Page 171 of Omega's Flight
"Thank you." Raleigh smiled absently and went back to staring up at the stars just starting to twinkle in the sky above the walls while his hands kept up with that mesmerizing stroking.
Cas walked down off the porch and up to the driver's door to speak to Abel. "We're going to go see Isaac," he said softly, with a glance up at Quin, sitting in the bed of the truck to make sure nothing fell out. "Raleigh's worried about not getting over to see him as often."
Bax leaned around his mate. "Is he okay?"
Cas nodded. "He's fine. Just thinking about might-have-beens. And he liked going to the grove. It was quiet."
"When we build here, do you want a place?" Quin asked.
"I thought we talked about that," Abel began, and Cas and Bax together snapped, "Don't start!"
Cas shook his head and held up a finger to put a pause on his brothers' long-standing argument. "We'll be along in a bit. You guys are okay to watch the pups and keep them from destroying the place?"
"We'll be fine," Bax said firmly. "Go walk with Raleigh. If we get the truck emptied fast enough, I'll send someone back for you with it."
"You'll send someone?" Abel said mildly.
"Yes, me." Bax chuckled. "Come on, sooner we get there, the sooner we're done."
Abel looked out the window again. "Okay?"
Cas waved and stepped back. "We won't be long." And he watched them drive away.
C H A P T E R 1 1 6
R aleigh was waiting for him up on the porch. "Do we have a flashlight?" Cas asked him. "It's not far off full moon, I don't mind walking by that."
Cas climbed the steps and leaned against the porch railing beside him. "The moon's not up yet."
"Your phone?" Raleigh sidled along the rail to lean against Cas. "Come on, alpha. It's not that dark."
"Take risks?"
"Until the baby comes." Raleigh planted a kiss on Cas's cheek. "I know the path pretty well."
He probably did, Cas figured. "Promise me you'll be careful."
"I have you." His lips twitched. "If I do happen to trip, I'll try not to fall on you." He sighed and looked down at his belly, huge and round in front of him. "I feel more like a whale than a wolf right now."
"You're gorgeous." Cas put an arm around Raleigh's waist and helped him down off the porch. "Don't ever get the idea I don't think that."
"I believe you, especially after last night." Raleigh leered at him, which looked funny to Cas coming from an omega. He had to concede Raleigh's point, though. Last night had been good, even if Cas wondered what the baby had thought of all the jostling and the, uh, position changes.
The moon was half-risen by the time they got to the grove, but the trees around them blocked most of the light. Cas turned on the flashlight on his phone to make sure they didn't fall into the pond and they picked their way across the rough grass to the little clump of trees that marked Isaac's grave. Raleigh took Cas's hand and Cas helped him sit on the flat stone that had appeared there one day out of nowhere. Better than sitting on the ground, for sure.
Raleigh sighed in contentment and pulled Cas down to perch beside him. "I'll miss being able to be down here every couple of days. It's so peaceful."
"Nothing to stop you. I can keep an eye on the pups, or help out more around the house if you need it." He pulled Raleigh close and was still ridiculously pleased when the omega let his head rest against Cas's shoulder.
"I don't like taking you away from your work, I know it's important."
"Not so bad now that Garrick's here more. Don't worry about me."
"Or the pack?" Raleigh shook his head. "No, I'll get used to it. I need to move on, for this little fellow anyway." He ran a hand over his stomach and his breath puffed out from between his lips. "I don't think we should stay too much longer."
"Why?"
Raleigh leaned more heavily against him and took his hand, spreading it out over the curve of his belly. "Wait," he said in answer to Cas's startled, "What?" They sat in silence, enjoying the moonlight as it crept higher in the sky, the smell of trees and grass and wildness, and then Cas felt it, the gradual tightening of Raleigh's womb, rising beneath his palm like an inflating ball.
