Page 110 of Omega's Flight

Roland, still obviously angry, stopped his diatribe and stared narrowly at Degan for a moment. "You're willing to let them dictate to you?"

Degan took a deep breath. "I'm willing to consider all options."

The hair on the back of my neck rose, though I couldn't have said why. But before I could say anything or signal to my companions that I thought something was going wrong, Roland had barked that he'd call back later and then the screen went blank.

"I think he's trying to trick us," I whispered. My fingers around Cas's were so tight I must have been hurting him, but he never made a sound.

Quin snorted. "Of course he thinks he's tricking us. We just have to be careful not to let on that we know." He turned to face me directly and put a hand on my shoulder. "You did a good job today. Good arguments, didn't waste time, didn't get distracted. I couldn't have done it better myself." He leaned back in the chair, ignoring the loud creak, and looked up at his mate. "Rabbit's in your territory, love."

Holland nodded soberly. "We'll take care of it." He glanced over at me, then changed his focus to Cas. "Cas, look after him for a bit? I've posted his hours to my special account, so he won't need to make them up. Do some planning, think about how to tell the pups. And get some rest. This isn't going to be easy for anyone, but for Raleigh least of all."

Cas nodded and stood up, pulling me to my feet. "I really need a legal secretary."

Quin nodded tiredly. "We're trying to find someone. It's taking time."

"Yeah." Cas glanced over at me. "Come on, let me buy you lunch. You like pizza?" And without waiting for me to answer, he led me out the door.

C H A P T E R 7 9

O nce we'd broken the ice, Cas quickly became a frequent occupant of my bed. Because we only had so much time before the house up the way was ready for Degan, but also because Bram had been right. The more time I spent with him, the weaker the bond to Degan became until, sometime very early in June, I felt it break. My heart rebounded into my chest and then leaped right back out in search of Cas's.

And so I made my plans.

Over breakfast—a special breakfast of baked French toast, from a recipe I'd borrowed from a gamma named Amelia—I asked the pups, "How would you like to go spend tonight camping out with Fan and Teca and the rest of their family? I heard that Fan's Pap is going to build them a tent out of blankets and they're going to have a campfire and Holland brought back giant marshmallows for you pups."

Ann paused, her eyes fixed on mine, then nodded and went back to her breakfast, her little legs kicking away under the chair. Pip gave me a thumbs up and bounced on her chair, giggling. Henry gave a loud gasp and clapped his hands to his cheeks, a hangover from a movie he'd seen at... Holland's I thought. Or maybe Jason's. They were on the go constantly—to day care, to school, to visit friends or have friends over—they'd never had a life like this before. I hoped Quin's and my plan worked.

With the pups taken care of, I only had to lure my prey into my den. Which, given Cas's tendencies, would be significantly less difficult than convincing the pups to spend the night elsewhere had been.

As soon as our messy breakfast was done, the dishes—and pups!—washed, I hustled everyone out the door and we sang puppy songs all the way to daycare. "Now," I said as I tidied Henry's shirt and made sure his shoes were tied. "I'll be here to walk you to Bax's just before supper, okay?" He nodded and I accepted my hug from him. "Be a good boy," I whispered, and kissed him on the top of his head before letting him run off to join his friends in the playroom.

I turned back to my girls. "Off to school!"

The girls were quicker to drop off. As soon as they saw the crowd of pups playing around on the green space that surrounded the old, crooked building, they were gone, racing ahead and yelling out the names of pups they liked to play with. I waved after them, was completely ignored, then wandered down the sidewalk to Cas's office door.

Garrick was still away on that trial up north, so I didn't bother to knock. "Good morning," I said, lounging in the open doorway.

He dropped his pen onto a stack of closely written papers and leaned back in his chair, stretching. He did it deliberately, I was sure, knowing how much I enjoyed watching him display himself for me. "Good morning. How did you sleep?"

"Not as well on my own as I do when you're there." I grinned at him and stepped inside, letting the door fall closed behind me. "Tell me, Mr. Fancy Schmancy lawyer, what are you doing tonight?"

He beckoned me closer, patting his thigh in invitation. "Come here and I'll tell you."

"Nuh uh," I said, very Henry-like. "Tell me what your plans are for tonight."

He tilted his head to the side and eyed me speculatively. "Whatever they are, I suspect you're going to tell me they're changing."

I braced my hands on the edge of his desk and leaned over it until I was only inches away from him. "How would you like to spend the night fucking like..." I stumbled over the rest of the sentence as I realized I didn't know how to end it. "Damn, that was supposed to come out way more sexy." I expected him to laugh, but he sat bolt upright, his pupils expanding until his eyes were almost black.

"Degan?"

"Gone," I said, halfway between laughing and crying. "I'm all yours, if you want me."

The papers on his desk landed on the floor in messy pile, the calculator and a handful of pens were swept into the wide drawer, and then Cas grabbed me by the shoulders and pulled me onto the desk. "To hell with waiting until tonight. The desk is fine with me."

He kissed me and I forgot for the longest time that I was supposed to go to work, that I couldn't stay here and while away the day exploring what I knew was a delightful alpha body. His hand scrabbled under my shirt, greedy to touch me. I'd been desired before, and had sex before, and even fucked before, but I'd never felt wanted in this way, as if the feeling would never end. As if his desire would never end.

And then his Barrenlands-damned phone went off.