Talk About… Trouble (Rockwood Valley Omegaverse #4)

Chapter 28

Wren

B raxton was pacing back and forth in front of us. The kids were all settled in bed, and he had finally explained what his solution was.

His phone was on speaker so I could hear it ringing as he held it in front of him.

I hadn’t realized that I was shaking my legs until Devon put a stack of coloring books in front of me, Shepherd bringing the markers.

My attention was half on my beta, listening to the conversation as it unfolded, the other half on my coloring project. It kept the anxiety at bay enough that I didn’t freak out.

“Braxton Lancaster! I thought you forgot about your dear old grandma,” a voice called out as she answered the phone.

This Grandma sounded sassy, and I hoped that she’d be the solution he needed her to be.

“No, Nona, I would never. I haven’t been able to call because I found an omega, two of them in fact, and a pack.”

“Oh, my boy!” she said. I could hear the sound of her clapping her hands in the background. “I told you you’d find a good one. Two Omegas? You lucky brat!”

“I am,” he said, giving us a soft smile. “All the kids are actually here at the pack house tonight.”

His voice held enough of an edge that she was quiet for a few beats.

“What did they do, Braxton? You know I don’t want you to sugarcoat that shit for me.”

He let out a sigh before dumping every bit of his frustration on her. When he finished talking, he was practically in tears. Devon and I moved automatically, but so did Nash and Shepherd, closing in on him and providing silent support as he finished a hard conversation.

“Now, don’t you get worked up, honey. You know Nona’s going to fix this,” the woman said gently. I could hear the love in her voice, and it was confusing how she could produce a child like Braxton’s parents. I wasn’t sure which one belonged to her, but I had a feeling this woman was about to make their life hell.

“You know what? I thought retirement was getting pretty boring anyway. You tell my babies to give me two weeks to settle my affairs, sell my condo, and I will be there. And honestly, I’d appreciate it if you said nothing to your parents. I may just have those kids sneak me in so I can blindside them while they’re in full asshole mode.” She cackled a little at the thought.

“I’m sorry, I’m not trying to pass this burden on—” he started but she cut him off.

“Oh, you stop that. You have a new pack, two omegas who need you, and you are just starting out your adult life. You cannot take on six kids, do you hear me, Braxton Lancaster? That is not your responsibility.”

“It’s not yours, either,” he countered.

“Yeah, well, I’m the better fit for this job. Let me whip those assholes into shape. And I have half a mind to just kick them out and cut the funds. I know they’ll have that other trust fund, but our family puts clauses in ours, and they’ve more than lost that. We all know they won’t fight me for custody, either.”

“We’ll keep them happy this weekend,” Braxton promised. “They’ve already livened up a ton. You let me know if there’s anything I can do from here.”

“I will, honey. You leave it to me,” she said, singing a quick goodbye before hanging up.

The amount of tension that drained out of Braxton’s body had him nearly collapsing, but we were all there to help him to a seat.

Shepherd lit a fire in the fire pit as we all huddled on the back porch. We wanted to be a little quieter, thanks to the kids sleeping inside.

“I should have called her years ago.”

“No point looking in the past now,” Devon said gently. Braxton didn’t even look up from the flames forming in the fire pit as he thought it over.

“Thanks, guys. You really stepped up today,” he said. “I never expected to be able to trust anyone with them, and here you guys were, taking charge, splitting them up, solving fights, feeding them, housing them. I just… I’m blown away.”

“You know you’ve seen some shit when you start thanking people for basic things,” Shepherd said, shaking his head. “We’ve already said we’re a pack. This is just us being a pack.”

“At least I know that you guys are going to be great parents,” I teased, rubbing my stomach that had more pizza than baby at the moment.

“Speaking of making babies,” Devon hedged, “I think my heat’s coming sooner rather than later. I don’t know if it’s packing up or what, but I want to make it very clear that I would very much like that bonding to happen during my heat, if you didn’t get it already by our countless conversations.”

I chuckled, but I couldn’t disagree.

“These pack bonds are long overdue.”

“I’ll take that under advisement,” Nash said, teasing us.

Devon tore his slipper off, tossing it at Nash’s head.

“You’re such a smart-ass.”

“And you love it,” Nash countered as he caught it.

“I do,” Devon said with a huff. “I think we’ve got at least another week.”

“Is there anything else we need to get for the nest before then?” Braxton asked.

“Honestly, it’s perfect,” Devon said, looking at me for approval.

“It’s not my heat, but I think it’s great. It smells like all of you.”

“What about the animals?” I questioned, looking at Shepherd. “We were talking about this on our date the other night. Is there someone that you can have look after them if we ever take vacations or when we’re in the hospital going into labor, things like that?”

“I’ve got someone I can trust,” Shepherd reassured us. “I don’t have to call him in often, but they’ll be here without question.”

One of the kids cried out inside, the sound echoing through the open screen door. Braxton was up and moving while the rest of us put out the fire and followed him in.

I hoped it wouldn’t be a long night.

We were all up a lot sooner than we anticipated, half the kids rising by six right along with the sun. Shepherd was really the only one who was coherent at this time of day, but the coffee was brewing, and everyone but me was already two cups in by the time breakfast was finished.

“Do we get to see the animals?” Henry asked.

“Can we pet them?” Ben added.

“Do you have horses we could ride?” Lily asked excitedly.

Shepherd went into Papa Bear mode, shaking his head sadly. “There’s something you kids got to know about a farm like this. We’re a sanctuary for animals, which means that we protect them. These are animals that were too sick, too small, or abandoned and needed a home. Half of them take medicine. We have to be extra gentle with them, so I don’t have animals for riding, but they sure do love to soak in some love. I’m actually going to go feed the goats. Does anybody want to join me? I think Wren prepped some treats for you to feed them.”

“You guys go out, I got to call Mama Whitaker and make plans for tonight,” Nash said, giving me a kiss before Shepherd, Braxton, and I grabbed the kids and headed outside.

It would give the others a chance to clean up, make their phone calls, and recover from the chaos of the morning. We’d grown so used to our quiet routine that this was a stark change.

They must have taken Shepherd’s words to heart. By the time we got to the goat and rabbit pens, they were subdued, talking in hushed voices and being so adorably gentle.

They followed every instruction, and soon all six of them were in the pens, laughing and petting the goats, and snuggling the bunnies. Even the older ones, Trinity and Carter, had smiles on their faces as they joined in.

“It’s been a while since we’ve had crowds out here. They’ll be looking forward to these weekends just as much as the kids do.”

He pulled me to his side and placed a kiss on the top of my head.

“It’s kind of nice having kids around here, isn’t it?”

“It is,” I agreed. “You’re good with them.”

“They’re good kids. It’s easy. I know what it’s like to be raised by parents that don’t give a shit. All mine wanted was for me to be a tough alpha like them. I think if I would have designated as a beta at eighteen, they would have kicked me right out.”

“That’s terrible,” I said, shaking my head. “Do you ever talk to them?”

“No, and I’m not sad about that. They created this illusion that they were the only worthy ones, that only alphas could be strong and unemotional, like anger isn’t an emotion.” He rolled his eyes. “They can live the miserable little lives they formed for themselves. As for me, I’ll be here, happy and packed up.”

We passed out a few more goat treats to the kids before he continued.

“Funny enough, that was probably their worst nightmare for me.”

“Imagine,” I said. “Two whole omegas. They probably think it’s an act of defiance.”

“Maybe it’s just the universe trying to even things out,” he snorted. “Either way, I’d say I’m a winner. Even if things work out with Braxton’s grandmother, I think we need to keep this up once a month.”

My eyes were trailing along the small animal pen, watching the children laughing and petting the goats, feeding them, running around so they would hop after them.

“I was thinking the same thing.”

Devon walked in. From the way he was brimming with excitement, I knew something was up.

“What would you guys say if I treated tonight’s cookout like a trial run of ‘Devon’s Dates’? I’ve been picking up things here and there, ordering some items online, and I think I’m ready to do some practice rounds.”

“I didn’t even realize you were that far along,” I said. “You absolutely should, and you’re going to get some good feedback because a bunch of packs are going to be here.”

He held up his hands, his eyes widening. “Don’t freak me out, Wren.”

“Keep it fun, keep it simple. You don’t have to go too elaborate for the family. Don’t psych yourself out,” Shepherd said. “There’ll be plenty of time for trial runs if you want to try out different things, even after you already have the business running and want to try something new.”

“Perfect,” Devon said. “I’m going to steal Nash, and we’re going to run into town.”

“Don’t worry, we’ve got the kids,” I said.

“The goat kids or the people kids?” Devon said, laughing at his own joke.

I groaned. “That was terrible, Devon. Get out of here.”

Still laughing at his own cheesy joke, he was rushing off back to the house. I just hoped he had enough time to put this together. It was still early in the day, but everybody would be here around four.

“Are you nervous about tonight?” Shepherd asked, looking down at me.

I didn’t answer right away, gauging where I was at with it. It didn’t take long to realize that I truly wasn’t worried.

“No. I’ve already met a bunch of people that are coming. Maybe not the pack mates, but I’ve met the omegas at the very least, and Nash’s mom, so I feel like it’s going to go pretty smoothly. Especially with her helping put all this together.”

“I’d like to know how I went from the Hermit of Rockwood Valley to hosting giant family barbecues,” Shepherd joked. “I’m going to have to get a new pit. Maybe one of those fancy outdoor griddles.”

“Maybe I’ll actually learn to cook if you get one of those,” I joked.

“Or you can just let your alphas cook for you.”

“That does sound kind of nice,” I agreed, pulling him down to kiss him roughly. Having these kids around meant that they were off limits, and all my omega wanted to do was roll in her nest with her mates.

“One week until we’re bonded,” he said, resting his forehead against mine. “One week, little dove, and you’re mine forever.”

“I already am, Shepherd.”