Page 42 of Abel's Omega
Fan’s lower lip trembled, and I was reminded forcefully that what I had in front of me wasn’t the ravening beast of legend, but a three and a half year old child, whom I had just denied a treat and a chance to spend time with someone who seemed to be something of a hero to him.
Abel slipped off the desk and knelt beside us. “I think I can fit him into my schedule. You’re taking a load off me, just dealing with the stuff you’re doing now. So Fan and I can hang and do guy things, right?” He put an arm around Fan’s shoulder and pulled him into a rough hug. Fan squealed, but he seemed to be enjoying it, and it was such a relief to see the side of him I knew was there, that I let the subject drop.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Having Bax in the office was a miracle. On Friday night, Abel gave himself permission to sleep in on Saturday.
It was a shame the world wasn’t in on the deal.
At seven in the morning, his phone rang, waking him from a sound sleep. He fumbled it off the bedside table and grunted into the receiver.
“Shit, I woke you. I can call back later.” It was Garrick’s voice, and suddenly Abel was wide awake.
“No, go ahead. I’m up now.” He sat up so as not to make a liar out of himself and swung his legs out of the bed. “What’s up? Are you back today?”
“Are you okay if I’m not? I met with the professor this week, and he invited me back again to finish up. He’s going to have a printout of a bunch of his research for me too, and he’s wondering if he can come visit and meet Jason. And I could use a few more days in the law library, both for Laine’s case and for ours.” In the background, Laine said something, and Garrick covered the mouthpiece to talk back to him. When he came back, he said, “I can probably do it from there, if you need me.”
Abel scruffed his hand through his cropped hair and rubbed at his face in an attempt to wipe away the last of his night’s sleep. “No, that’s okay. As long as everything’s getting done, you might as well be there where everything’s at your fingertips, instead of digging through the internet.”
“Well, internet’s not bad, but it’s nice to be able to bounce ideas off people. And there are a couple of law students at the library here who don’t seem to find me fearsome.” Garrick’s tone was wry, but the undertones of anger and frustration were easily picked up by Abel’s well-tuned ear.
“Then stay. You don’t get to talk to peers nearly as often as the rest of us do.”
“Thank you. Call me if you need me back.”
“I will, but I can’t imagine anything coming up that you couldn’t handle by phone. Enjoy your time there. Maybe take Laine out for a meal in thanks.”
Garrick sounded surprised, and something else that Abel couldn’t quite pin down. “I will. Thank you, Alpha.”
Not often that Garrick used that term, and it was a sign of how much this trip meant to him that he’d used it.
After they ended the call, Abel detoured through his office and made a note on one of his whiteboards to make sure that Garrick got out to talk with other lawyers more often. If he didn’t write it down, he’d forget it for sure in the deluge of other things he had to keep track of.
“Well, Alpha. What will you do with your day?” he muttered to himself. He’d planned to skip the daily run ‘n’ romp with the security crew to laze around with Alpha Hunt and maybe sketch out some ideas for some other small pieces of software they could work up quickly and push out into the world to make more money. Games weren’t quick, but maybe an alarm clock of some sort? A scheduler? Maybe he’d just put a couple of the younger shifters on it. It would be good for them, and he needed to learn to give up a little control.
Easy peasy.
Abel was glad no one was around reading his mind, or he’d be laughed out of the apartment for that piece of wishful thinking.
Might as well go for that run.He grabbed a quick breakfast and changed into something he could sweat in, then he was out the door.
He met up with the Security crew at the near end of Central Park.
“Thought you were taking the day off?” Mac said.
“Garrick called with questions,” Abel told him and began to stretch before their run.
“He coming back?”
Abel shook his head. “Next weekend. He’s about the only shifter in the pack that never gets to hang out with people who do the same job. I’ll be glad when Cas is done law school.” Though he was feeling the financial pinch now, with January tuition payments looming, and four young shifters out for schooling. Luckily two of them were done this year, but he knew Louise had a folder full of other applications to move out of walls for school, and damned if he didn’t want them all to be able to go.
“My Alpha’s a big softie,” Mac mused and dodged the punch Abel sent his way. “Hey, not a bad thing.” He smiled as if he knew something Abel didn’t, which made him suspicious.
“What are you up to?” he demanded in a low voice.
“Nothing,” Mac said blandly. “Come on, desk jockey. Let’s run.” Mac suited actions to words, calling the rest of the group to move, and they turned as a pack onto the street. Mac dropped to the back of the crowd to run beside Abel. “Watch Ben and Zeph. I’m thinking about approving their applications once they pass their final exams.”
The troupe ran like they were in the military, in straight lines, feet hitting the pavement in unison. Not surprising, considering how many ex-military of one flavor or another there were in Security, but it was reassuring to see the young ones picking up the habits on their own. Abel kept an eye on the two young shifters Mac had mentioned as they circled the pack grounds and decided to give Mac the go-ahead to approve them. Tensions were getting higher with the increased crowding, and he’d like to see them have a bit more experience before word got out that the expansion was being put on hold.
