17. Adan
“I’ve been looking forward to this for so long, but now I’m sad.”
Braylon walked through the almost empty house while I followed with Alora on my hip. What remained near the front door were our personal belongings, trash, and some items to donate.
“There are memories here. The first night I joined you here. Being pregnant and Alora’s first few months and those sleepless nights.”
Maybe he doesn’t want to move . My wolf was concerned Braylon wanted to back out of us moving to Springfield to be closer to Ellie and Saul.
It would take too long to explain, so I told him the house contained special memories.
Take your memories with you . My wolf was one smart cookie.
“Remember the time capsule you took to Ellie and Saul’s?” I phrased the sentence oddly because he would always remember it. He created it, and we kept forgetting about it. I plowed on. “What if we made a time capsule for our time in this house and took it to our new one?”
He flung his arms around me and our daughter. “You’re so smart. Why didn’t I think of that?”
With most of our stuff gone, we’d have to get creative. We were giving our old printer to a friend, but it was still here, so I hooked it up and chose pics to print.
Braylon took my hand. “Outside. We can get pics of us with Alora. We don’t have many with her in the garden.” The weather had been lousy since her birth.
My mate stuck flowers between his teeth and posed for the camera. We made a crown of daisies for the baby, and she giggled as we danced in a circle while I videoed. Dex, the puppy we’d adopted and named after Excellency, barked and raced around the yard, unaware this was the last time he’d be here.
We collected flowers and pressed them between the pages of a book. My mate found the medical certificate he’d taken on the plane. He still had it tucked into his backpack. We included a sock Alora had outgrown, the one she’d worn when only a few hours old, and a pebble from the garden.
We sat and wrote letters to each other and to our daughter. Putting my emotions into words was so hard, and I puzzled over what to write. But when we dug up the capsule in twenty years, I hoped she would pore over them and keep them close even after my mate and I went to the goddess.
“Maybe we can get one of Uncle Saul’s cake tins to put the things in.” Braylon collected the items and placed them in a paper bag.
I ordered food because we wouldn’t get anything on the plane, maybe a bag of stale nuts if I paid for them.
“Last meal.” Braylon accepted the food delivery and tipped generously. He’d gotten to know the delivery guy well over the last year and was sad to say goodbye. We all took a photo, and Braylon sent it to him.
“Another one for the time capsule.” Braylon printed it and stuffed the photo in the bag.
I took out the trash, and our next-door neighbor who volunteered at a charity shop, collected the donation bags and the printer for our friend.
“That’s it.” I checked every room and placed our suitcases and all baby paraphernalia near the door. Dex reluctantly went into his doggie crate, and my friend Jason collected him. We’d pick up our fur baby in the morning.
A reminder on my phone beeped. “We’d better get going. Don’t want to be late.” That was a joke in our house because we’d met because I was late and missed my flight.
But we were spending our last evening in a hotel because we had a special function to attend at Excellency’s home. It was to welcome the newly mated into the pack, whether they were human or shifter. Braylon and I should have attended before Alora’s birth, but he wasn’t well and was busy with his new job, and I’d made excuses to Alpha and Excellency.
“Let’s hope Alora doesn’t spit up and we have to bathe her at the hotel before leaving.”
We probably should have allowed more time at the hotel other than dumping our bags, a diaper change—for our daughter, though maybe that was in our future when we were older—and out the door.
But as we were getting into the taxi, Jason called. He’d had a family emergency and couldn’t look after Dex tonight. “I’ll wait outside with him.”
Shit. What to do with our very energetic puppy? He couldn’t stay at the hotel, but maybe our soon-to-be ex next door neighbor could take him.
Nope. Their little boy was allergic to dogs, Braylon reminded me.
We had RSVP’d Excellency, and despite the large number of people invited, he would know if we weren’t there.
“We have to take him. To Excellency’s.”
“What?” my mate screeched. He lowered his voice as the driver gave him a hard stare in the rearview mirror. “We can’t smuggle him in.”
That wasn’t happening, because all the shifters would scent Dex. “We need to contain him.”
Thinking of our puppy racing around Excellency’s pristine home, peeing, pooping, chewing furniture, and stealing food, I wondered if we should cancel and brave Excellency’s displeasure. But this occasion wasn’t just for me. It was for Braylon and Alora.
“You carry Alora, and I’ll put Dex in the sling.” We couldn’t hide him, but he wouldn’t cause any mischief lying against my chest. He might pee on me, but better that than on Excellency’s expensive rugs.
We made it on time after collecting Dex, and like others before him, my mate was impressed by Excellency’s home.
“I don’t want to know how he can afford this place.” We strolled along the sidewalk toward the house, surrounded by countless other couples, some with babies, others with large families, and some couples where the omega was pregnant.
“It belongs to us too. All shifters.”
Braylon side-eyed me. “So instead of paying for the hotel tonight, we could have bunked down here?” His cheeky grin suggested he wasn’t being serious.
“Best not to mention that to Excellency.” He could get defensive when people commented on the size of the house.
Kids came up to me wanting to pet Dex, and I squatted while they patted his head. He lapped up the attention, wiggling and whining to get down, but that wasn’t happening.
“Do all shifters have babies?” Braylon asked as he twisted his head and inspected the omegas’ bellies.
“No.” Just like humans, there were couples who didn’t want children or sadly couldn’t have them. “But the instinct to produce offspring is strong, and shifters are very family-oriented.”
My mate shot me a look. “Hmmm, okay, except yours.” Though that was partly true. They adored my brother, me not so much. But I shook those thoughts away because not only did I have a mate and daughter, but de facto parents in Ellie and Saul.
“This is stunning.” Braylon gazed upward at the intricate ceiling, now festooned with lights and garlands of flowers.
“My friend Rhett probably did the flowers.”
We nodded and greeted Alpha as we passed by. He acknowledged us with a tilt of his chin, which was more than I expected. But he caught a whiff of Dex and his expression changed. He strode toward us, and Braylon, my brave human mate, got between Alpha and me.
“Alpha, it was unavoidable. The dog sitter cancelled.”
“You misunderstand my intentions, Braylon.” Alpha put his face close to Dex and kissed his head.
Wow! I’d never witnessed Alpha exhibiting such warmth to any of our wolf shifters. Or anyone, really.
“Horatio!” Excellency’s booming voice was unmistakable.
If we got thrown out, we could lounge by the hotel pool for the afternoon.
No. You have the dog.
Oh, shit. How could I forget? He was nestled against my chest.
“And who is this?” Excellency elbowed Alpha out of the way and patted Dex.
I introduced him and cringed when I said we’d named the dog after him. But Excellency exhibited a broad smile and asked to hold Dex, saying it had been a long time since there’d been a dog in the house. He whisked Dex away and held onto him while he gave a speech and fed him dog snacks.
Alora fell asleep, and Braylon and I circulated while I introduced him to shifters and their mates, including Rhett, Morgan, and their twins.
“So that’s how you get on Excellency’s good side?” Rhett noted and gave me a wry smile.
“Who knew?” I replied.
As people were enjoying the buffet, Excellency brought Dex back.
“I hope you won’t be strangers and you’ll visit us every so often.”
I assured him we would, as my head office was here in Fairview.
But when he discovered we were in a hotel for one night, his eyes lit up.
“Dex can stay with me.” It wasn’t a question.
Braylon and I shared a glance. “That’s so kind of you. But he’s a puppy and…”
“He is going to do what puppies do. Come by in the morning and you can have him back.”
“Sounded like he wanted to keep Dex,” Braylon whispered.
“Maybe. But that’s just Excellency’s way.”
“Now if Alora sleeps early and doesn’t need your wolf, maybe we can enjoy that huge hotel bed and room service.”
Braylon tucked his arm in mine, and we strolled out of the building and headed toward our new life.
THANK YOU FOR READING.