Page 119 of Abel's Omega
Quin quirked an eyebrow at him. “I’m hoping you get to keep your job.”
“No you’re not. You love bossing people around.”
Quin shrugged and got up to go mess around in the kitchen. Over the sound of clanking pots, he said, “Let’s eat before we go do our social duty.”
Abel kicked Duke under the table. “Go give him a hand and stop moping. Once we get back, I’ll set the Omega Pack on him for you.”
Quin barked a laugh from the kitchen. “I dare you to tell Bax you call them that.”
“You wait until you have your own,” Abel yelled back and waited for a response.
Dead silence was what he got and he left the table to go see what was up with Quin. Mac and Duke considerately moved over to the barred window and pretended to admire the trees in the yard outside.
“What’s up?” Abel asked, getting out vegetables to chop while Quin patted a pile of ground beef into patties.
“Let’s just drop the mate thing, okay? I wouldn’t be much of one.”
“Can’t be any worse than me.”
“Hmmph.” But Quin didn’t seem to get the joke. If anything, it seemed to send him off to some other, unhappier place.
Abel put a hand on Quin’s shoulder. “You know we can talk any time, right? You don’t have to keep whatever it was inside.”
Quin laughed, but it was a sour, ugly noise. “You don’t want to hear about it. No need for both of us having nightmares.” He threw the first of the patties into the frying pan. “You want to stick the fries in the oven for me?” But the tone of his voice closed the topic of what was bothering him for conversation, at least for now.
Abel obediently loaded a couple of pans with frozen french fries and shoved them into the oven, turning it on to heat up with them in there. He would have preferred tackling Quin’s problems tonight instead of heading out into the uncertainty, but Quin’s expression had closed down again, so Abel set that on the back burner. Something else to deal with when they got home.
Though he kind of wondered whether this plan of his had been a bad idea, given the stress it was going to place on Quin. He left Quin to brood in the kitchen, and joined Mac and Duke at the window, wishing it was already tomorrow evening.
CHAPTER EIGHTY-SIX
They gathered for the meeting in the big conference room at the end of the building. The Alphas were seated around a long oval table, with Logan of White River standing at the head, and an empty seat at the far end.
“Abel of Mercy Hills,” Logan intoned. “Take your place at the end of the table, please.” He stood quietly while Abel moved to stand behind his seat. “Mercy Hills, you have been charged with theft of an omega of power, the like of which hasn’t been seen in a century. You are charged with hiding the truth of this omega from the rest of the pack to keep his power for yourself. You are also charged with aiding and abetting another pack member to steal another omega of power by unsanctioned mating. For these crimes, you will be judged, and your peers will determine what penalty or restitution you must make. Do you agree to this?”
“I do,” Abel said solemnly, and sat down.
The meeting went on for what seemed like forever, or maybe Abel was just tired. He’d gone from pack to pack last night, arguing his case—or appearing to. It was a delicate operation, convincing them not to throw him in that brier patch. But if all went as they’d planned, he’d be removed as Alpha, and Quin would be instated today in his place. Quin would have a purpose in life, and Abel would have time for his family.
They had Montana Border tell his story, long, involved, and nothing at all like Abel remembered, though the basic facts were the same. They questioned Abel about those same events, then broke for lunch before they went through the witnesses from both packs. Buffalo Gap was called to tell his story, though since he was happy to have Bax mated off, his situation wasn’t considered so deeply.
They broke up at around three in the afternoon to allow the nine packs that weren’t involved in the dispute to discuss the issue and come to a consensus on what, if any, penalty Abel needed to pay. The Mercy Hills pack went back to their rooms, where Abel paced and resisted the urge to call Bax and pour out all his worries into his capable hands.
A knock on the door set them all on alert. Mac nodded to Quin and went to the door, leaving Duke to cover Abel.
But when Mac carefully opened the door, it was Bax’s uncle in the hallway. “Can I come in?” he asked. He was careful of his body language as he looked past Mac to meet Abel’s eyes.
“Alpha?” Mac asked, without taking his eyes off the shifters in the hallway.
Abel shrugged tiredly. “Let him in. He’s not the enemy.”
Mac did as he was told, checking the hallway before he closed the door. Quinn nodded in approval, and followed the Buffalo Gap Alpha into the apartment.
Mitchel slumped down into a chair. “That was exhausting. I don’t know if I was any help, but I talked to a few of the other Alphas and tried to slant things your direction.”
“Thank you.” Abel accepted a cup of coffee from Duke and passed it over to Mitchel. “I appreciate your help. And I know Bax will be grateful.” He took a seat on the chair opposite Mitchel’s.
“How is my nephew?” Mitchel sipped from his cup.
