A tear struck my cheek, unbidden. I'd been gone for just a little while and all of my work was being done for me. Had any new animals shown up? Would they know where the medication was if they needed help? What if they mis-dosed them? I sniffled and wiped my eyes. "Do they know to call Doctor Burton if there's a problem?"
"Honey, we paid a vet to go with them. There's someone on staff right now, seeing to Elijah's cracked paws. He's the big Saint Bernard mix, isn't he?" Gabe asked.
I swallowed. Elijah had been an issue. The poor dog had the worst skin I'd ever seen. "Yeah, Saint Bernard and Cocker Spaniel."
"How in the fuck did that happen?"
Leo walked into the kitchen, human once again and stealing an egg off the plate beside Gabe. There was a stack of them a mile high and Leo popped it into his mouth in one bite. He continued, "I like Elijah. Good dog. Likes to smash me into the counter top and I'm all for it, really."
I frowned. "How do you know Elijah?"
"No one told you? I've been making sure they're doing everything right over there. Not that they would screw it up. They're good people and they really love what you've done with the place," Leo said. "You've just been trapped by a budget, by the looks of it. And you skimp on everything that's yours. That computer's from 1994."
"2007, thank you very much," I said, scowling. "It still works. There's no reason to replace it."
"Honey, it smells like it's catching on fire when you turn it on."
It was my turn to pick up an egg and shove it in my mouth. I followed it with several strips of bacon. I didn't want to tell him he was right. I knew my computer was on its last legs; I mean it still had a CRT monitor, but it was mine. I'd worked for it and I didn't have the cash to replace it.
"Regardless," Leo said. "We bought you a new one and got you all taken care of. Full database upload, should move a lot faster now."
My jaw dropped. "You did what?"
"Bought you a new computer," Gabe said. "Four screens, too, so you can maximize what you're doing at one time. You've got so many spreadsheets on those animals, we thought it best to make sure you had a way to utilize them."
"And we paid off that vet tab," Xavion yawned, tapping a dog's picture. "Lady, right? I like her best. She just wants to be a mop on your lap and snore. Coolest dog I've met."
"You did what?"
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. The idea of being off the hook to Burton's clinic, that I might not have to start begging for donations just to pay them, was paramount to being told I'd won the lottery. Sure, we got some donations, but they were never enough. People out in the sticks didn't pamper their dogs like those in the city did, and I was constantly cleaning up behind them.
Whether it was fleas or teeth that desperately needed to be cleaned, I was always in the hole after taking in an animal. It worked out, because I had a little in savings. But I tried to just make payments to the clinic rather than break myself and not know when the next cash flow was coming in.
But I couldn't look at my pack as an easy way to make money. That was... wrong. They were more than that to me and I took a breath to tell them so.
"I told them to do it."
Hudson walked into the room, all power and sexuality. My eyes locked on him and my body flushed. Gabe pulled the pan off the stovetop and slid his arms around me from behind, but it was Hudson that had my attention. Of all the alphas in my life, he was the head of them. And I really wondered why.
It wasn't as if he was stronger, more handsome, or smarter than them. It wasn't that he had more money or power than the others; indeed, they seemed to own Fontaine Feeds as a group rather than as individuals. Yet, he was their CEO. He was their pack leader. He was the guy who stopped time when he walked into a room.
And for the life of me, I couldn't figure out why.
Maybe it was just plain old charisma. Some people have it. They step on stage and that presence is there in an instant. They grab everyone's attention, demand it just by the way they walk, and people either listen or they make them do it.
I definitely wasn't that person. But I wasn't going to just fall in line like a good omega, either. "But why?"
"Because I'm not having my omega living in a place that doesn't serve her goals, with equipment that's faulty, and a credit line that's about to run out when Carrie Ann might need hip surgery in the next year."
I met his gaze for the first time in what felt like forever. My brows came together, little wrinkles appearing on my forehead. "But it's so much money."
Hudson crossed the kitchen to me and cupped my cheek. He eyed me for a moment and I had to look away from him, concentrating on the tip of his nose instead. Every instinct in me wanted to fall to the floor, present, beg him to knot me again, but that certainly wasn't appropriate when we were discussing finances. I shooed it away and swallowed. "It isn't."
"There was a time and a place when I'd have agreed with you. We weren't always
