Page 124 of Omega's Flight
He grinned and took my shoulders, spinning me around giving me a push in the direction of the bedroom. "Be there in a minute."
I smiled at him over my shoulder and did as I was told, as a proper omega should, and didn't feel the least bit of resentment for it. Then again, Cas's orders and Degan's were two entirely different animals. There was always something in it for me when Cas got bossy.
Maybe just a cuddle wouldn't be enough tonight after all...
C H A P T E R 8 7
I t had been nice to wake up in Cas's arms. Nicer too, to have him around for breakfast that morning. It made things a little more awkward, but I felt less like I would slide back into my old ways with him around. Though sneaking him out and then back in the door as if he hadn't been in my bed all night had been funny, especially when Cas had looked down his nose at me and asked if it was okay to go out the door this time and not the window. I'd pretended to think about it until he got that light in his eye, then agreed that it was probably okay. And then we'd promptly used up twenty minutes of our safety zone in a high-speed repeat of last night's enthusiastic lovemaking, but I couldn't regret it.
The pups were ecstatic to see their sire again when he showed up, a bare ten minutes after Cas had 'dropped in' for breakfast. Well, Ann and Henry were excited. Pip was quiet all through breakfast and when she wasn't clinging to me, she was clinging to Cas. I'd hoped that the memories had faded, but I supposed that memories like that had staying power. I'd worked hard to forget it and I thought that was one of the memories that Holland had taken away most of the hurt and the fear from. But Pip hadn't had that help.
Cas cleaned up while I got the pups ready. Degan got the side-eye from him because he sat at the table and waited for me to do that work, but I was still remembering that odd conviction that had hit me last night, so I gave Degan the job of entertaining either Ann or Henry while I slowly got everyone clean and tidy and ready to head off for the day.
"You want me to walk up with you?" Cas whispered in my ear at one point.
It was on the tip of my tongue to say yes, but I didn't want to be a coward. I also didn't want to start hiding behind Cas—this was my mess, I needed to deal with. But oh, I ached for him to come with us, just for the joy of extending our time together. "I don't think he'll try anything in public," I whispered back. "But thank you. It means a lot."
Cas stroked a thumb over my cheek and for some stupid reason, that one tender gesture made me want to cry.
"What's wrong?" he asked, his hand going tense against the side of my face.
I shook my head, unable to explain even to myself. I was just so happy to have him here. "I'm just having a moment, I think," I told him in a choked voice. "I'm so glad you're here."
He frowned. "Maybe I should walk up with you after all."
"No, really, it's okay." I leaned into him for a moment, then pushed myself away from the comforting spread of his chest. "I think it's just the stress."
Cas combed my hair back away from my face, reminding me that I needed to find someone to cut it. "You've certainly had a time of it."
"Oh, well, not as bad as Bax or Holland. Or Bram. Or Jason," I added, suddenly thoughtful.
"I don't know if I agree with that," he said. He watched me for a moment, as if satisfying himself that I was going to be okay. "All right, I won't walk up with you. But promise me you'll be cautious, okay? Just to calm this old alpha's heart."
"You're not old," I started to protest, then caught the glint of mischief in his eye. "Oh, you brat. No, you're about the same age as Pip inside, aren't you?"
"Might be." He grinned. "Are you going over to Ori's after or is he coming here?"
"I'll probably go there. Easier when there's a baby involved."
"Okay." He dipped his head and brushed a kiss across my lips. "Drop by for lunch?"
"Sure." I walked him to the door, trying to be casual. Today was going to interesting. Ori liked to tell stories—I'd caught him one day rocking Willie Rose on his front porch, with my suspiciously quiet pups seated in a half-circle at his feet, listening intently as he told them one of the old stories. I'd stayed to listen to the end, half spellbound by the tale as he wove it. And then Ann had asked me to draw a picture of her favorite part and everything had snowballed from there.
We were going to write a book. A children's book retelling one of the pack stories, even though we didn't have the first clue how we could go about making the pictures and the story into an actual book. For now, this would be enough.
I couldn't wait to get started.
Once Cas was out of sight, I turned back to the house. "Time to go, pups!"
"Papa, can we stay home today?" Ann asked.
"No, sweetie. School is important. It's a pup's job, just like Papa has a job, and Da has a job."
"Da has a job?" She sounded a bit puzzled, but let me help her into the little sweater she was obsessed with wearing right now.
"Yes, Da has a job," Degan snapped. I frowned at him and he frowned back at me. Great, we're right back where we started from.
"Macy's Pop and your Da are going to work together on cars. Remember the blue one we showed you, with the horse on the front?" She nodded enthusiastically. "That's the one they're going to work on. And once it's all fixed up like new, they'll sell it and get a new one to work on." Maybe. This was all new territory. Laine said that it would take time for Degan to adjust to not being the one in charge of my life, but I didn't like how quickly he'd gone back to his old behavior once Cas wasn't here. "Let's go before you're late."
