Page 148 of Omega's Flight
There. It was out. I was shocked that Holland would set that information loose on a night like tonight, but maybe that had been the plan. A night where we reached back to our roots, worshiped our gods and goddesses, reminded ourselves that we weren't—entirely—human.
Quin's voice softened. "In the old days, they called the alpha the light side of the moon, because we work in the things that can be easily seen. We rouse to anger quickly, and," here he grinned, "we're easily distracted and turned in another direction." There were a few giggles in the crowd and the mood lightened, even if the confusion was still evident in the scents in the breeze.
Holland stepped forward and I wondered if anyone else noticed how nervous he was under the restless eagerness of full moon and high heat. "The omegas of that time were called the dark side of the moon, and they lived in balance with the alpha. We were tasked to justice, to healing, to the unseen arts. Each omega, given the chance to flourish, would develop some talent that could be put to the use of the pack, for the betterment of the pack. You have seen some of it; we hope to find more. Those of you with omega pups, cherish them, because they are the future of our freedom."
The noise grew in the pack and Holland drew back, his faced pinched with sudden tension.
Quin let him go, though his reluctance to give up his grasp on his mate was obvious. He turned to the pack. "It shames me that I saw the value of my mate, but only as my mate, and that it took a human to open my eyes to the full value of him. If you are willing, if you are brave and strong, true children of the Lord and Lady, we can take back our history and our reality from the humans. We will bring down these walls and become a people to be respected. And one to be reckoned with."
The noise of the crowd changed, curious, anxious, but the song of a wolf rose over them and they quieted. I hadn't noticed him moving through the crowd, but Ori slid into the seat beside me. "What are they doing?" he asked, his head bent close to mine.
"I don't know," I said honestly. "But I think there's going to be a lot of change around here." And then I saw them, the omegas in their wolf shapes drifting out of the crowd. Bram, with his reddish coat, Jason's smoke-gray, Bax and Cale, snow white and gleaming in the moonlight. Another gray-brown wolf that it took me a second to recognize as Seosamh, then another I didn't know well, but thought he was the young mate of one of the plumbers who had come to work on my house and on Ori's. A few more, until Holland stood in the middle of his own pack. There was a sense of otherworldliness about them, as if the Lord and Lady of Wolves had come down to bless them and us on this night where we made our first tentative claim on our true selves.
Then the pups came, running in wolf form and human and making all the gleeful sounds that well-cared for pups made. Fan led the way, loping with dangerous grace over the grass, until he got to his bearer and the two of them began roughhousing in the moonlight. The sudden descent into play seemed to break the tense spell over the pack and while I was in no way deceived into thinking that everything was fine and no one was upset, the pack seemed to have accepted Quin's decree without too great a shock.
A warm hand on the back of my shoulder made me look up and smile. Cas slid his hand down to mine and tugged on it. "Want to dance?"
"Sure," I said, and stood up with a word of apology to Ori.
"Don't you worry about me," he said with a grin. "Patton'll be around in a minute, he just went to check on Willie Rose." He waved at us as we headed out onto the grass in the direction of the guitars and the fiddle. In the background, I saw Holland and Quin—not opening the dancing as they usually did, but disappearing furtively into the woods. I hid a grin and set myself up across from Cas in the dancers' set. "Ready?"
"For you? Yes."
The music began and we danced the beginning of our lives together.
C H A P T E R 1 0 2
T he moon was just barely past full when Holland packed me and Bax into one of the vans that Degan had fixed up but hadn't had time to sell yet and handed us each the bright yellow tabs for our collars. "Nearly forgot," he said with a cheeky grin.
"You've got reason," Bax told him. "I'm surprised Quin let you go, considering.” His eyes flicked down toward Holland’s belly.
"He wasn't happy about it," Holland admitted. "He wanted us to take an alpha, just in case."
"Why aren't we taking an alpha?" I asked, curious.
Holland looked up from fastening the second of his tabs to the collar of his jacket. "You've been keeping company with Cas. Precedent."
"And if we can't get the pups back?" Suddenly, I was less at ease with this trip.
Holland came around the front of the car and put his hands on my shoulders. "I promise you, we'll leave there with your pups, even if we have to put them inside the seat."
Bax gave a crack of laughter. "You did it again?"
His cousin shrugged and went back to fiddling with his tabs, taking only occasional glances at the pack building behind us. "It's convenient. Someday we won't need those hollow seats, but for now, I'd rather have them and not need them."
"Does Degan know about it?" Bax leaned casually against the side of the car and I got the impression he was waiting for someone.
"We put it in after he left," Holland said. "There's your alpha now." He pointed at the tall figure coming across the grass, a pup in his arms. "Looks like he's bringing the second youngest of your litter to say bye."
Bax laughed. "Look who's talking. You're going to have your own litter by May."
"Yep. Jason too. And you're not the only one wanting to get back here soon. Or planning to have their own litter." He winked at me and I blushed, but it wasn't like it was a secret. Not amongst the omegas. Abel arrived, Taden laughing and reaching for his bearer. Bax cooed and held out his arms for Taden to leap into. "How's my boy? You and Da going to have fun while Dabi's gone?"
"Da says we can watch movies and eat pizza!"
Abel leaned in and kissed Bax on the cheek. "I thought Taden and I could go have some guy time before the rest of the pack gets home." He put his arm around his little family and leaned against the trunk of the car, pulling Bax against him. "You three be careful. I wish you'd let one of us come with you."
"We'll be fine, love," Bax said. "And if it looks like it's going wrong, I'll let you know right away." He turned slightly and put a hand on Abel's chest. "We talked about this."
