Epilogue
Kye
T hanksgiving was tomorrow. We might’ve already eaten two smaller turkeys—because who wanted a gigantic one anyway—and there were two more in the ovens.
The house was ready. It had a patched up roof that would handle the winter, new windows—including that nice bay window in the kitchen that was Carys’ favorite studying spot. The backside of the home would get worked on in the spring, and we’d decided to leave the garage slash chicken coop build for springtime, also.
Lina had become a fixture. Mr. Keller had told us to keep her—in a playful way that told us how much he loved his daughter and didn’t mind the budding romance between Lina and Carys whatsoever. He and his wife had even let her stay with us for Thanksgiving, because they and her brothers were going to visit some family that hadn’t been kind to Lina while she was in recovery from her accident. It hadn’t been a big deal, she’d told us, but enough that she didn’t want to spend a whole evening there.
I was outside with the girls, Max, and Rian. We’d gone for a walk in the woods just for fun. Ben and Holden were doing another grocery run for tomorrow, and Brodie was playing lumberjack by the back corner of the house, close to where he’d used the back porch for a firewood storage for the winter.
As we stepped back into the yard, we all stopped.
Brodie’s back was to us, he had taken off his jacket and was swinging his ax in only a tank top. Wolves didn’t get cold easily.
I tilted my head and watched his muscles play. The tight, worn-out jeans and combat boots didn’t do much to make him less hot.
“That’s got to be illegal,” I murmured.
“Uh-huh,” Rian and Carys said in unison.
Lina grinned. “I’m just gonna take your word for it.” She shrugged and stepped around us to jog toward Brodie. “Hey boss, can I try?”
“Lesbians,” Rian huffed with an amused expression.
“Okay aesthetically yes, but he’s my cousin so,” Max commented.
All of us turned to give him a look that made him blush. For reasons none of us would mention out loud.
We followed Lina and ended up taking turns with the ax under Brodie’s strict guidance.
H olden had accepted that the couch would be his spot when he stayed overnight. He didn’t want us to fix one of the empty rooms for him, so we didn’t. We respected Holden’s choice to not live with us. The reason was his alone, and we were giving him space. Instead, Brodie used his Alphaness to playfully tell him he wasn’t allowed to go to his apartment in town tonight. It wasn’t done seriously, he’d never order Holden to stay if he didn’t want to.
That’s what led into me walking downstairs on Thanksgiving morning and finding Rian staring at a sleeping Holden from the family room doorway.
He didn’t startle, his senses likely having alerted it was me, nor did he appear sheepish. He just gave me a sad little smile that made me hug him tightly.
“You really need to sort this out,” I said quietly. “I hate to see you this sad.”
“Yeah,” he replied with no commitment in his tone whatsoever.
I was sure Holden still had no idea about whatever it was Rian was going through. He was always polite and nice like he was with everyone, and I didn’t see the recognition in his gaze when he looked at Rian. Not like the other way around, because Rian certainly knew Holden from somewhere.
I let him be and walked into the kitchen to get my caffeine fix. I went to sit on the window seat with my mug and looked out.
We had some snow now; it was sticking to the ground but would still melt away on the warmer days. It made everything appear pristine, though.
Lina slunk into the kitchen, clearly half-asleep and going directly to the coffee maker. She’d stayed in Carys’s room overnight and would tonight as well. They were being adorable together. I was pretty sure they were still kind of dancing around the attraction, but I felt glad they knew to take things slowly.
“Morning,” I told her as she finally got her coffee made.
She nodded and came to sit on the opposite end of the seat, then leaned her head to the windowpane and closed her eyes halfway.
“Your sister kicks in her sleep,” she said drowsily.
I chuckled. “She does. Once, when she was little and had climbed into my bed, I woke up with her toes pressing against my nose.”
Lina chuckled. “I think I would wake up to that sort of maneuvering.”
“You’re good for her.”
She blushed lightly. “Thank you. I try.”
I nudged her leg with my toes. “Well for what it’s worth, I think you’re doing everything right.”
One by one, everyone else woke up, and we started breakfast. We’d agreed to eat lightly until dinner for obvious reasons, but mornings called for bacon and eggs.
“Can’t wait to have our own chickens,” Brodie said as he dipped some toast into runny yolk. “The eggs are always so good when they’re from free range, happy chickens and close to home.”
Ben’s phone dinged, and he checked it out. “One of the guys at the garage. He’s the one whose friend is the brother of that main asshole who showed up.” He texted something back and lifted his head to look at us. “He went to those wannabe thugs’ place with the friend. Apparently it’s a shithole in the woods. Like rundown trailers and stuff.”
“I’ve got to figure out a good reason to go check it out,” Holden said, sounding weary.
“Could be that’s why Gerrell wants this place. To move those guys here. Like if he had income from Rusty’s businesses, maybe he figures this place was good for that stuff,” Brodie mused, frowning.
“Either way, the real estate lady I went to see in town the other day, Gladys?” At our nod, Rian continued, “She says this place isn’t valuable like that. There’s no secret value in it. Sure, the value has gone up with the renovations and will continue to do so, but….” He shrugged.
“We’ll either figure it out or won’t, but we’ll be fine,” I said firmly. We had a smart, capable group of people here, and an asshole like Sheriff Gerrell wasn’t going to be a match for us, no matter what he tried.
T hat evening, we had dinner and then lounged in the family room watching more movies because none of us cared for sportsball. Then we ate some more and watched another movie.
The lethargy was real. Then suddenly, Rian got to his feet and turned his attention to Holden. “Can I talk to you in private?”
Holden frowned. “Of course.” He got up and followed Rian out of the room and up the stairs.
“Here’s hoping that’ll fix whatever this has been,” Max murmured.
We all quietly agreed.
We were at the tail end of Hot Fuzz when a door slammed upstairs, and Holden ran down the stairs. He didn’t stop for more than to pull on his shoes and jacket, and he was gone before any of us could react.
Brodie rubbed his forehead. “I better go check up on Rian.” He gave me a kiss and left the room.
The rest of us finished the movie, and by that time it was late enough that some of us started to clean up and head to bed.
I went upstairs and took a shower, then curled up in bed. Brodie found me there a bit later. He looked sad.
“What’s going on?” I asked quietly.
“It’s a whole fucking mess. He asked to tell you himself. Just… there’s some history all right.” He sighed. “I’m going to text Holden and tell him there’s no pressure from the pack for him to come back before he wants to. It’s….” The way he exhaled and chuckled with no humor hurt my heart. “I’m sure they’ll figure it all out, given time, but Holden is a proud man and….”
“Yeah.”
I watched as he texted his enforcer, then put the phone down.
“I’m going to shower.”
“I already did, but I’ll come with you anyway.” He needed some TLC.
He smiled tiredly. “Thank you.”
“I’m your mate, of course I’m going to take care of you.” I followed him into the bathroom and took off the little clothes I’d put on for bed.
I helped him get undressed as the water warmed, then pushed him into the cubicle and went after him. He closed his eyes as I bathed him, helping him relax as much as he could under these circumstances.
Whatever this thing between Rian and Holden was, we’d figure it out. Same with the Sheriff and his agenda.
Things had been simple enough so far, but that wouldn’t always last. Not with so many people living under one roof and the world being as it was. But we would try and sometimes we would fail, too. We were all people. There was one thing that I knew would always save us one way or another: we were the McRae pack, and none of us would ever stand alone.