Page 53 of Sanctuary
"Holed up in the brush like bunnies," Holland said and leaned in to coo at the baby. "I'll call Raleigh and ask him to bring extra clothes to change them into. What size are you two, Ori?”
Patton’s jaw dropped as Ori rattled off their clothing sizes, from shirt to shoes. “Though stuff’s fitting a little loose now on Patton, after all the walking,” Ori added in a thoughtful tone at the end. “And I still can’t close the button on my jeans.”
“I’ll tell him to send some of Bram’s and Cas’s clothing. They should fit." Then, out of the side of his mouth like someone in one of the bad noir movies they used to watch as a pack during the winter, Holland said, "This is your new Alpha, Quin." He reached for the baby and asked the Alpha, "Is Patrice coming out too?"
"With the second group." The Alpha glanced up at the trees around them. "There's some good wood here. It's almost a shame to burn it instead of letting Duke have it for furniture."
Holland shrugged. "We can still do that. We'll just have to range a little farther along."
The Alpha nodded. "Cas should be out soon."
Holland turned away to speak to the brown-haired man--Jason--in a quiet tone. Jason's mouth stretched in an easy grin and he moved to stand by Bram, digging inside the bag that Bram had slung over his shoulder. "We should start picking up branches to start the fire with," he said, his accent more north and west than the southern musicality of Holland and Quin. "We'll be busy after."
Holland nodded, then looked back toward the gate. "There they are."
Patton twitched and held onto Ori when his friend started to wiggle forward, lifting his head so he could peer toward the gate. "You'll be seen," Patton hissed at him.
Ori stopped, but his body practically vibrated with unused energy. "I’ll be careful," he said.
Someone must have been borrowing from their wolf, because there was no way anyone should have been able to hear Ori over the noise surrounding them now. "We'll have you inside soon, don't worry." It was the blond, Seosamh. He made as if he was saying something to Jason, but shuffled his way inside the trees, then plunked himself down on the ground behind Patton and Ori. "I'm your native guide for the moment. You can sit up, the humans won't be able to see you at this distance, as long as you keep these shrubs between you and the gate."
The redhead—Bram--came to sit next to him. "We have to make it look like our usual wood gathering for the Birth Moon bonfire, but there's a lot of going back and forth through the gate while we bring the wood in. We'll sneak you in." He peered inside the baby's blankets. "Boy or girl?"
"Girl," Ori said, unaccountably shy. "We called her Willie Rose, but I might just call her Rose for short."
"Pretty name," Bram said. He squinted up at Holland. "Do you think Agatha's okay to carry a baby?"
"Camouflage?" Holland said in a tone of interest and came into the bushes to crouch beside them. "I don't know. How old is she?” he asked Ori.
"One week," Patton told them fiercely. "She's too young to be passed around."
"Macy?" Holland said, ignoring Patton. "Agatha's older, though, and she's looked after other pups."
"I think she could do it. Maybe we could get Macy and Teca running around with baby dolls--they should have some in the daycare we can borrow."
Holland nodded. "I'll call Becca." He stepped away and put his phone to his ear, and if Patton had had any doubt that this was the Alpha's Mate, Holland's rapid-fire organization of their disguise would have put it to rest with prejudice. He came back a few minutes later and sat down cross-legged beside Ori again. "We have clothing coming out for you, clean things that I think will fit. And for the baby." He regarded them somberly. "I need to know you can follow instructions to the letter. Can you?"
Ori smiled, but there was a hard edge to it. "I've done nothing but follow orders my entire life."
"You'll have to get used to making your own decisions now. No one makes decisions for omegas here except omegas. Though their mates have some input on them, if the omegas are worth it." Holland winked at Patton.
"I don't tell Ori what to do," Patton said tightly. "We're a team." Ori beamed at him and leaned in to let his cheek rest against Patton's shoulder for a moment.
"Good. So are we. And welcome to our team." Holland stood up and went to greet the newly arrived shifters. Patton lost count quickly--there seemed to be more in this group. A red-headed man and a smaller darker one were herding a group of pups, all about seven or eight, Patton guessed. The pups spotted one of the shifters from the original group and raced toward him, yelling in excitement until they pounced on the dark-haired one called Jason.
"How's my girl?" Jason said, swinging her around. "You ready to be James Bond?"
She nodded eagerly.
"Good," Jason said. "I need you to carry a baby doll as a distraction. Very high level secret spy stuff. Got it?"
She made a face at the baby stuff, but nodded at the mention of being a spy. "Do I get a gun?"
Jason looked over at Holland, who shrugged. "You can try getting one from Pip."
"I'll see if someone can swing by and pick up a few." Jason's grin slowly widened. "Kinda want to watch the chaos at the gate."
"Shit disturber," Holland said fondly, which Patton found confusing as an endearment, particularly coming from an omega. Ori too, watched his two companions with a baffled frown creasing his brow. They definitely had a lot to learn about Mercy Hills.
