Page 142 of Omega's Flight

I nodded. "That's why I want to go talk to Mac before I agree to it. He did ask, I think that's a good sign. But..." My voice trailed off, because I still couldn't say for sure what it was that bothered me about it.

"But the hairs on your neck are standing up," Jason finished for me. "It's a valid feeling. He might be planning something. Go talk to Mac, see what he has to say. If it helps, he says that Degan's a better mechanic than he expected and he thinks Jackson-Jellystone is stupid to give him up, if they do."

"They wouldn't force him to stay there, would they?" I didn't think Roland was like that, to ride rough-shod over a low-ranking alpha's choices, but I had never been in a position to really get to understand the politics between the packs.

Jason shrugged. "Who knows anymore? Things are changing, and there's nothing that the alphas in power hate so much as change they don't control. Come on, I'll get you some cherry tomatoes too, if Macy hasn't eaten all of them already."

A half hour later, I showed up at the Security building with my arms full of vegetables. Jason had decided at the last minute to load me up with snacks for the guys working shifts today, so when I got there, I had enough tomatoes, carrots, and sweet snap peas to leave half at Security and still have leftovers for my household and Degan's.

"Raleigh," he said, and the pleasure in his voice left me in no doubt that he was actually happy to see me. "Did Jason send those?"

"Just snacks, he said." I passed over his share of them gladly and set mine down out of the way to help him put them away. "Are you busy? Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," he said and made a gesture down the hallway. "We can talk in my office, if you want." As I followed him, he asked, "This about Degan?"

"Yeah."

He closed the door behind me and moved a book off a chair. "Sit." When we were both seated, he laced his fingers together in front of him and leaned back in his chair. "I suppose you're wondering what I think of him."

I shrugged. "Yes, but only in how it affects whether he can stay here or not."

Mac looked surprised for a moment. "Then what was it you wanted to know?"

I paused think about how to put it. "He's offered to tear up our contract," I said slowly, choosing my words carefully. "But it's back in Jackson-Jellystone. And he wants to take the pups with him when he goes." Just the facts—I didn't want to imply anything, in case it changed his opinion, or made him less truthful with me.

It didn't take Mac any time at all to see where my worry lay. "You're thinking he'll take them and then never bring them back."

I nodded and looked down at my hands. One of my nails had split and I picked at it while I talked. "The thought had crossed my mind. But that might just be old memories—six months ago, I wouldn't have even questioned it. I think he likes it here, though. I was hoping you saw something that I didn't."

The room was quiet for a moment, except for the whir of the fan on the computer. "He's a good mechanic. This business idea of his isn't a huge moneymaker, but it'll be steady and I think it has potential to bring in more than it costs eventually. If we can find the space, we can possibly put together a garage and he can advertise outside the enclave for work, though how many humans would take advantage of it, I don't know. I'd be willing to vouch for him for the business, because if you don't try, you never know."

"Do you think he'd stay for that?" And underneath that question, my real one: Would he set me free for that?

"Have you asked him?"

I shook my head. "I'm afraid it would set his back up."

"You want me to ask?"

My heart skipped a beat and then began to race. Mac took one look at me and bowed his head. "Okay, I'll leave it alone. But that doesn't mean I can't set the breeze whispering in his ear from all sorts of people."

Oh. What a wonderful thought. "Could you?"

He grinned. "For sure. I might start with Jason—he has a way of getting you to agree to things he wants without setting tempers on fire." He saw me twitch when he said that and added in an amused tone, "Yes, I know it's probably an omega thing. I don't mind."

I stared at him with wide, startled eyes.

His grin widened and he stood up. "Well, he wouldn't be Jason if he couldn't twist us all around his little finger, would he? Thank Lysoon that he's got a sense of morality about it all, or we'd every single one of us be dancing to his tune." He walked me out to pick up my vegetables and then escorted me to the door. "Don't worry, we'll figure this out. You've got an entire pack on your side."

I smiled at him, mostly because he seemed to expect it, though it went no farther than my lips. Hopefully he was right.

C H A P T E R 9 9

C as did his best to keep Raleigh entertained while the pups were gone. The omega wasn't handling their absence well, especially since Pip had been so set against going. She'd even run away at one point, but Duke had taken his wolf form and tracked her down by scent. There'd been a lot of shouting and Raleigh had gone nose to nose with Degan at one point for blaming Cas for Pip's disappearance. It probably hadn't been a smart idea, because Degan was truly enraged by his omega standing up to him, but Raleigh had explained later that he'd thought it was better than Cas's plan, which had involved a lot of fur flying and Degan belly up in front of them.

Omegas were supposed to be the peacekeepers of the pack, according to Holland, but Cas for certain hated it that he had to stand behind the man he wanted to mate and let him take the brunt of Degan's insults.

He was torn between satisfaction and guilt in the end. When Duke had brought Pip back, her face tearstained and swollen with crying, she wouldn't go to anyone except Cas. He covered his surprise as well as he could and let her cling to him like a monkey, her face buried in his neck. She didn't want to go with Da, Da wasn't nice.