Chapter Twenty Seven

Seth

Twenty-five names. That"s how many names are on the list Minos sent me. I"m sending it with Desir"ee when she goes with Obi to The Omega House this afternoon. If they"re among the omegas from the Northern territory she"ll find them. And then we"ll get them home as soon as they"re ready.

Michael and Ben are going with her. They go over there regularly. The omegas don"t really talk to them or approach them, but Elizabet said that their presence is incredibly helpful. She says that the omegas are more at ease after they"re there, even if all they do is walk through the halls and leave.

I haven"t been there at all. I can"t do it. I wanted to help them so much, but I can"t keep it together long enough to actually make it in the building. I can sit with Calian in the truck in the parking lot while Desir"ee and the twins go in, but that"s as far as I can get. My presence wouldn"t do a single thing to help these omegas heal from the trauma they"ve endured. And being surrounded by that many traumatized omegas would very likely throw me into a cycle of horror that I"d have a hard time pulling myself out of. They shouldn"t have to deal with that. It"s bad enough that it still happens sometimes and my pack has to deal with it.

I"m getting better, though. I"m so much better than I was. Time and being with people who genuinely care about me is what"s helping. Especially once I let go and allowed myself to be cared for.

"That"s a long list," Desir"ee says, coming into the kitchen. She leans over me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders and kissing my neck. "Are those the omegas Minos wants us to try to find?"

I nod. "I don"t know how many might be at The Omega House. I hope all of them, but I know that"s unlikely."

She switches sides to put a kiss on the other side of my neck, and then my ear. "We"ll find them." She kisses my cheek. "We"ll find all of them."

"I"m sorry I can"t go with you."

She hugs me from behind, rubbing her palms across my chest. "It"s okay. I"m glad that you can keep Calian with you. I could take him in with me, but it"s so much easier if he"s with you. He loves being with his daddy."

The intense wonder that fills me every single time I think about him and the fact that he"s mine pours into me and I take on the same moony smile I always get. I was never going to have kids and now I have the most beautiful son in the entire world. He"s so perfect and strong. He still looks just like Ben and Michael, too. Except for the eyes. He has Desir"ee"s eyes and I love looking at them.

"I like it when you feel like this," Desir"ee whispers against my neck. "What are you thinking about?"

"Calian. You. The twins. Us. I"m so happy, Desir"ee. I"m so unbelievably happy. I don"t know how to be this happy without smiling like a fool."

"You"re not a fool, Seth. You deserve every bit of happiness."

I don"t know how right she is about that, but I won"t give it up. I won"t allow anything or anyone to take this from me.

Michael and Ben drag Desir"ee out after two or three thousand goodbye kisses and leave Calian and I to man the house. It"s hot. I didn"t want to risk him being uncomfortable while we waited in the truck for them to get out. It"s so quiet in the house with everyone else gone. I can"t even count on Calian to fill up the silence because he"s not quite old enough to start making baby sounds and he"s not much of a crier.

"What are we going to do with ourselves, little man?"

He looks up at me with those big brown eyes and I melt again. I don"t know if this is normal. Do all parents feel so enraptured with their children? They have to. How could they not?

"Let"s go out on the porch. We can swing and listen to birds and I"ll tell you a story."

Calian has no complaints and we have a good run of birds and fairy tales before Brandon comes walking into the yard with Iris on his shoulders. She leans and reaches so much that he has to put her down before she falls and she comes running up the few steps onto the porch and climbs up onto the swing with me. She trails a dainty little finger across his cheek and looks up at me with Jasper"s face. "I can kiss?"

"You can kiss him right here," I point to Calian"s head, just above his temple. "Thank you for asking."

She beams up at me and puts the most gentle kiss on Calian"s hair.

"Good job, Iris. How in the world did you get to come over without your brother and sister?" I ask her, but the question is for Brandon.

"We came over." She puts her finger in Calian"s hand, grinning when he tightens his fist around it.

Brandon shrugs. "We just needed to come check on him. Dutch is asleep and Zetty is helping Devon in the garage."

"What"s she helping him do?" I don"t laugh, but I can imagine how helpful she"s being to Devon right now.

Brandon shrugs again. "Mostly make a mess. Where"s everybody?"

"They went to check in on the omegas. Are you alright, Brandon? Do you need anything?"

He shakes his head and hops up onto the banister. "No, I"m fine. I talked to Cody and Joseph this morning. They want to come visit. They"re too young still, so I"ll probably have to go there, but I can"t stay more than a couple days. You know how it is."

This kid is barely out of diapers and he"s already a better alpha than half the ones I"ve known in my entire life. I nod. "I know. It won"t be like this for too long."

"I guess," Brandon says. "Reid started teaching me stuff last week. He says I need to work on my focus. Jasper suggested yoga. Do you do yoga?"

"I have done yoga, but I haven"t done any lately. It"s a good tool. It teaches you how to move your body. What is Reid teaching you?"

"History. And he bought me a pellet gun. I have to go into the woods to shoot it. And I"m not allowed to shoot squirrels or birds."

Reid is also teaching him patience, but he doesn"t realize that yet. "Good. Be careful. You don"t want to shoot out anybody"s eye."

He rolls his eyes. "You haven"t been a dad long enough for jokes like that."

"Are you sure you don"t need anything? You have plenty of clothes? Your shoes still fit? You have to tell me if you need things."

"I know," he says. "I"m good. Alex got me some books and Devon lets me hang out with him when he"s working on stuff. And I"ve got her to look after. Dutch is crazy."

"He gets it from his dad."

Brandon snorts. "Which one?"

I send them home after a few cookies and ice cream cones. Talia"s going to kill me, but it"s fine. I get to be the fun uncle today. And I"m sure Trent and Alex are going to pump my kids full of sugar and nonsense every chance they get, so it"ll be fair in the long run.

I"m asleep in the recliner with Calian draped across my chest when Desir"ee and the twins get home. She gently lifts Calian off of me and cradles him into her body. "How was he?"

"Perfect, like always." I stretch and think about getting up out of the recliner for about half a second before I relax back into it. "Brandon and Iris came over."

"They come over a lot," she hums. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. I gave them too much ice cream. Everyone was happy."

"Uh-huh," she smiles. "Talia can probably take you, you know."

"She can definitely take me," I laugh. "How was it today?"

She sighs and stretches her legs out on the couch. "Okay. Some of them are going to be ready to go home soon and others are going to take a while. There were ten omegas from Minos"s list. Most of them are going to be okay to go home soon. A couple are going to stay on for a while."

"I"ll call him in the morning with an update. Ten is better than none."

Michael and Ben come in and pile onto the couch with her. Michael sighs heavily. "There are a couple who won"t come out of their rooms. A few of them are in bad shape. Not physically, not that we can tell. But they won"t come out and let Obi check them over."

"We won"t give up on them," Ben adds. "We"ll get through the hurt. Desie can get them to come out, I know it. We just need time."

"I don"t doubt it." Not even a little bit. They saved me. From myself and everything else. If anyone can get through to those omegas it"s them.