Page 104 of Abel's Omega
“Is that really—Can I?” he stared at my belly in astonishment, understanding growing in his face. “I never imagined—”
“Bax, come,” Abel growled.
I stared up at him in irritation, completely forgetting to be omega, until he shoved his anger away. And as he did so, the tangled mass of our powers slowly unknotted itself and disappeared.
He sighed and reached for my hand. “We might still have time to order something in before the doors lock.”
I laughed and kissed him, then turned back to Dale. “Thanks. We should go.”
As I turned away to take Abel’s arm again, Dale said, “I might be able to work something out for you.”
I glanced back at him. “What?”
He shook his head. “You go on. I’m going to go talk to chef.” He nodded firmly and his smile came back, then he was gone.
CHAPTER SEVENTY-FOUR
Abel waited until they were in the elevator to say, “Thank you,” to Bax.
“For what?” Bax asked. He was leaning against Abel’s side, both hands on his belly, and humming under his breath.
“For doing whatever you did to keep me from losing my temper out there.” Abel sighed and hugged his mate. “I need to get out and deal with strangers more often. I get used to the old prejudices, and then someone new comes along, and I get all pissy again.”
“And I thought you said you were even-tempered.” Bax grinned up at him. “It’s okay. That’s what mates do.” His smiled faded a little. “You’re not upset about how I did it?”
Abel shook his head. “No. And now I’m even more curious.” He hugged Bax again as the elevator doors opened. “We have to make time to play with this some more.”
“Really?” Bax looked thoughtful as they strolled down the hallway. He seemed as intrigued as Abel was now, and less concerned that he might upset his mate. “I’m not sure how I do it, though.”
“That’s why we have to play with it.” Abel opened their door with his key. “Think about it.”
Mac sat up from his spot lounging on the couch. “That was a quick meal.” His body was tense; he knew something had happened.
Abel put him out of his misery. “Human prejudice. The restaurant staff were fine, just someone else there. Any pizza left?”
“Not much.” Mac shot an amused glance at Bax. “Teca can eat almost as much as me.”
“She’s growing,” Bax said and wandered over to peek inside the pizza box on the table in front of the couch. “Hmmm.” He glanced up at Abel, then down at the box again.
“There’s a taco place around the corner,” Mac offered.
Bax wrinkled his nose. “I’m going to see if there’s something else around.” He took the phone Abel held out to him and started to search. “One of these days, I promise I’ll get my own and stop stealing yours.”
“I don’t care.” Abel sat on the couch next to Mac. “This really got me thinking. We need to start looking seriously at ways to change public perception of shifters. I’m worried this attitude is impacting business, and with the new start-ups, it could be critical. And if we’re ever going to have a hope of tearing down those walls and integrating back into human society, that’s the first thing that has to happen.” Bax glanced up from the phone, but this wasn’t the first time he’d heard about Abel’s wish and as long as it didn’t negatively impact the pups, he was fine.
“What are you planning?” Mac asked.
Abel shook his head. “I don’t know. More stories like the ones they did on me and Bax, maybe? Only on other shifters in the pack?” He glanced over at Bax and lowered his voice. “I haven’t told him, because he got tired of being followed around by that reporter, but we got asked to do a special on one of the human TV networks.” He looked down at his hands—at some point, he’d clasped them together in his lap. His knuckles were starting to hurt from the pressure. “I want to say no, because I know he got tired of being followed around, but then I think about what it could mean…”
“And how it could go either way?” Mac commented. He sat back and stretched his arms out along the back of the couch. “The higher the profile, the stronger the reactions are going to get.”
“Stop quoting my predecessor to me,” Abel complained, but gently. “He had his reasons, and at the time I think he was right. We needed time to build ourselves up and not be so dependent before we could start shaking the tree we live in. But I think we’re past that. Look at Mercy Hills—we would have run out of space in the next generation. If I hadn’t started now, we wouldn’t have been ready when it happened. But what if I’d never tried to build that inventory software for the pack? Or decided to take a chance and bid on a contract outside walls? We’d be like Jackson-Jellystone, or worse, Rogue’s Hollow.” Both shifters suppressed a shudder—no one could talk about Rogue’s Hollow without at least a twinge of fear.
A knock on the door interrupted them, but no one called out. If it had been one of their shifters, they would have identified themselves—it was only common sense.
Mac and Abel got up off the couch and walked slowly toward the door. Abel gestured to Bax, but Bax was already on his way to stand in the door leading to the bedrooms, phone in his hand, ready just in case.
Mac stood right by the door, ready to open it, Abel took wing and peered out through the spyhole in the door.
