Page 66 of The Coyote's Veterinarian Omega

Connor peered over the back of my chair. “Seriously?” heasked, eyes widening.

“Who letCamreproduce?” Cody asked.

The third brother plonked himself into the chair beside me, stretching his arms behind his head. “So you’re the new omega,” he said, grinning.

He held out a hand when I turned to him—not to shake, but to fist bump. “Us omegas gotta stick together,” he said.

“You’re Chip?” I guessed.

“The one and only.”

“Nice to finally meet you.”

Chip smiled winningly. “Good to have another omega around,” he said. “You know, we’ve got to stick together, against this pack of alpha brutes.”

I gave a weak laugh. I didn’t think Cam was a brute. Nor was Cal. Connor was maybe a little rough around the edges, but he was just eighteen. And hadn’t we all been stupid at that age? I sure had been. I was pretty sure it was par for the course with guys.

If that was what omegas were. I bit my lip, suddenly unsure. I glanced at Chip—a shifter omega, someone who had been raised in this space and knew what that meant.

And he seemed like any other guy I knew. I let the tension leave my shoulders, relaxing further into my chair. If Chip could be raised as an omega and call himself a man, then so could I. No need to ask any questions, no need to have an identity crisis.

“You back for the summer?” I asked.

Chip made a face. “Nah. Just the weekend, really. Some friends and I are road tripping, so we stopped in here. I’m staying up at the hotel outside of town.”

“Like aloser,” Connor sneered as he darted by, ruffling Chip’s hair.

“Hey!” Chip snapped, whipping around.

Caroline was practically hovering over me. “You need anything,sweetie?”

I shook my head. “I’m good,” I told her, and I was surprised to find that I meant it.

I was good. Very good. The best I’d been in a long, long time.

And I had Cam to thank for it.

I beamed across the way at him—my mate—and I let myself revel in the summertime heat, the long sunshine of the afternoon, satisfaction settling deep in my bones with the knowledge that this was my now and forever.

Cam

It was snowing like a bitch, but i peeked impatiently out the window, hoping to catch sight of movement down the driveway. it was christmas day, and, despite the fact we had a two-week-old infant, i’d insisted on having the family over for at least cake and presents in the afternoon. we hadn’t made it out to rocky ridge last night for the traditional carlyle christmas eve celebrations, and i’d be damned if i was going to miss celebrating with my family.

Not that I’d minded being at home with Wyatt and our baby girl. The last two weeks had been a blur. I was exhausted, excited, and a total wreck of anxiety. Every cry made me tense, and I had no idea what I was doing. Cal was totally useless, and Aunt Caroline and Karla weren’t much good with infants.

Surprisingly, it was Vern and Burt who had been our rocks. One or the other had been by every day. Maybe it was all thetime they spent around baby animals, but the two men were big teddy bears with our precious girl. I’d been reluctant to let them handle her at first—she seemed so small and fragile—but the first time she’d snuggled into Burt’s arms, I knew no harm would ever come to her, not while Papa Burt or Grandpa Vern were on duty.

“Relax,” Wyatt said from the sofa. “They’ll be here. The snow probably just slowed them down.”

“What if they got stuck in a ditch?” I let the curtain drop, striding for the door to grab my jacket. “I should go out and look for them—”

Wyatt rolled his eyes. “Cameron. Just sit down. Or put on a pot of coffee or something.”

“It’s really snowing,” I muttered, glancing back toward the window.

Wyatt shook his head, his dark hair swinging. I was surprised our baby didn’t protest being rocked—but maybe she was used to being jostled. She was sleeping pretty soundly.

“Your brothers know the roads around here like the back of their hands,” he assured me. “And they also know the weather.”