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“I guess,” Lexie said, looking thoughtful. I noticed Sam, Dio, and Pala pause in their stretches and turn to watch her carefully, but she was oblivious to all our attention for the moment.
“Plus, we’ve had a lot of help,” I said, reaching out and giving Helen’s hand a squeeze. She’d propped herself on the edge of a chair next to me.
It was one benefit of pack life. Our guys treasured us and were always willing to share the load. I’d only ever had to wince and one mate was drawing a bath while another gave me a foot rub. Yet, Helen had also been a big help to me. We’d spent a lot of time around the farm together, and she’d talked a lot about my mother and uncle. It had helped ease my grief. It was still there, but it no longer hit me like a raw punch when I wasn’t expecting it. I could remember them now, and smile at Helen’s stories.
The guys finished up their cool down routine and headed up onto the deck. Sam picked Lexie up and popped her back onto his lap. She stroked his chest lightly, not seeming to mind that he was sweaty.
“Do you want to stay for lunch?” I asked.
“Thank you, but we’ll head off,” Maia said, as she grinned at Damon, who nodded.
“Us too,” Lexie said, eyeing off the bare chests of Pala and Dio. I figured I knew how they’d all be spending their Sunday afternoon.
“We’ll head off too. We’ll go take over from River and Ryder so they can enjoy some downtime,” Helen said to me with a wink, and I blushed. River and Ryder were checking fences after one had gone down in high winds last night. I figured it wasn’t anything to worry about, or Nick wouldn’t be out here with us. He’d be back in the security office.
“Tell Hunter we’re on for chess tomorrow night,” Wolf said to Damon. Wolf and Hunter had made it a priority to spend time together after we’d moved next door, and they’d bonded over board games, of all things. They both loved them. Hunter was currently teaching Wolf how to play chess. But Hungry, Hungry Hippos was their favorite. I think they were reliving the childhoods they’d missed out on together. Hunter and Dave hadn’t come today because they were running a training session for Dave’s expanded cadet program. The guys took turns going into town twice a week with Dave to teach a group of teenagers self defense and close combat skills.
“Will do,” Damon answered, as they quickly got themselves sorted and headed down the steps towards their own golf carts.
“Bye, love you,” Maia called out to me, as she climbed right onto Max’s lap in the golf cart rather than finding her own seat. Damon and Leif trailed after them, waving at us distractedly as they crowded in, too. Damon had Frankie securely strapped to him in the sling.
“Love you too,” I called back.
Lexie, Pala, Sam, and Dio hopped in the cart behind theirs, followed by River’s parents, and in seconds, they were gone.
I eyed Wolf, who had leaned against the railing to wipe himself down with a damp towel he’d grabbed from inside. We had hot water but we were always mindful of wasting it.
“Not going to shower?” I asked him.
“No,” he said, as he looked at me with heat in his eyes. “I want to take a bath with you and Cary later.”
I groaned and buried my face in Nick’s neck.
“You’ve been ogling them both for an hour and getting everyone riled up in the bond. Did you really think there wouldn’t be repercussions?” Nick asked, forgetting Angel was sitting next to us. He covered his grin with a hand as I dug my elbow into him.
“I have no problem with a bath,” I said. “Later just sounds too far away.”
“What’s happening later?” Cary asked, as he came back outside with a damp towel as well. Nick just laughed at me as I groaned again.
“Wolf and Ava are having a bath with you,” Angel piped up.
“Lucky me,” Cary said with a matching grin.
“I’m going to have one with Lucas so I can splash him the way he likes,” Angel added, and I smiled down at her.
Wolf took pity on me and pulled a lavender button-up shirt on, but left it open at the front. He’d changed out of his sweatpants and thrown a pair of pale blue jeans on when I wasn’t looking. The total effect was ridiculously sexy and didn’t help at all.
The guys had found a specialist menswear store for alphas on one of their supply runs that no-one had ransacked. It had a range of bigger sizes and we’d taken Wolf back. He’d never picked out his own clothes before and he’d put on a whole fashion show for us, trying to figure out what he liked. It turned out pastel colors were his thing. He’d also taken a shine to the jewelry and now sported a bunch of braided leather bracelets.
Even the pale pink nail polish he was sporting failed to ruin the effect. It was courtesy of a manicure from Angel. Lexie had given her a rare bottle as a treat and shown her how to use it. I smiled at the memory.
Cary picked up Maia’s discarded popcorn and started munching on it, waving Angel over. She went willingly, climbing up into his lap. She still followed the treats. We knew it was because she’d been denied them when she was young. So we rarely denied her now. There weren’t enough treats floating around in this new world for it to be an issue. Wolf joined them, and we sat in companionable silence for a few minutes. Nick absentmindedly stroked my belly again as he stared down at Lucas, completely enraptured with our son, and it made me glow inside.
I looked out to the forest, loving how peaceful it was here. It was getting better out in the world, but traveling, or even existing really, still wasn’t without risk.
There was still suffering, but not on the scale it could have been. There was a lot of respect for the Network now, and they had stepped in to resolve a lot of disputes in local communities. Some alphas had objected to a group of betas wielding so much influence and had tried to throw their weight around. Mostly those from the upper echelons of our old society. The ones who had not only lost their wealth, but their power and influence, too. Our prime alphas stepped in, though, including Ghost, and we quickly stamped out any attempted alpha uprisings.
Other packs had sprung up as well. Most without prime alphas, but a few more of those had turned up, too. It amazed me how quickly it had happened, and how easily most people accepted the change in status for omegas. Nobody seemed to care or object. Packs could now meet omegas open to courting at the Omega Palace. It was heavily supervised, but the omegas had all the power. A few omegas had even found their packs already.
