Chapter 33
B etween the screaming while chopping wood, the voracious fucking, and the luxurious shower I shared with Bear after said fucking, I was actually feeling like a proper human again. Cooper wouldn’t quite make eye contact with me, as if he knew exactly what I had been up to upstairs.
I parked myself in front of Kit and my sweet alpha gently finger-combed my damp curls, tidying them into a neat braid down my back.
“So, what’s the plan to salvage the fucked-up pieces of my life?”
“We’re prepared to purchase everything at the price the thrift store thinks they would be able to sell it for,” said Dakota.
“And failing that,” added Cash, “I’ll throw myself at them so they can’t put anything into the incinerator.”
I couldn’t help the small laugh at imagining him doing just that. “How terrible do you think it would be to reach out to Brandon and see if he has my ID?”
Every alpha in the room froze.
“Little fox, he tried to kill you,” Kit pointed out, his grip on my shoulders tightening.
“But that would be the easiest solution. What if I sent Cooper?”
“Then I’ll kill him,” my brother replied.
“But you could hold off until we have my ID. Assuming he didn’t toss it, of course.”
Maverick sighed, looking skyward. “It’s not the worst idea. How would Cooper get in contact with him, though? Do you have his number memorized?”
“I remember his house number from when he lived with his parents. I haven’t had to remember a phone number since I was a teenager, so the only ones still up there are from when I was a kid.”
“It’s a start,” said Cooper. “If his parents are still there, they should know his number. Give it to me and I’ll go call.”
“Good luck with the reception,” said Ryder. “You’ll probably have to go at least to the end of the drive until we get the satellite replaced.”
“I’ll handle it. I’ll go as far as I have to.”
I scribbled down the number I was ninety percent certain belonged to Brandon’s parents and handed the paper to Cooper.
“I’ll come too,” said Kit, “at least leave a message at the sheriff’s office, let them know Morgan is safe with us. We can also see if there’s anything we’ll need to have prepared for Morgan to file a report.”
Levi went with them, borrowing Ryder’s truck in case they had to go further to get a clear signal. Bear slipped into Kit’s vacant spot.
Dakota and Cash observed me quietly, nestled comfortably between Bear’s knees.
“Can I borrow you for a minute outside, Morgan?” Cash asked.
“Sure.”
“Not too long with your wet hair,” Maverick reminded me, fetching a beanie and carefully tucking it over my head.
“We’ll be quick,” Cash promised. We slipped on our boots in the garage and stood beneath the second-level porch. “You really are happy here, aren’t you?”
“I said I was.”
“Yeah, but it’s different seeing you be this relaxed despite everything. I know you almost as well as Cooper, and the Morgan I’m familiar with would rather chop off her own hand than cuddle up with an alpha. You like these guys.”
“They’ve been so ridiculously good to me, it’s hard not to like them.”
“It’s about time you had some more solid people in your life.” Cash planted a kiss on my temple. “I’m happy for you.”
“I don’t know how to do any of this.”
“No one really does.”
“I guess that’s true. I keep flip-flopping between wanting to stay and needing to assert my independence.”
Cash shrugged. “Nothing wrong with a little community. Not a single person in the history of the world got to adulthood alone. You’ve been talking about living in a cabin in the middle of nowhere for as long as I’ve known you. Would you still want to live there alone?”
I lapsed into silence. This place was unlike anywhere I had ever been, made different by the fact that the men who lived here went out of their way to take care of me. Thinking about a future of solitude felt strange, like the solitude would be more akin to loneliness if I still aimed for that goal.
“This place… These alphas…” I sighed. “They weren’t the plan, Cash.”
“It’s okay for plans to change. You’re the most practical person I’ve ever met and I know you don’t like to account for hypotheticals, but you have a bondmate now, so I think hypotheticals are out the window. I’m sure you could get some level of happiness no matter what you chose, but I want you to have a ridiculous amount of it. I want you to be so fucking happy you don’t even know what to do with yourself.” He squeezed me tightly, lifting me right off my feet. “You know we’ll support you however that looks.”
“I do know that, thank you. Do you mind if we go back inside? I’m getting chilly.”
Cash pulled the door back open, waving me through. “After you.”
Bear passed me a cup of tea as I hit the top of the stairs. I snuggled into his warmth, sipping the steaming beverage before I let myself be bundled back over to the couch.
Maverick was halfway through dinner prep when Cooper, Kit, and Levi returned.
“So, uh, I did talk to Brandon’s parents,” Cooper said, “and I got his number, but it sounds like he’s been missing for about a week.”
“ Missing ? Where would he go?”
Cooper shrugged. “They said the last they heard from him was when the search and rescue started, but he hasn’t answered a single call from them since then, and he didn’t answer when I called either.”
“What the hell?” Where on earth had Brandon gone, and why?
“Maybe he’s on the run?” Ryder suggested, though I couldn’t quite tell if he was joking or not.
“Why would he be on the run?” I asked.
“Cops get involved when people go missing. Assuming they’re halfway decent at their jobs anyway, which not a lot are. But, if they think you died out there, he would be the first logical person to look at if they’re deciding whether that was accidental or not.”
“Do they actually think I’m dead?”
“Isn’t that usually the assumption when a search and rescue gets called off?” Maverick replied.
I sighed, knowing they were probably right. “The doctor at the clinic let them know I was alive, so there’s no murder to investigate. God, this is all so fucked up.”
The small bit of hope I had kindled about saving my belongings fizzled out. Brandon was gone, for whatever reason, and the only other place my wallet could be was lost on the trail, in which case I would never get it in time.
I tried to put it out of my mind and enjoy this evening with everyone. Kit and Maverick made us an incredible meal of bison steaks with garlic mashed potatoes, Cooper and his pack taking care of the cleanup. Dinner was followed by card games until I started to droop.
“The blankets should all be dry,” Ryder told me. Some had gone in the dryer now that we had power back, and others were hung on lines across the living room so the fire’s heat could speed along the process. “Let’s reassemble your nest unless you want to sleep somewhere else.”
“The nest is perfect, thank you.”
Cooper and his pack settled into the bunk room for the night, and I gathered up my alphas into the nest with me, quickly drifting away between Bear and Kit.
* * *
I woke to the scent of coffee. Kit and Ryder were gone from the nest, leaving me with Bear and Maverick, but at least the fabric bundled around me smelled like my whole pack now. I stretched slowly, giving myself a few extra seconds of snuggling between them before I forced myself up.
“You awake in there, little fox?”
“Barely,” I replied, climbing over Maverick and nearly stepping on Pumpkin, who had passed out at his back. She lifted a sleepy head to acknowledge me before flopping down again. I gave her a quick scratch behind her ear and clambered out, met immediately by Ryder holding a cup of coffee for me.
“Morning, firecracker.”
“Good morning.” I accepted a quick kiss and sipped away the first third of my cup in his arms.
“I was kind of worried you would stop being cuddly after your heat was over.”
“I thought I would too, but I’m rolling with the vibes.”
“Big fan of that,” Ryder said with a laugh and kissed the top of my head. He walked me into the kitchen and sat me on one of the stools at the island, where Kit slid a plate of breakfast in front of me.
“What time is it?” I swiveled around to look at the clock on the wall. “Good god. Four-thirty? Why are we awake?”
“The warehouse opens at six and it takes a while to get nine people and a dog moving in the mornings. Figured it was better to get started early.”
I couldn’t fault that logic. The only light outside was the moon and stars, like nature was trying to prompt me to crawl back into bed.
Scarfing down my bacon, eggs, and toast helped me wake up the rest of the way, the others peeling themselves out of bed over the course of the next half hour. It was a steady stream of men moving in and out of the bathrooms to shower, dress, and get their share of breakfast. It was almost as many people as when I still lived at home, but the energy was so radically different.
“I used to get up this early all the time when I lived at home,” I told Kit.
“Yeah?”
“Mostly because I would get yelled at if breakfast wasn’t ready when my dads got up.” Kit frowned at that, but I continued, “Also it was the only time the house was truly quiet. I used to think I wanted to live alone in the woods so I could get some peace…”
“What do you think now?” Kit asked when I trailed off.
“I might be changing my mind on the alone part. It’s weird watching this many people navigate the space and not being afraid of a single one of them.”
His growl cut off abruptly when I made eye contact. “Sorry. I hate that you were afraid. I don’t want you to ever feel that way again.”
“You’ve done a very good job of preventing it,” I promised. “I’m processing a lot of things right now, but I want you to know how much I appreciate you and the pack.”
He turned the burners off and rounded the island, gathering me into his arms. Affection thrummed through the bond and I turned to see Bear watching us.
“Get over here.”
Bear crossed the distance, Pumpkin on his heels. He hugged around both Kit and me, and opened his arms when Pumpkin stood up, balancing her paws against us so Kit could pat her head.
“I think we’re ready to go,” Maverick announced.
“You ready, little fox?” Kit asked.
“As I’ll ever be.” I wasn’t thrilled about the prospect of having to scrape together all the broken pieces of my life, but hopefully it yielded some positive results. Either way, every alpha here was doing whatever they could to help me, and as new as that experience might be, I could definitely get used to it.