags inside the Mercy Hills suite, put away the food they’d brought with them, and sat down for a planning session.
“You’re certain of Buffalo Gap, Las Padros, Salma Wood, and Green Moon? Can Buffalo Gap even vote in this?” Mac asked.
Abel nodded. “I haven’t heard, but I’d guess not. And I’m certain that Montana Border, Jordan Bay, and Perseguir will vote for whatever they think will hurt me, which is our only ace in the hole. As for the rest of them, I have my doubts about Winter Moon and Salma Wood, if only because we haven’t had much to do with them lately. White River is definitely on the fence, and I can’t get a straight answer out of Honisloonz.”
Duke doodled on a pad of paper, his mind definitely elsewhere.
“Well, unless someone abstains,” Mac said, “we’ll know for sure by the end of tomorrow.”
Quin grunted and stared down at hands.
Abel wondered if he shouldn’t have brought Bax after all, though with Bax so heavily pregnant, he wasn’t sure if it would be a slap in the face to the other Alphas, or a distraction. But Bax had a way of soothing tempers in negotiation and finding some solution that suited everyone involved. Or at least convinced them that they were suited. “Okay, so we have tonight to do a last bit of campaigning. Who wants to take a last lunge at which packs?”
“You don’t want to handle them all yourself?” Quin asked with innocently lowered eyelids.
Abel scratched at his beard and grinned at Quin ruefully. “Nope. Damn, but I’ll be glad to have this over with.”
