Page 32 of Omega's Heart

“Whatever’s going. I’m not fussy.”

Holland threw him an amused glance. “We’re not the Army here. You can have what you want. Just look in the fridge and take whatever. Unless you want coffee or tea—kettle’s on the stove, coffee’s ready to go, just have to hit the button.” He never stopped moving as he spoke, checking this, seasoning that, distracting the pups in between. It was exhausting just to watch. And he did this at the same time as running that council thing that Quin had talked about?

Maybe he’d underestimated his brother’s choice of mate more than he’d thought.

“I’ll make tea,” Quin said from behind him. “Kade, that okay?”

“Fine.” Kaden rolled himself out of the way while his brother filled an old aluminum kettle and set it on the stove, then started filling glasses. It put him right beside the baby in the high chair, who stared at him with wide, delighted eyes. “Why do I feel like prey suddenly?” he asked.

“Zane likes new people. They’re unwary.” Quin walked past him with the filled glasses. “He’s into hair grabbing and sticking his fingers into anything he can reach right now, so don’t get too close.”

“Good to know.” Kaden wheeled himself a little farther away, slightly unnerved by the sharpening of the pup’s attention. “He doesn’t have any of those True Omega things going on, does he? Like, he can’t just drag me over to him by the power of his mind, can he?”

“No, just the power of cute,” Holland said, coming to nibble on the pup’s cheek, making him giggle. “And if I never hear the phrase True Omega again in my life, it’ll be too soon. I’m starting to see now why Jason gets so shirty about it.” He threw Kaden a look that was half joking, half dark exasperation, then spun away to start pulling plates down out of the cupboard. “Not trying to be rude, Kaden. But it gets to be a bigger thorn in our side every day.”

It occurred to Kaden that Holland was a True Omega himself and that he still didn’t know what it was that Holland could do. “Yeah, sorry about that. I won’t bring it up again.” He had never been a strong tactician, being more of an off-the-cuff kind of guy. Now he’d probably have to wait forever to find out what it was about Holland that Quin wouldn’t talk about.

Holland paused with his hand on one of the cupboard doors, then sighed and shut it. “You can ask, but later. After the pups are gone to bed. I’m trying to keep them out of this as much as I can.” He started transferring the food to the plates. “Do you want Quin to put that chair back at the table?” He looked up and smiled. “Otherwise, we’ll probably be fighting to keep the pups from wanting to sit on your lap to eat. They think the wheelchair is the best thing ever and they’ve been plotting with Bax’s pups to see who gets to be the first one to try riding in it.”

“If I switch out to a regular chair, are we going to have to put a boot on this one to keep them from stealing it?”

Holland and Quin exchanged glances. “Maybe?” Quin said. His voice was uncertain enough that Kaden felt a stab of mild alarm—what in the hell were they teaching these pups?

Then Holland winked at him and he realized it was big brother yanking his tail. “I’ll have my revenge, Marine.”

“Catch me,” Quin said calmly and gathered up a couple of plates. “Come on, grab a spot so we can feed the horde.”

C H A P T E R 2 1

H olland’s cooking easily rivaled Felix’s breakfast from that morning. After eating more than was probably healthy for him, Kaden ended up in the living room, slouched in his wheelchair with the baby asleep on one shoulder and Agatha curled up, also asleep, in his lap. Quin brought him a coffee and a plate with a couple of sugar cookies on it and set them on a table beside him.

“Let me grab her and put her to bed.” His voice was low and took Kaden right back to puppyhood, when Quin played Papa as much as big brother while their mother and her mate were busy with pack matters.

“I don’t mind her,” Kaden whispered.

“Yeah, but it’s almost bedtime anyway.” Quin scooped the little girl out of Kaden’s lap and carried her limp form to the other end of the living room, where a squared opening led into what had to be a hallway and the family’s bedrooms. Holland had gone that way earlier with the toddler and Dorian waited on the couch for someone to carry him off to his bed.

“At least they didn’t haul you away, bud,” Kaden whispered to the baby. Lonnie was heavy for his size, a solid weight on Kaden’s chest. An alpha, Quin had said, back before Kaden had come back to Mercy Hills.

Actually, no, it was Holland who had said that, according to Quin. How did he know? It was normal to guess, based on the pup’s behavior, but it wasn’t until they were in their teens that it became easy to tell if they were alpha or beta or whatever. The only exception being the omega boys.

So, how did he know?

At least he’d said Kaden could ask. The curiosity was going to be the end of him.

Holland came out of the hallway and rounded the edge of the couch. “Do you want me to take the baby or are you okay there for a moment?” he asked with that soft north Texas twang.

“We’re good.” Kaden rubbed the baby’s back. “You going to put that one to bed?”

“Yeah.” Holland bent to pick Dorian up. “Won’t be long. You need anything?”

“Naw, I’m fine.” As Holland left—and that was a picture—Kaden found himself thinking about his other brother’s pup and the sad look on Felix’s face as he’d held Madoc. “Seems like everyone wants one of you guys,” he mused as he rubbed the baby’s back and craned his neck to satisfy his curiosity about the place. He recognized some of the walls behind the couch, figured out where the camera would have been.

Quin came back. “You want me to take him?”

“You guys keep trying to steal him from me,” Kaden complained. “Go away.”

Quin chuckled and fell onto the couch, half stretched out as if he was going to try for a nap. “Keep him, then. You’ll change your mind when you have to change his diaper.”