Page 168 of Omega's Heart

That hadn’t been surprising, if he were honest. What was surprising was that Felix hadn’t put his paw down and said no when Kaden had mentioned it—he was pretty sure both Bax and Holland had. He wasn’t sure about Raleigh—that shifter wasn’t one to spill his secrets.

What would happen if she did move back to Mercy Hills? It had been years since they’d lived there, not since she’d convinced her second mate to follow her back to Salma and fight to be Alpha there. It wasn’t going to be the same Mercy Hills that she remembered. Could she learn to back off on her packsons, now that all her pups had mated? Or would it just fracture their family for good? Hard to say. Old wolves tended to stick to the same paths they’d always trotted.

If he and his brothers got together to put pressure on her, maybe they could convince her to take a different route through the woods. It would be rough in the beginning, but the four of them together, maybe, had some influence. The only thing stopping him from digging at that badger hole was that Felix would likely get tired of it eventually if they couldn’t—even Felix’s good nature had its limits —and he wouldn’t do anything that would upset Felix if he could help it.

After a few quick stops to pick up the rest of the gifts on his list, he turned the car toward the highway. The drive home was made in record time—he counted on the busy roads and cops not wanting to get caught up with the inevitable paperwork on Christmas Eve to avoid a ticket for speeding and as soon as the traffic cleared, he put his foot down.

It still wasn’t soon enough, and he fidgeted with one of his small wrapped packages all the way up the elevator. Should he give it to him tonight, as soon as he was through the door? Or wait until tomorrow?

The elevator doors slid away and he jammed them open with one foot while he manhandled the gifts out into the hallway. About halfway through the pile, Cas sauntered out of the Alpha’s office and raised his eyebrows at Kaden.

“For me?” Cas asked blandly. “You shouldn’t have!”

Kaden threw him an impatient glance and replied, “I think I have a well-chewed stick in here somewhere with your name on it.”

Cas clasped his hands together under his chin and batted his eyelashes at his brother. “And personalized too! Oh, Kaden, you are the best brother.”

The laughter escaped him before he could put a stop to it. “Give me a hand to get this all out of the elevator, okay?”

“Are these all for Felix?” Cas asked after getting a look at a couple of tags.

“No. Just the good ones.”

“Ha! I’ll tell Pip you said that.”

“Your threats don’t scare me,” Kaden told him as they trundled around the corner and down the hallway. “It’s mostly stuff for the new house anyway.” He’d gotten a vacuum cleaner on sale by pure accident. John’s wife had come with John to Washington for her own Christmas shopping and had hauled Kaden out one evening. They’d rolled through the stores like it was a mission—most of his gifts had been purchased that night. If he hadn’t been half-raised by Quin he’d have been downright terrified by the brute military-style force she put into play as they forged a path through the crowds to reach her goal. He’d have followed her into live fire without a second thought.

And Felix was going to love him for this. Truly.

It took two trips to get everything down the hallway and stacked up outside the apartment door.

“I’ll help you get them in,” Cas said and raised a hand to forestall Kaden’s refusal. “And I’ll even leave right after. I remember when Raleigh was pregnant.” A look of nostalgia grew on his face. “I’ll tell everyone not to come looking for you until tomorrow night.”

“Just because you can’t keep it in your pants—” Kaden began, but his words stumbled to a halt when Cas burst out in a peal of laughter. “What?”

“You’ve been away two weeks now?” He shook his head, still hooting like he’d gone lunar. “Yeah, I’ll let Felix educate you. Open the door, Kaden. I’m gonna toss these in and then run.”

Grumpily, Kaden opened the door.

Hunter barked and ran over to greet him with puppy kisses. Kaden greeted him back and ruffled the fur of his back. “Where’s your Da?” he asked.

“Kitchen,” Felix called. “I’ll be there in a minute, I’m just putting a couple of pies in the oven.”

“Did you make meat pie?” Kaden asked hopefully.

Felix stuck his head around the corner and grinned. “That’s what’s going in. But it’s for tomorrow, not tonight.”

“Damn,” Kaden said, but without heat. He’d just have to make sure he was head of the line at dinner tomorrow over at Abel’s. “Hunter, go sit down! You’ll tear all the paper.”

“Hunter, bed, now.” Felix frowned at their adopted pup and he slunk off to his bed with his tail down until Felix tossed him a small chunk of meat, then he settled in to watch them all with interest.

“Here, where do you want these?” Cas asked, his arms full of packages.

“Kitchen table, I guess. I’ll sort them after.” Kaden gathered up his own pile and brought them in, then made a second trip, and then a third when two trips by each of them somehow hadn’t been enough. It would have been nice to think the presents were breeding, but probably not.

Cas paused in the doorway and sent Kaden a quizzical look, then glanced over at Felix. “You want me to take the pup for the afternoon? You can pick him up this evening—I bet Pip will wear him out.”

“If not, Henry would,” Felix agreed, then shyly added, “Would you mind?”