Page 17 of Omega's Flight

Laine pursed his lips and nodded. "We'll figure it out. Garrick's Washington friend may have ideas."

Garrick? Another lawyer probably. I caught myself nodding off, my chin dipping down toward my chest. The coffee cup had tilted dangerously on my thigh and I lifted it up to my mouth, hopeful of the legendary effects it was supposed to have on tiredness. I needed to be alert when the Mercy Hills shifters arrived, whoever they sent. Oh, please, send Bax. Bax would understand.

Laine and Jack spent some time talking about things that made no sense to me, but I gathered it was some sort of lawyer short-hand. I kind of got the impression they were talking about different cases, tossing back different this name versus that name and then shooting holes in each other's suggestions.

Part of me wanted to tell them to shut up and just let me be quiet for a moment. Part of me was heartened by the intensity of their discussion and grateful for the distraction. I didn't dare sleep. Probably wouldn't be able to anyway in the end, my nerves were wound so tight. Please get here soon.

"I need to call Brenna," Laine announced. His voice had deepened, like an alpha getting ready for a fight. I twitched and glanced up at him without making it obvious. He didn't look like he was anticipating this call with any kind of pleasure. "I'll be right back," he said and walked off in the direction of his office, his cell phone in his hand.

A few minutes later we heard his raised voice through the closed door. My eyes fixed on the shiny wood and my knuckles turned white as I tightened my grip on the mug of rapidly cooling coffee.

"Don't worry about it. I can't imagine Brenna saying he can't have April on his agreed-on night," Jack told me.

"I don't want to cause trouble in his mating," I said, unable to keep the worry out of my voice.

He tilted his head in observation, much like a pup might do when it found an insect it hadn't seen before. "I've never really spent much time thinking about shifters until Laine talked me into taking this leap of faith. You're not exactly what I expected."

"No?" I asked politely, and sipped at my coffee. It didn't taste any better lukewarm and it felt like it was starting to curdle in my stomach. Maybe I'd better not drink any more.

Jack shook his head. "Most everything I heard was stuff from the papers, you know? And a few cases we covered in torts and criminal law back in school. I don't think I've ever prosecuted one of you here."

Prosecuted? My heart leaped up into my throat, and then the coffee and the pizza we'd eaten followed it. "I have to get up," I said, my voice thick.

"Wha— Shit, you're white." He jumped up and lifted the pups off my lap. "Bathroom's down that way." He jerked his head toward the little hallway that led off from the stairs and took the mug from my hand.

"Thank you," I whispered and bolted, my hand over my mouth as if that would stop the vomiting.

By the time I came back, my body aching but my stomach now mercifully calm, Laine was gone and it was just Jack and I and the sleeping pups in the office.

"He left to pick up his daughter," Jack explained and held out a hand to help me down into a chair. I noticed that he'd tucked the blankets in around the pups again—I realized he must have had pups of his own.

"Thank you," I said, both for the chair and for looking after the pups while I couldn't.

"Do you want some water? It's been a while since I've done that amount of throwing up, but it always left me thirsty after."

"No, I'm fine." I'd rinsed my mouth out several times in the bathroom, then stuck my head in under the tap to quench the dryness of my throat. The water here tasted different from home, bitter and metallic. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." He got to his feet and wandered around the office with his hands in his pockets. "Will they sleep when we move them to the car?"

I shook my head. "Probably not. This is still early for them. It's been a long day and a heavy meal on top of it, which is why they're napping now. I'm pretty sure once they're awake they'll be awake for a while."

He did that head tilting thing again, staring at my pups as if solving a puzzle. "Are you okay if I leave you alone for a bit, then? Bax and Abel will be here soon and I'm going to run out to a store to pick up a few things. Laine won't be long, as long as he and Brenna don't get into it."

"Do they not get along well?" Was that what human marriages were like? "Is this truly going to cause a problem for him?" Did the world have it out for omegas that badly that the only way I could even try for a better life was to ruin someone else's?

"They're fine. She's just more nervous about your people than Laine is and once he gets an idea into his head, it can be hard to stop him. Don't worry about him, he can take care of himself."

I nodded, pretending an understanding I didn't have. At least my stomach had settled down. And with my stomach no longer causing problems, the ache in my gut was loosening its grip on me too. I tried not to hang my hopes too hard on that, just in case. People lost pups this early in their pregnancy all the time and even if being an omega made it more risky, it still wasn't something that never happened. "You go ahead. I'll be fine here."

He nodded. "I'll lock the door behind me. Don't answer it for anyone, okay?"

"I won't." I watched him go, feeling weirdly lonely, though why I should miss a human I couldn't imagine. But the click of the lock was reassuring and I turned easily back to my pups, intent on at least resting a little before everyone came back.

C H A P T E R 1 3

J ack was back before either of my other expected visitors. And he'd brought a bonanza of...things with him.

"Yeah!" Pip shouted and waved a foam sword wildly around her head. "Woohoo, I'm a pirate!" She dug through the plastic bag, tossing the contents this way and that in her enthusiasm. "Look, Henry!" she crowed, and passed him a tube of little plastic farm animals. "Papa will help you open them," she said and patted his head before diving back into the plastic bags.