“No, we were called to be up here for a reason. For you all.”
Theo knew he’d been called up here, and then Liam had been called to him.
No one from his past would ever believe that he was the lead omega for a pack.
No one ever.
But he was, even if it was a tiny pack, and he had responsibilities, so he was going to make this work.
Even if it killed him, and it might.
Pregnant during the winter with a new pack to feed, a new mate, and his mate’s brother hanging around to watch everything that was going on. Yeah, it might just wear him down a little bit.
Still, Liam had stepped up to the plate a lot, and he was getting stuff done. They were expecting a huge load of supplies from the Calhoun family. Jameson and Keegan had already been up to check out their pack and quietly approve them joining. Loyal had brought Niall up so that everybody knew there was a seer within a few miles. And they had a huge load of knitted and crocheted blankets, sweaters, and other natural fiber goodies from Jameson and Keegan’s old ladies’ aid society.
All they needed to do now was sort through some of the volunteers who wanted to come up. They thought maybe one of Liam’s cousins was going to come. And a few, both omega and alpha members, of Jameson and Keegan’s pack, had said they would like to come up and stay.
They just had to sort out how much room they had, and where everyone was going to live.
He headed back into the quarters that he, Liam, and Gael shared, which were actually the closest to the big kitchen and lounge that were shared, packed spaces, leaving Sara and her family to have a meal.
Liam looked up from where he was sitting, making some sort of a diagram. He had a feeling that Liam was plotting out exactly what he had just told himself—where everyone was going to stay. There had been five dragon brothers, apparently, and their families. Each had had their own set of quarters, but they had kind of grown exponentially with children and stuff, so there was his and Liam’s quarters, and then Ryan had his own set. He had no idea how many living areas they were actually going to need for Sara and the two male pack members that had come with her and all of the children.
“Hey, love.” Liam smiled at him, holding out a hand. Gael sat in a little carrier next to Liam, playing with his feet and cooing. “How’s it going out there?”
“Good. Everybody’s having a meal, except Brant, who is out chopping wood. And Ryan must be in his own quarters.”
“He is. He wanted to make a call down on the sat phone and talk to Dean for a little while. Come sit with me.” When he took Liam’s hand, Liam drew him over to the table, but instead of putting him in his own chair, he pulled Theo into his lap.
“Everything is okay with Ryan, though?”
“Sure, he’s just wanting to make certain that everything is well taken care of before the big snow starts to come. We’re going to have to get a couple of snowmobiles up here so that we have mobility during that time.”
“So many moving parts that I never even thought of,” Theo said. “We didn’t really have anything like that in our old pack. We had a couple of ancient old pickup trucks, but that was it.” He nuzzled into Liam’s neck, taking in the deep musk and pine scent of his mate.
“Well, it’s good to have a support system in place. This way, we’re all safe and warm, happy for the winter. I want to make sure there’s enough books, games, and puzzles—things for people to do. We have the satellite and everything, but if the weather gets bad, then we’ll have to amuse ourselves.”
Theo nodded. He was perfectly capable of self-amusing. He knew how to crochet, he loved jigsaw puzzles, and he could read with the best of them.
“I guess we’ll be making sure that the children have things to do so that they don’t get destructive.” Theo got that. How little ones need to be occupied.
“Yeah. And I think it’s been a while, maybe never, since these kids had toys and stuff.” Liam kissed him, humming a little as he did. “You are the best distraction.”
“Well, everyone deserves toys and books and games. To grow up safe and fed, right?” He leaned into his lover. “I’m tired of living in interesting times.”
“But at least we’re living in them together.”
Liam had a point, and he was solid and warm against Theo, and the kisses were making him a little dizzy.
He focused on the kisses, stealing one after another after another, and it was delicious.
Liam stroked his belly, his lower back, the curve of his hip, loving on him and making him melt inside. All of his tense muscles relaxed. Well, all of them but his ass, which was clenching, and he was wet already, his cock hard.
Hormones were a wild thing, and Liam brought it out in him anyway.
“Mmm… Should we put the baby down for his nap and—” Liam nuzzled his jaw. “Have a little nap of our own?”
“I could totally handle that.” Theo stood, chuckling at Gael, who was already sound asleep, thumb in his mouth.
