Page 5 of Omega's Breed

Seconds later, the beta swung the truck onto the side road, then into the parking lot of a large home goods store. Will had never been here before. He’d never been anywhere, really. He stared in fascination and with a bit of unease as he unbuckled himself and opened his door. Before he could slide down to the ground with Annie in his arms, he found Finn standing in front of him. How had the beta made it around the truck so fast? And, why was he helping Will out? No one had ever extended that kind of courtesy to him before, except not an hour before, this stranger had helped in a similar way when he’d staggered with the pitcher. As with that time, the touch of the other shifter’s hand, even for a brief moment on his elbow had a weird affect. Almost like an electric shock.

“Th-thank you,” he stuttered out, and his cheeks heated with embarrassment.

The beta tugged him gently out of the way and shut the door to the truck. When he let Will go, Will felt the loss of contact. Instinctively, he hugged Annie tighter.

“Da!” she said in response, tugged his braid and kicked her legs as much as she could within the constraint of her sling.

He wasn’t sure if she meant the word to refer to him or it was just the easiest thing to say so far. Either way, he enjoyed hearing it. He had no one to ask about these things. The other omegas and the sigmas who’d become mothers gave him a wide berth, taking their cue from Magnus and his mate. Will and his pup had effectively become pariahs within their pack. The only time he’d gotten help with Annie was when he was doing his pack-assigned chores. He worried about how things would work in his new pack. Hopefully someone would be willing to watch her on occasion until she was old enough to be left alone for a while.

There he was borrowing trouble again, though. No sense fretting over something that hadn’t happened yet. Instead, he concentrated on the store they entered. Finn took the lead and Caleb took up the rear, like any good gamma. Will felt perfectly safe walking in line between them. The place was huge, but fortunately there weren’t many people shopping. Being around humans always made him nervous. In that sense, being mostly restricted to pack lands had suited him just fine.

Finn stood staring at the big signs hanging from the ceiling. “Baby stuff,” he muttered, then snapping his fingers, led them to the right.

Will’s eyes popped at the sight greeting them in Aisle Seven. He’d never seen so many things geared toward pups. Babies, of course, human ones. Still, pups spent their childhood in human form, so the vast array of items suited shifters, too. Other than a couple of plastic bottles and rubber nipples that another omega had tossed aside, he had nothing like this for Annie. Everything she wore and played with had been made by him by either using tossed away scraps or cannibalizing his own clothing. As he followed the beta down the aisle, he stared wistfully at all the things he’d never be able to give his daughter.

Finn stopped in front of the section lined with car seats and crouched down. He studied a couple of different ones before looking at Will. “Hold her up a minute. I want to see how big she is.”

Not very. Will freed her from the sling and held her by her underarms for inspection. She kicked her chubby legs and yanked at his braid still clutched in one precious fist. He winced, of course, but smiled as well because Gods, he loved her so much, it made his heart ache.

The beta stared up at her, blinking rapidly. “She’s so tiny.”

Annie reached out her free hand. “Da!”

A stricken look passed across Finn’s face. Will quickly turned Annie around and pressed her against his shoulder. “It’s the only word she knows,” he hastened to explain.

Coughing, Finn switched his gaze back to the car seats. “How old is she?”

“Eleven months.”

“Small for her age.”

“Yes.” At least it came naturally to her. He’d made sure she never went hungry.

“Not surprising considering you are, I suppose.” The beta was back to muttering, although Will heard him well enough and blushed. His lack of physical stature had always bothered him. Even for an omega, he was on the short and skinny side.

Caleb stepped past Will. “We’re going to need the rear-facing kind, but this one,” he said, pointing at an elaborate-looking seat. “Converts as the kid grows. Looks like the best bet, although it’s on the pricey side.”

Finn stood. “Yeah, that’s the one we want. The pack has a few pups now and although we have some car seats already, one more will be useful, especially one that converts for older kids. It’s worth the money.”

Will wanted to argue the point, but kept his mouth shut because he was only a lowly omega and it wasn’t his place to school a beta or a gamma on anything. He’d already said enough in the truck and had been lucky not to get a backhand for his insolence. So, he watched Caleb pull a boxed-up version of the seat Finn had decided on. He jiggled Annie to keep her occupied and realized her diaper needed changing. He wondered if there was a bathroom in the store that he could use. Before he had a chance to ask Caleb, Finn moved on to stare at a colorful portable crib. The pack had a few of them, although Annie had never been in one that he was aware of.

Shoving his hands in his back pockets, the beta grimaced. “We’re going to need one of these, too. The motels will have beds and Annie shouldn’t sleep on one of those. She might fall off.”

Alarmed that even more money would be spent, Caleb found the courage to speak up. “Caleb and I could, um, maybe share a bed with Annie between us.”

“No!” The beta turned to glare at him with such a fierce expression that it caused Will’s heart to skip a beat. He immediately tucked Annie under one arm and twisted so the she was out of the line of fire if he was about to get a smack.

Finn’s face relaxed immediately. “Sorry. I mean it wouldn’t be safe, either. Caleb might squish her or something.”

The gamma chuckled, defusing the tension. “Yeah, I hear you on that.” He looked at the crib. “So, this one?”

Finn nodded. “Yes. I’ll get it.” He reached up and pulled another big box down and tucked it under his arm. Then he scrutinized Annie. “Diapers.”

“I have more cloth ones in my bag,” Will reassured him because this was getting silly. Too much money was being spent on a pup that their new alpha wasn’t even expecting. Annie didn’t need store-bought diapers. Will could wash the ones he’d brought each night in the bathroom sink. The beta didn’t need to know that they were really no more than rags.

The guy shook his head anyway. “We’re going to be on the road for a few days, and the days are going to be long. You won’t have a chance to wash and dry cloth diapers, not easily at least. I think I saw disposable ones toward the front of the aisle.”

The beta, being a beta, didn’t give him any further chance to argue. He simply walked past both Caleb and Will and expected them to follow. Which they did. At least he allowed Will to pick out the type and size of diaper. And, ordered Caleb to grab two more packages after Will picked up only one. With an inward sigh, Will gave up his struggle and decided to appreciate how much easier it would be to travel with Annie if he could toss her dirty diapers.

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