Page 47 of Omega's Flight

The first thing they did was move the furniture around to make an empty corner near the window "Where did you get the tree?" I asked, stunned. They'd brought me a real tree—no taller than Pip, but a real one. In my house.

Cas perched himself on the arm of the couch closest to me to untangle some lights. "Laine sent it, but I put the bug in Garrick's ear."

"I'll have to say thank you. I don't know how I'll pay him back."

"He doesn't want paying back," Cas said casually. He handed me another little bundle of lights. "You can untangle these. This is what happens when Abel lets the pups help put the Christmas things away."

"I don't want to take Bax's things from him," I said and tried to shove it back at him.

"Don't worry about it. He has more." Cas bent over a particularly gnarly knot, a frown of concentration creasing his forehead. Really, he was handsome, in an objective sort of way. Lighter built than either of his two brothers, but the energy that spilled around him was all alpha.

The most surprising thing was that I wasn't uncomfortable around him at all. His brothers made me nervous—the Alpha in particular—but Cas seemed less intense, or maybe intense in a different way. Whatever, he wasn't a threat, and I wasn't looking for another alpha.

Could an omega live alone, without a mate, here in Mercy Hills? And how did one go about finding out, without running the risk of offending anyone?

I'd have to think about that.

"Aha!" Cas held up the length of wire in triumph. "Are you too tired to put them on the tree?"

I was, and I wasn't, but... "Can I wait until the pups are home?"

Jason must have been listening in, because he paused in the middle of tying a bow to the hook on the back of the door and looked over his shoulder at me. "Are you sure you're ready to have them home yet? I don't mind keeping Henry another night."

I shook my head. "No, I want them. And it's Christmas Eve. Midwinter Wolf will be coming." I hoped the decorations wouldn't raise the pups' hopes for presents under the tree.

"True," Duke said. "Did Midwinter Wolf remember to get the presents out of the storage room of the new clinic?" He slanted a grin at Bram, who laughed quietly and continued chasing his three pups around the house.

"Midwinter Wolf might lose a few," he said primly. "Especially if Midwinter Wolf's mate keeps teasing him."

Duke made a gesture like zipping his lips shut and throwing away the key and I startled myself by laughing, and then felt guilty for it. And then felt guilty for feeling guilty. People lost pups all the time —I shouldn't have been making such a big deal about it. Yes, I'd only lost the baby four days ago, but I'd mourned him and we'd buried him and I hoped he was looking down at us from the Moonlands, maybe sitting on my grandmother's lap, and laughing at the silliness of his family.

It was time to pick myself up and move on, make a life for myself and my pups here, in Mercy Hills.

But there was still a hole in my heart where he should have been. I glanced up to find Cas watching me as if he knew what was going on in my mind. I made myself smile at him and shook my head, turning back to my task of untangling the lights so my face would be hidden.

Tomorrow I'd be better. And if I wasn't—well, I'd had lots of practice in faking it.

C H A P T E R 3 4

R aleigh's soft burst of laughter untied a knot of worry in Cas's chest that had been there since his chat with Quin last night. That Raleigh might be having a problem with depression had seemed obvious, but that it could spiral as badly as Quin had said had surprised him. But the laughter was a good sign, he thought. And while Holland had made it clear that he and Bax would keep an eye on the new omega, they were both busy, so Cas had, sometime during the evening, decided that he, too, would keep an eye on the new omega.

Not that he wasn't busy, too, but... yeah. He'd help out where he could. It was the least he could do. And Quin had already mentioned finding something to take up Cas's spare time. His brother would likely be happy not to have to hunt for something to keep him occupied.

And that darkness in the back of Raleigh's eyes made the hair stand up on the back of his neck.

Jason was watching them with that weird knowing look on his face, like he could see some invisible cord drawing Cas toward the new omega. Cas grimaced at him, but all Jason did was raise his eyebrows, then turn and request his tall mate to attach some ribbon to the curtain rod on the living room window.

"Well," Bram said, bringing one of the twins over with him—Isolde, Cas thought, though they were both dressed in sweatshirts and sweatpants and it was hard enough at the best of times to tell them apart. "If you'd like, we could finish up here while you get the pups—or we can call and ask Bax to bring them with him. They're all over at his place right now."

"Oh, I couldn't," Raleigh said. "He's done so much." He stood and looked around the room with wide, baffled eyes. "I don't know why...." His voice trailed off, leaving only his confusion behind.

"We're pack," Jason told him. "It's what pack does. You needed help, and we have a little extra to give now." His eyes crinkled and he smiled up at his mate. "Why don't we all walk over?"

"But we didn't put everything up!" Bram exclaimed.

Duke came to take Isolde from him. "Maybe Raleigh would like to finish decorating himself," he said and leaned down to kiss his mate.

Bram grinned, though Cas noticed his cheeks had gone pink. Oh, good for you, Duke. Bram was a handful—Duke must have amazing powers of persuasion to keep him in line.