“Our big baby,” I add with a chuckle, winking at the OCB agent.
I lean past Zack and wave to Kye, Rose’s more slender alpha. “Hello again. I don’t think we were introduced properly last time.” Mischief seizes me, and I smirk. “You were too busy running away. Something about table sex, if I recall?”
He groans and slaps his hand to his face. “Frick! Did you have to remember that part?”
Rose laughs and wriggles out of her alpha’s grip. “This is Kye. Don’t tease him too much, Red, or he won’t say a word.”
I grin and wave. “Nice to meet you, Kye. We enjoy listening to your music.”
“Thank you,” he says, straightening. As I suspected, mentioning music breaks the ice right away.
A warning quiver shoots through the bond, and I spin to find Zack and Zane staring at each other, Rose’s other alpha curling his hands into fists. We’d kept them apart by mutual agreement in the cinema and after party, but now both men stand face to face, radiating alpha aura. Conflicting fear and eagerness roll through my prime alpha as he studies his former kennel partner.
I step to his side and take Zack’s hand. “It’s been a long time since you last saw each other, hasn’t it?” I ask. As I stroke his arm, smoothing his upright hairs down.
Rose slings her arm around Zane’s neck. “Since the kennel cells, right, Zane? But that’s not your life anymore.”
“No,” Zane says tightly. Then, as if he changes into a different person, the tension in his body melts away. He twists his head to kiss his omega’s arm. “We had the same row in prison, too.”
My heart thrills to hear him speaking so well, and I bet his omega is equally proud.
Rose claps her hand to her mouth. “Gosh, I’m sorry. I forgot about that, but yes, you’re totally right.”
With the other alpha relaxing, Zack’s unease in the bond also settles. He slowly reaches out his open hand. “Superior One,” he says. “Let’s not fight. I’m glad to see you again.”
Zane steps in front of his omega. He looks down at Zack’s hand and nods. “Good you found a pack, Kicking Alpha.”
Zack rumbles with a chuckle. No one misses their slow, deliberate movements, both men not fully trusting, but Rose andI exchange teary grins as they peacefully clasp hands and shake. Like us omegas, they share an origin, even if it’s not entirely pleasant. And how fitting that they meet like this on the very grounds that will be home to the rest of their kennel peers.
Sniffing back the emotion, I turn back to the building. “Let’s peek inside.”
Callisto leads us through an open doorway into the outer wing. Studio-sized rooms open from the curved hallway to the yard, the glass not yet installed. A separate petition already has the plumbing in for a toilet, shower and basin. The rising sun illuminates the space outside that will serve as an exercise/outdoor area. From the plans, I know it’ll be completed with bars and swings.
“We can’t do away with concrete altogether,” Callisto says, pointing to the dividing half-walls between the individual exercise areas, “But I’ve already commissioned a mural artist to come and give them some life.”
“Looks great,” Colt says. “Miles above what Zane and Uno had at our house.” He scrubs a hand through his bread. “You mentioned something about classrooms?”
“Right.” Callisto leads us back inside. “We didn’t want tunnels underground because of the fight ring set up, so we decided on overhead access.” He points out the stairs on one side of the room. “They’ll be glass-topped, so the alphas can see the sky, and the only door will be here in the room. Once they reach stage two, the door will automatically open when it’s time for lessons. If they choose to follow the skywalk, that’ll take them directly to the classroom.”
We trail after him into the center building and climb a flight of stairs. Although I manage well on my heels, Zack picks me up and tosses me over his shoulder when my crimson dress keeps catching on building debris.
Rickon grins up at me. “Visiting a building site in a ballgown probably wasn’t our best idea.”
I prop my chin on my hands. “And yet it’s so me.”
He laughs. “True.”
The wide classroom has more traditional cells stacked beside each other so that one person can teach up to twenty alphas at a time, the men contained in the cells along one side of the room—cells that will remain open to their rooms. Still, assuming they grow curious enough to come to lessons, whoever teaches them will have to be a very special person to stand here and face them.
“Well, count me impressed,” Colt declares. “I think they’ll do well here, right, Zane?” He reaches out and squeezes the back of Zane’s neck, and the alpha grins and leans into his touch.
“Good,” his former feral confirms. “Better than prison and kennels.”
Colt nods. “Have you thought of a name for the place?” he asks.
“Yes,” Callisto says. “We’ll call it Fairhaven. This place will become their haven, but they’ll also have a fairer legal process to aid their recovery.”
“That’s perfect,” Rose coos.
