Page 29 of A Home for His Omega

He met his papa’s gaze, suddenly feeling exhausted. They hadn’t seen each other in months, but his papa hadn’t come to greet him or showed any interest in speaking to him before the ball.

Milton looked more angry than guilty, as if he hadn’t planned on doing anything wrong at all.

Henry focused on the crowd filling the room and smiled his biggest, fakest smile. “My wonderful papa, Milton Powell, is known for his love of charity. For the past twenty-three years, he’s held an annual charity ball for the groups he admires the most. This year, he was kind enough to give his own family a chance to ask for help.” He gave his papa a sweet smile. “Thank you, Papa.”

The crowd politely applauded, and Henry looked out over the crowd, making as much eye contact as he could. “And thank you all so much for coming out tonight to support Furever Home Sanctuary in Hobson Hills, Maine. While most of you may never see the work we do, each and every one of you should feel proud in supporting our no-kill animal sanctuary.”

Henry beckoned to Teague and his step-brother came and stood beside him. “Almost two years ago, my brother, Teague, opened a no-kill animal sanctuary with the goal of offering help to any animal in need. He left his successful veterinary clinic in Washington and moved all the way across the country to a tiny town in Maine. With the help of some wonderful donors, a supportive community, and his own hard work, he has been successful.”

The crowd applauded, making Henry’s papa scowled.

“Recently, I’ve invested my own time and money into the sanctuary, officially becoming partners with Teague.”

His papa’s mouth dropped open and Sterling and Audrey looked surprised.

“When I first went to the sanctuary, I was completely unprepared for what I would find. I expected kennels with dogs and cats and maybe a dingy exam room attached to Teague’s house.” Henry laughed wryly. “What I found was a wide variety of animals living their best lives in cozy, little homes. For example, we have a whole barn just for our goats. They have their own pasture and playground where they get plenty of enrichment. We keep them well fed and play with them every day. Of course, Teague is there to make sure they all stay healthy with his own top-notch exam room and office.”

He tapped his phone and a picture of the goat barn appeared on the screen behind him. It wasn’t a professional picture by any means, Teague had taken it quickly. Sam and Henry stood surrounded by the smaller goats as they begged for treats. Their panicked looks had several people laughing.

“These are our smaller sized goats. They really like their treat time, but their silly humans forgot to grab the treats before coming in to play.”

He pulled up another photo of the goats, these dressed up in donated clothing. “Here are our larger goats. Occasionally they have pajama parties, as you can see.”

More laughter filled the room.

“While we have many, many goats, we also have other animals.” He showed pictures of the chickens, introducing each one and telling them all about the animal’s individual needs and personality.

“This is my chicken, Sophie, and her companion, Clucky.” The picture showed the two hens pecking at their food, side by side. “I adopted Sophie from the sanctuary a few weeks ago. She was almost dead when she first came to us, but Teague saved her.” He leaned over and kissed his brother’s cheek, surprising the man. “This man worked for hours to save one lone chicken.”

“Many of you may be asking yourself, why is one chicken important?” Henry pulled up a picture of himself with Sophie. He held her close and grinned happily. If he could see the joy in his own eyes, then surely everyone in the room could. “Animals bring people so much happiness. When I’m with Sophie, all the troubles of the world disappear.” He smiled at the crowd. “I’m sure many of you have a pet of your own that gives you unconditional love. This is what we offer to our animals at Furever Home Sanctuary.”

The applause was louder this time.

Henry squeezed Teague’s arm and the alpha went and fetched the basket of puppies from Sam. Henry focused the camera of his phone on the puppies, so their image showed on the large screen. “I want to take this chance to introduce you to our newest residents of the sanctuary. These puppies were brought to us as newborns. Their mama had an extra-large litter and couldn’t take care of all her babies, so we were tasked with raising these cuties. For the first two weeks, they needed to be fed every two to three hours. Now that they’re a few weeks old, we only have to feed them every six to eight hours.” He grinned at the crowd, enjoying the aww coming from several people. “We had to drive here from Maine, so we could bring them with us. While volunteers are taking care of our animals while we’re here, Teague and I take our responsibilities very seriously.”

Henry’s papa stared at him, completely shocked.

Henry stood up. “These puppies will be up for adoption in another month.” He smiled and fluttered his eyes. “Just saying.”

The crowd laughed again, the mood light and positive.

“Now, as a treat for your patience, I’ll introduce you to the absolute best dog in the whole world.”

Audrey and Tomás spread a black velvet runner on the stage and arranged two, sparkly white boxes. Henry thought he recognized them from the flower arrangements at the door.

Fashion show music played as Teague led Journey onto the stage. Journey looked adorable in his black tux jacket and bowtie.

The crowd cheered, the guests completely enchanted.

“This is my darling Journey. He was abandoned and living on the streets when a friend of Teague’s found him. Due to malnutrition and stress, Journey had lost most of the hair on his body. As you can see, after a year of love and proper care, he has regrown most of his coat.”

Henry picked Journey up and looked out over the crowd, stopping on his papa’s face. “When an animal comes to us, they are not in the position to be adopted. They have health or behavioral issues that need to be addressed. If they were brought anywhere else, they would be put down with no chance at finding a home. This is because most people only see what is at the surface. They want a pretty dog to show off or a cat to play with only when they feel like it. The animals at our sanctuary don’t fit into that perfect picture.”

He smiled at his papa, a real smile this time. “We know better, though. Right? Pets give much more than what they receive. They aren’t perfect. They may shed or make a mess. Maybe they aren’t pretty or fluffy. Maybe they’re a bit anti-social. That doesn’t mean they don’t deserve love.”

The crowd applauded again.

Henry took Journey to the velvet run. “Journey had a rough beginning, but now, he’s a smart boy who loves me, which makes me one lucky human.”

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