Page 7 of A Home for His Omega

“I don’t want to hear gossip.” Henry shook his head. “What do you think about him?”

“He’s quiet and kind,” Sam said, coming to a stop and smiling at Henry. “Tomás and the other Wilsons have helped us several times here at the sanctuary. He’s good with animals and gentle with his younger siblings. His sister, Tali, adores him. Also, I’m about ninety-five percent sure that he’s not a murderer.”

“You really need to let that go.” Henry sighed and opened the gate, moving to help Sam with the goats. “And I’m two hundred percent sure he’s not a murderer.”

He thought back to the hour he’d spent talking with the young alpha. Tomás was in his early twenties, big and well built, with close cropped black hair and sparkling dark eyes. Yeah, he was handsome, but Sam was right. Tomás was also kind. He had listened to Henry ramble on about ridiculous things and simply encouraged him.

“He’s going to make a coop for Sophie,” Henry said, tugging at Goaty McGoatface. “He also liked the idea of having a grooming station in my mudroom. He’s letting me style Mitzy, his Havanese-mix, too.”

“You could do that professionally, you know.” Sam darted away from Popcorn. “No, you just let go. Get!”

Goaty McGoatface finally let go of Sam, but Henry felt a tug and looked down. Tin Can had latched on to the pocket of his jeans. “Oh no.”

The goats circled Henry and Sam, bleating softly as they nibbled at their clothes.

“We’re surrounded.” Sam sighed. “I left my phone inside.”

“I left mine in Journey’s pooch pouch.” Henry shook his leg, but Goatzilla had latched on tight. “I shouldn’t have left him with Aunt Mia.”

“It’s alright. I have my phone,” Teague called from outside the stall. He held his phone up, clearly videoing their distress. “This is going on our social media for sure.”

“Don’t just stand there,” Sam said, glaring at his husband. “Grab the treats and save us before they decide we’re edible.”

It took half an hour and a bag of treats, but eventually, the goats were distracted enough to let them flee with their clothes intact. Mostly.

Teague hadn’t stopped laughing since he’d first seen them. “You always have to remember to bring the treats in with you.”

“Haha, laugh it up, asshole.” Sam hugged Teague. “You’re back early.”

“A woman called to arrange a drop off, so I came home right after the surgery.”

“Is it a goat?” Henry asked. The sanctuary received a lot of farm animals. Some had health problems their owners couldn’t cope with and others turned out to be more work than their humans expected. Either way, goats were a common drop off here. With Teague’s skills, they were even able to rehome a lot of them, but they still had a barn full of goats.

Teague winced. “No goat. Columbo is an elderly scarlet Macaw parrot and belonged to the woman’s grandfather who just passed away. She tried to keep him with her family, but it didn’t work.”

“Why not?” Sam asked.

“He’s old, irritable, and curses. This one is probably going to be a lifetime resident.”

Henry frowned. Not many people wanted a pet that wasn’t cute and cuddly. Birds were harder to rehome in general, but one that would need that much care? Teague was right. No one would want him.

“He’ll stay with us in the house, right?” Henry bit his lip. “He can stay in my room.”

Teague shook his head. “We need to keep him quarantined until I check him over. We’ll see after that. Being in a house with as many pets as we have may be more stress than he can handle.”

Outside, the sun was getting low and the rain had picked up.

Sam slid in a patch of icy mud. “We need to re-gravel the walkways again. Damn it.”

Henry sniffed. “I’ve already arranged for the walkways to be paved. I made an appointment for next month.”

“That’s too much money.” Teague shook his head. “Your dad has already given us more than enough help.”

“Our dad,” Henry corrected. “And this is my money, not Dad’s. Well, it’s Grandfather’s, but it’s from my trust fund. I can spend it how I like.”

Sam’s boot sunk into the mud covering the path in front of them. “I vote we thank Henry and move on.”

Teague growled. “I don’t want to take advantage of you, Henry.”

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