Page 153 of Omega's Flight

"They are reasonable, if approached correctly. It's no worse than the Council of Alphas, in any event," Holland mused. "At least, that's what Quin and Abel say."

The snort of laughter that Roland let out startled both me and Bax. Roland banged the binder against his thigh and stood up. "Very well, Mercy Hills. I'll read your stories and make my decision. I still think this is cheap and backhanded, but I've heard of the changes at Mercy Hills and I want that for my pack."

Holland nodded gravely to him. "I understand." He glanced between myself and Bax. "If you two are done with your tea, did you want to show me around? I hear there's an excellent stream for floating branch boats down."

"There is," Bax and I both said at once, and laughed.

Roland nodded and took a step back toward the house. "I'll leave you three to amuse yourselves. Are you staying another night?"

Holland looked to me for the answer, so I turned to Roland and with as much politeness as I could muster, I said, "I'm going to talk to Degan and his mother, then I'm taking the pups home. We'll be gone by three." I said a silent prayer that he wouldn’t fight me on the pups. Not with the Mutch Trusts in the balance.

He raised his eyebrows at me. "And papers?"

"Thank you," I said, deliberately misunderstanding him in the same way that I'd seen Seosamh deliberately misunderstand people, confusing them until it was too late for them to stop him getting his way. It worked here too. "If you could have them ready for two, it would be appreciated. I'll have Degan call or drop by to let you know if he needs papers." I glanced over at Holland, who stood straight-faced beside me, but something about him, some shiver of energy drifting from his skin, let me know that he was dying to laugh.

"I see," said Roland, then sighed. "I suppose if I said no it would count against me?"

"We have to be able to work with the pack that's chosen," Holland said firmly. "Even when we're asking them to do something they don't agree with. There are compromises that will need to be made, but the rewards far, far outweigh them."

I turned back to Roland just in time to see him nod tightly, then he just...walked off, without even a goodbye. When I looked at Bax, he was tight lipped but his eyes were shining with the urge to laugh. Holland just shook his head and rolled his eyes up to the heavens, before gathering up his bag and slinging it over his shoulder. "Let's go find your pups," he said, and we all three trooped down off the porch to go hunt my family.

C H A P T E R 1 0 6

T he pups should have been leaving for school when we arrived, but they were still running around, Degan shouting from inside the house trying to convince them to... it sounded like get dressed. A snicker escaped me and I stopped in my tracks to get control of myself. Holland looked amused, Bax maliciously satisfied.

I walked up the little steps and knocked on the door. Hoots and howling bellowed from inside and then the door flew open. "Papa!" Pip yelled and threw herself at me. "Are you taking us home?"

"Yes, I am," I said into her hair. "But first, you have to go to school."

"I don't want to go to school!"

"How are you going to become smarter than Cas if you don't go to school? He did all the regular school and seven years after—that's a lot of smart you have to catch up on."

She tilted her head back to stare at me, her mouth a tiny 'o' of astonishment. "That's a lot of school."

I nodded. "It is. If Cas could do it, so could you."

"Hmmmm," she said theatrically. Then, with a sudden change of direction that was so typically Pip, she let go of me and raced back into the house. "Da! Where are my clothes?"

Bax fizzed with laughter and Holland hid a smile behind his hand. I just grinned and pushed my way into the house.

Degan paused in his struggle to get Henry into a pair of shorts that were just a bit too small. The small wiggling target he was trying to get them on didn't help the matter. "Raleigh!"

"Want a hand?" I asked casually while I beckoned Ann to me. She came running over with her hairbrush held out like an offering, then spun and stood in front of me so I could brush out a night's worth of tangles from her hair. "Bax, could you track down my wild child and make sure she's decently covered?"

Bax laughed and strolled past me into the pups' room.

"I miss my room," Ann said out of the blue.

"Your room here?" I asked, more casually than I felt.

"My room at Mercy Hills. I don't like sharing with Henry, he talks in his sleep."

I peeked at Degan from under my eyelashes as I divided Ann's hair in half and began twisting it into a quick pair of braids. His expression was torn between relief and resentment, but he never said a word as I tamed Ann's hair, then sent her off to brush her teeth and wash her face.

He turned back to Henry and went back to trying to force the short up over his little bum.

"They're too small for him," I said softly. "Do you want me to get the green ones you took with them?"