Page 53 of Omega's Flight

"Oh, I didn't realize you weren't from Jackson-Jellystone." His accent wasn't the same as Bax's, but Bax himself wasn't from Jackson-Jellystone.

Raleigh's eyes widened briefly and his entire body went stiff. "No, I mated into the pack."

Cas cursed himself again—he'd made the new omega uncomfortable, even if it was all unintentional, and Bax would skin him alive for it. "Much different from home?" he asked in an attempt to save the conversation.

"A bit." The new omega's shoulders hunched and Cas gave himself another mental kick. It was time he got his head out of the books and the accounts and started interacting with the pack again if he was turning this socially awkward.

Raleigh raised his mug to his mouth and sipped at the contents, then set it on the table in front of him with his hands wrapped around it. His expression was composed again, as if he'd patted all his emotions back into place during the pause. "I like Mercy Hills so far," he offered shyly. "This is nice." He twisted to look around the room. "We never had anything like this."

"We're working hard to make sure everyone will eventually have a house like this."

Raleigh's eyes widened and a faint flush of pink colored his cheeks. "That would be wonderful." He glanced around the kitchen again but this time there was an air about him, as if he was picturing himself with a kitchen, a home like this.

"Abel started it. He put a lot of his profits from the software company back into the pack, until we could afford to build out onto some land one of the older Alphas had bought. I'll take you on a tour of the new section whenever you've settled in, if you like."

It seemed to have been the right thing to say. "I'd like that. Thank you."

Abel stuck his head in through the between the hallway and the kitchen. "Where'd Bax go?"

"Out." Cas jerked his head in the direction of the door.

"Ha!" Abel stepped the rest of the way into the kitchen. "Raleigh, you're invited for dinner tomorrow, you and the pups."

"Yes, Bax talked to me already. Thank you."

"Good. Don't bring anything, we have it all in hand." He grinned and clapped Cas on the shoulder. "You're still okay to help out tomorrow?"

"You know it." Abel had two new bookcases for Bax, hidden away in what had already come to be known as 'Bram's clinic', around the corner in the new section of the enclave. They were going to sneak out while the pups were opening presents and bring them over.

"Great," Abel said and started to say something else when a shriek of puppy rage echoed down the stairs. "Back in a moment. I hope. If I'm not downstairs again in ten minutes, send in the Marine."

Cas laughed and twisted in his chair to watch Abel stomp up the stairs in mock paternal anger. He was still laughing when he turned back to Raleigh and noticed the wide eyes fixed on the now empty doorway. "Don't worry about them. Their pups are a handful, mostly because they're exactly like their parents."

"Oh," Raleigh said in a quiet voice. He didn't appear quite convinced, but seemed content to let the topic drop.

Just at that moment, the back door of the kitchen opened and Bax stuck his head in. "Any pups around?"

Cas shook his head. "Your mate is upstairs terrifying them as we speak."

"For certain definitions of terrified?"

"For the ones that mean not terrified at all, I expect. What are you trying to sneak into the house?"

Bax stepped through the door, a large canvas bag in one hand. It was full and looked heavy. "I went over to Jason's to get some stuff." He glanced cautiously toward the stairs, then brought the bag over to Raleigh. "I know you couldn't bring much with you, and I wanted to be sure the pups didn't miss out. Jason and I gathered some things up for you to put out for the pups from Midwinter Wolf." He opened the bag and showed its contents to Raleigh. "It's not much, and I hope we picked well."

So that was the reason for Bax's strange behavior. "Do I need to run interference? Keep the pups upstairs?" Cas leaned forward and peeked into the bag. Stuffed animals, something that looked like a board game... He couldn't see any farther.

The sound of feet thumping upstairs rattled the kitchen lights. Bax glanced up, clearly expecting the entire ceiling to fall, or at least part of it, then shook his head and returned his gaze to Raleigh and Cas. "I think your brother has it well in hand. But one of us will drop these over to you later tonight, once we've gotten the pups to sleep." He let Raleigh examine the contents of the bag a little longer, then took it down the hall to hide it again.

"I should take them home or they'll never get to sleep." Raleigh drained the rest of his mug and took it over to the sink to wash. His movements were still slow and a little unsteady, signs that Cas read as the omega starting to run out of energy again.

"I can go bring them down," Cas offered. "I'll even volunteer to shove them into their jackets for you."

Raleigh laughed softly as he dried the mug. "Thank you. But they'll probably come easier for me. After all, I'm the one talking to Midwinter Wolf." He glanced around the kitchen as if searching for something.

"The mugs go here, above the coffee machine," Cas offered, opening the door.

"I should have guessed that," Raleigh said and put the mug inside. "Thank you."