Page 173 of Omega's Heart

“Watch him,” Quin said on his way back out the door with Kaden and Cas. “He’s convinced we’re all lying to him about that sort of stuff.”

Raleigh came out of the kitchen and handed me a puppy cookie. “Here, this should take the edge off him.” He winked and turned back to the kitchen.

“Thank you.” I held it out to Lonnie, who grabbed it with both hands and tried to shove the entire thing into his mouth. Carefully, I tugged on his arm until he was gnawing only on the end of it. “Does that taste good?”

Lonnie squealed and waved the cookie in the air, then jammed the end back into his mouth again.

Speaking of tasting good, I could smell the venison cooking in Bax’s kitchen. It almost completely overpowered the smell of the turkey that Raleigh had brought. I hoped my meat pies could compete— they both smelled delicious. My stomach growled—we’d skipped breakfast in anticipation of the meal here—and Holland laughed.

“What?” I demanded. “I’m hungry. And it smells good.”

He hugged me and tickled the baby’s stomach. “Honestly? I am too. I’m sure Quin thought he was in danger of being eaten on the way down here.”

I almost resisted the impulse, but I was a mated omega now. “I’m sure Quin likes it when you eat him,” I said solemnly and waited.

Holland burst into a peal of laughter and hugged me again. “You fit in so well with this family,” he finally choked out, then hiccuped. “Oh, damn.”

“What’s so funny?” Raleigh asked as he strolled into the living room to drop onto the couch.

“Just Felix being a perv,” Holland explained through his hiccups. “I need a glass of water.” He laughed some more as he got to his feet.

“Hold your breath,” Raleigh said through his grin. Then to me, “What did you say to set him off?”

I could hear Holland in the kitchen, trying to tell the story to Bax in between laughing and hiccuping. “He said something about Quin being afraid of being eaten on the way down here, and I, uh, took the cheap shot?”

Raleigh barked a laugh. “Wait until I tell Cas. He’s going to love you even more. I might be jealous.”

I waved off that idea as ridiculous.

Ann and Teca bounced through the front door. “Is it time for presents yet?” Ann asked, crawling up onto Raleigh’s lap and giving him a big kiss on the cheek.

“Soon,” he promised. “Where’s everyone else?”

“On the trampoline,” Ann explained, making bouncing motions with her hand on the top of Raliegh’s head.

“You guys are being careful out there, right?” Bax said, sticking his head out of the kitchen. “We don’t have the net up yet,” he explained to us. “There’s a net that keeps them from falling off it.”

“You got them a trampoline?” I asked. I got to my feet and picked Lonnie up so I could go peek out the window in the kitchen.

“It’s for all of them, from Midwinter Wolf.” Bax followed me into the kitchen and stood beside me to watch the pups yelling and bouncing. Cas and Kaden stood beside the edges of the trampoline, doing their best to control the chaos of the pups. Bax leaned over and whispered, “I think we even convinced Fan to reconsider his stance on whether Midwinter Wolf was real or not.”

“The pawprints?” I murmured back. Kaden had snuck out last night to help Quin make pawprints down the side the of building, Midwinter Wolf climbing up to the apartment to leave gifts for the pups.

He nodded and grinned. “The pups went lunar this morning when they saw them. I almost didn’t get a picture before they’d trampled all over them.”

I laughed softly. “Kaden had a good time.” I’d had fun too, playing my part as Midwinter Wolf around Bax’s home. We’d figured that the pups wouldn’t know my pawprints yet, and it looked like we were right.

“Thank you again,” Bax said and squeezed my hand. “It’s probably his last year even doubting.”

“You’re welcome,” I told him.

Noah came in the back door just then. “I’m hungry. Can we eat?”

“Soon, baby,” Bax told him and gave him a puppy cookie. “Will that tide you over long enough for more presents?”

His eyes widened and he nodded enthusiastically, a wide grin showing off a missing front tooth.

“Okay, go tell Pap it’s time, then.” He watched Noah pelt out the door and let out a soft snicker. “That should bring them in.”