Page 90 of Omega's Flight
Holland shook his head. "It went easy, but I near chewed the inside of my cheek off with nerves. I think having Bax there helped.” Together, they hoisted the mattress in its plastic covering up and over the side of the truck to land heavily on the ground.
Remembering that unsettling conversation back in the winter, he knew exactly what Holland was talking about. "How does that all work, anyway, this omega stuff? I know yours is an active...skill." His tongue stumbled over the word, but it was better than his brain's first two choices, which had been 'power' and 'magic' in that particular order. "Are there passive ones?"
Holland shrugged. "Yes? We think so?" He leaned on the side of the truck bed and stared down at the mattress, though Cas didn't think the problem of getting the mattress into the house was the cause of the frown on his packbrother's face.
Cas waited patiently, aware that an issue this complex sometimes needed a bit more time to come up with an answer that was worth listening to.
Eventually, Holland shook his head and stood up. "We'll have to sit down with you alphas soon and let you all ask your questions at once.” He jumped out of the truck, ignoring the open tailgate, and grabbed one end of the mattress. Cas took his own end and they duck-walked it up the stairs and through the house to the master bedroom. It was a tricky business, keeping the clumsy thing from knocking stuff off walls or shelves, but they made it without any damage to the house's contents.
Cas held the mattress propped up on one end while Holland stripped the bed with forceful jerks on the sheets. “There’s more than what’s in the journals?“ he asked.
Holland paused and glanced over his shoulder. "I can't tell you more than I've told Quin. That wouldn't be fair, or right. Can you cut the plastic off that?" He handed Cas a little folding knife, unfolding the blade he did so.
Cas stuck the blade in the corner of the plastic and began to cut. "So tell me what you told him."
"It's not much, mostly because every time we come up with a theory, something happens to knock it on its head." Holland manhandled the stained and saggy old mattress out of the room, leaving it leaning drunkenly against the wall outside the door. "Just that we think maybe Montana Border weren't so far off with their ideas about True Omegas. They just had it turned inside out and upside down. And right now omegas are incredibly vulnerable." Holland paused, leaning on the doorframe. "The way omegas are isolated now, from the pack and from each other, I think it's the exact opposite of how we used to be raised. And by doing it, we made the True Omega die out. Except it didn't really die out, because all omegas are True Omegas. They need to be around other omegas, though." He shook his head and stepped around Cas to grab the other end of the mattress. "It's complicated. And I could be full of shit.“
Cas didn't even notice his mouth hanging open until Holland reached out and gently pushed it shut. "So, all omegas are magic?" Cas sputtered. Shit, that could be so much trouble, and so much good for the pack.
"Don't get excited, it's not like the fairy tales. And you're asking me a lot of things I don't know," Holland said in a tone of warning. "Can we talk about this when everyone's together? It's a lot of information, and we don't want to have to go over it twice. And Bax and Jason and I think it's time we got out of our bubble and hunted out some other thoughts on the information." He gripped one end of the new mattress and nodded to Cas to take the other end. "We want to do it soon, if we can."
"Yeah, okay." But the curiosity was burning him like a hot coal. "When do you want to get together?"
"So much like your brothers," Holland muttered, then louder, he said, "Soon. Not tonight, obviously. But really soon. I think things are going to get pretty complicated really fast. We need to figure out how to handle it." He lifted his end of the mattress and Cas followed suit, pulling it up and out of the plastic, then laying it on the bed, pristine like nothing in the enclave ever was. "Thanks, Cas. I can finish from here."
"I'll take the plastic out. You want me to stay and meet them?"
Holland shook his head, already busy putting the sheets back on. "I'll handle it. I know you've got a lot on your plate." His smile seemed to hold some hidden knowledge, and Cas wondered suddenly if Holland could smell Raleigh on him, or if he was plucking the knowledge wholesale from Cas's mind.
He squinted a little at his packbrother, who grinned wolfishly at him. "I'm not poking around in your head. It's like you think we omegas don't talk. And, honestly? You smell like an alpha who's ready to step into the circle with your omega of choice." Holland laughed, probably at the stunned embarrassment on Cas's face. "You and Raleigh go have fun. I bet it's been a while since an alpha wined and dined him." He winked and turned back to straightening the sheets on the bed.
Cas grabbed the plastic and made his escape, before his eerie packbrother could pry any more of his secrets out into the open.
C H A P T E R 6 4
C as dropped over again to tease Pip and carry Henry around upside down and pretend he couldn’t see him for a while, but I could tell he was distracted.
“I can tell you have work to get finished,” I told him at one point, during one of the brief periods where the pups were leaving him alone. “Go get it done, so you can be here with us, instead of only half here.” I stroked the guilt away from his face. “It’s okay, there’s no rush. I’m not going to disappear on you.” I was determined on that.
He shook his head. “You’ll come to Birth Moon?”
“Wouldn’t miss it. Now go clear your head.” I didn’t kiss him, but I walked him to the door and watched him go. The house next door was quiet, but it was the silence of anticipation, as if the house knew it was soon to be filled with life and laughter.
I texted Bram and asked him to let me know when the new omega and his mate were coming back this way and as soon as his warning hit my phone, I started putting together a light meal of tea and sandwiches and fruit for the new shifters. I took my time assembling their housewarming gift, knowing that they’d probably want a few minutes to look around the house. As their neighbor, though, I wanted to introduce myself, and Holland had texted to ask me to check in on them before Full Moon began, to see if they wanted to drop up at least for the meal.
The truck pulled away and voices echoed from the house as I sliced the last of the fruit and arranged it on the plate. My pot of water was just starting to steam. Mugs on the tray, sugar in a bowl and a little milk in a glass rounded out my offering. I poured the water into the mugs and carefully made my way out the front door.
"Hello?" I called when I got to their door. I heard shuffling inside and then a dark-haired and dark-eyed young man cracked the door open and peered out through the gap.
"Hi?" he asked, his voice wary.
"I'm Raleigh. I live next door." I jerked my head in the direction of my house. "I brought you some tea and something to eat. I know there's stuff in the fridge and the cupboards, but this is already made up." I lifted the tray into view.
"Who is it, Pat?" I heard whispered inside the door.
"The neighbors. Neighbor," he said, leaning back and turning away from me.
"Let them in then," the other voice whispered back. "We're in Mercy Hills now."
