Chapter 61
Bayleigh
The next month moves so fast it barely feels real. It’s like I’m in a dream I never want to wake up from.
Each day I wake up expecting to realize it was just the haze of my heat. That I never bonded with my pack, that instead I used some heat clinic my parents had selected. But when my eyes flutter open and the scene before me becomes clear, I know my dreams are reality.
My pack is always there surrounding me. Lincoln’s stable presence always keeps me steady, Milton dancing while making coffee to some tune I can never hear. Then there's Korbin, my grumpiest bond. He’s always watching, making sure I’m safe.
Everything is happening in a whirlwind—quickly, permanently. And I wouldn’t change a thing.
When the guys said they wanted a bigger house, one that was ours and had everything I needed, they weren’t just saying the words. They meant it.
We’ve been touring houses over the last month in between practices, press obligations, and stolen afternoons that still feel unreal.
My fingers drift through the listings our realtor gave us for today.
I haven’t found the place that feels like home yet in all the ones we’ve looked at, and I’m about to just give in to whichever one the guys love.
But they won’t settle.
If I don’t like it, if I can’t decide, then it’s a no-go for them as well.
For the first time in my life, I have alphas who are all about me. And I don’t know how to handle it.
I think a part of me is also afraid that if I find a home I love, that I’ll want it so badly and it’ll slip through our fingers.
Do you like any of these more than the others? Korbin signs, I can’t help but smile at how much he’s improved and expanded his knowledge of ASL.
I just shrug my shoulders as I pick at the tab on my can of Pepsi.
This one has a good kitchen. You know how we all love to cook together. We’ll have plenty of room to move around. Korbin signs while simultaneously speaking.
It does.
“This one has too many blind corners,” Lincoln interjects, immediately dismissing it.
When the guys said they wanted the communication in our home to be the same as my parents’, they weren’t lying. They sign and speak everything. Sometimes, they just sign, especially if we’re in public because they like to see how many filthy things they can say to get me to blush.
Spoiler. It doesn’t take much. My alphas are protective, caring, and filthy as hell. I love it.
“This one feels wrong,” Lincoln says, fingers brushing my wrist like he’s checking in with my instincts as much as his own.
Milton leans over and places his phone down in front of us. Seems he was looking ahead of us.
“How about this one? It looks perfect.” Milton’s face is full of excitement.
We all crowd around his phone, taking in everything—tThe bedrooms, layouts, square footage, location.
The guys are even looking at the schools in the district for when we start having children.
Each of them wants two. Me, I think three will be the max.
One for each of them. But I know they’ll win out in the end.
Set it up. I sign. Maybe we can go after my appointment today.
On it. Milton signs back, picking up his phone, hitting some buttons then holding it to his ear.
Lincoln slips his arms around my back, draping his hand over my shoulder.
I lean into his embrace. Over the last month, I’ve been talking to the guys about my implant, especially after the appointment I had right after my heat.
It’s functioning so badly, and I was given two options—remove it and replace it with a new one, or keep the failing device.
I offered a third option. Removing it all together.
The guys asked me why I wouldn’t want a new one.
I didn’t have to think about it. When I was given the opportunity to hear, not much, but a little, I was over the moon ecstatic.
Then as the years passed, it started failing until I barely heard anything.
This was devastating, and it impacted how I felt each and every day.
It was a constant stress, and I worried every day if that would be the day I lost sound totally.
Until one day, I realized that was a good thing.
I don’t want to go through that again. I’m happy with who I am, and I just want to live the rest of my life in a soundless world, knowing that I’m loved by three amazing men.
When I explained it like that, they said they would support me completely. And they have. They’re even going to my appointment with me with the surgeon to discuss having it removed.
“We’ve got an appointment at three today. Before we go to Bayleigh’s appointment, we just need to swing by the office and pick up the keys to look at it,” Milton tells us, a huge grin on his face.
I know it the minute we step into the house.
It’s our home.
Everything about it feels right. Home. Milton can’t stop smiling, gloating that he’s the one who picked it.
It’s twenty minutes from the Kraken rink.
Perfect for Milton, Korbin, and myself. Since Lincoln spends more time out of his office than in it, the drive for him is inconsequential.
One of the best parts is that there’s an office big enough for two desks in it, so that Lincoln and I can work from home when we want to.
Moving through the house, I take in the large windows. There’s light everywhere, with the sun spilling across the warm wood floors. I’d never put anything but sheer curtains up, wanting it to feel like this all the time.
The air feels… clean. Untouched. Not haunted by anyone else’s memories. Of an omega who isn’t me being in the space I inhabit.
I step into the kitchen and stop dead in my tracks.
It’s huge.
The images on the site didn’t do it justice.
It’s nothing flashy—just open and bright, with a wide island, deep sink, and cabinets that stretch toward the ceiling.
Sunlight pours in through a window above where a breakfast table would go.
For the first time in our search, I can picture myself in this home. I can picture my alphas here with me.
Cooking. Laughing. Feeding our pack.
“Oh.” The word slips out loud from my mouth.
Milton grins instantly before speaking. “She’s gone.”
Lincoln smiles in agreement. “We’ve lost her to the kitchen.”
Korbin watches me carefully, eyes sharp, before he nods once. “This is the one.”
They don’t rush me. They let me continue to explore the rest of the house. I touch everything as if I’m some kind of inspector making sure the home has been built sturdy.
The bedrooms are spacious, the living room open and warm. But it’s the master suite that makes all three of my alphas salivate.
It’s massive.
A sitting area by the windows. A bedroom large enough to hold more than just a bed big enough for us all to sleep in comfortably. Lincoln glances at the layout, and I already know he’s mentally placing furniture in the room.
“This could be not only our pack room, but your personal room as well,” Milton speaks. “There’s enough bedrooms that you can kick us out to one of them until we have kids in them.”
My chest tightens.
“It’s not just a bedroom,” Lincoln adds. “Look over here.” He’s standing by one of the three doors in the room that I assume leads to a bathroom or closet.
We step over, and that’s when we see it. Stairs.
We follow them upward, finding a large room. There’s no windows. But there’s a bathroom attached, and it’s the perfect spot for a nest. My nest.
This is your nest, Bayleigh. Korbin signs, his mouth open in awe.
I nod.
“I can already see it—soft lamps, a huge comfy bed, plenty of pillows, and shelves for your comfort things—” Milton rambles.
Lincoln steps closer. “You’ll never have to pack it up. Never have to hide it. This will be yours. Permanent. Protected.”
Korbin’s gaze never leaves my face. “We can remodel it if you want something specific added. We’ll make it just like you want. Even add a window if you’d like. Everything designed for you.”
The words hit me all at once.
Permanent.
Protected.
Exactly how I want.
This isn’t a trial run.
This isn’t a temporary solution.
This is life.
My throat tightens, emotion hitting me all at once. I lift my hand, placing it over my chest as realization settles into me.
They aren’t planning for “if.”
They’re planning for when.
And that includes me.
“This is it,” my voice croaks out. “Our home.”
Milton quickly picks up his phone, hits some buttons, and places it to his ear. He’s talking so fast I don’t catch everything, but I don’t need to because he's securing our home.
I’ve never seen an offer get accepted as quickly as ours. But here we are the next day, sitting in the realtor’s office, signing the papers for our new home.
My hands shake when I add my name, but no one rushes me. It’s the first time that I’m using my new last name, our pack name. Bayleigh Brooks. Even Milton changed his last name to match ours. He just did it before me.
Milton squeezes my knee under the table. Lincoln keeps his presence steady at my side. Korbin watches the room like he’s memorizing it.
By sunset, the house is officially ours.
We don’t waste any time heading over there. We stand in the empty living room, light fading through the windows, the space echoing with possibility.
Milton takes hold of me, slipping his arms around my waist as he spins the two of us around playfully. I can’t help but laugh. “I wanted to hear that in here,” he admits.
Lincoln steps in, pulling me from Milton and kisses my forehead gently, before lifting his hands and signing. Home.
Korbin steps up beside us, resting his hand on my lower back. “You complete our home,” he tells me as I gaze into his eyes.
We brought an air mattress and blankets. What do you say we break in my new nest?
I toss them a wink before taking off down the hallway and rushing up the stairs to the master bedroom. I know they could beat me, but they’re not behind me. I know where they are. Getting the items from the truck.
I stand in the doorway that leads up to my nest. I can’t stop smiling. One by one, I take the stairs upward until I step onto the landing.
My eyes scan the bare room as I imagine how it will look. Blankets piled on a large comfy bed. My alphas’ scents fill the space. It’s a room not of necessity but of love.
This is where our pack will have its true beginning, building into something more than just the four of us.
And this time—I’m not building it alone.