Chapter 36 Walker
Walker
The second my workday ends, I head for Eli’s place.
I’ve got a pot of soup riding shotgun in the passenger seat and a loaf of fresh bread tucked beside it. I figured it would be an easy dinner for everyone to enjoy.
I told myself this is all for Amber, which is mostly true. I don’t like that she’s not feeling well.
But if I’m being honest with myself, I also want an excuse to see the rest of them.
The drive through Honeysuckle Grove is quiet this time of the day. The sun hangs low over the hills, washing the town in that warm golden light that makes everything look softer than it really is.
My grip tightens slightly on the steering wheel. I shouldn’t feel this eager to see them, especially since we don’t have a clue how any of this is registering with Lia.
But I’m eager, anyway.
When I pull into Eli’s driveway, I grab the food and head up to his front door. The porch light hasn’t come on yet, which makes the front of the house feel oddly still.
I balance the pot in one arm and tuck the loaf of bread under my chin so I can knock. I don’t want to chance ringing the doorbell, in case Amber’s sleeping.
But nothing happens after I knock.
So I knock louder.
There’s no sound behind the door, though.
A crease forms between my brows. I turn and count the cars in the driveway, just to make sure they’re all here. Eli’s rundown van. Knox’s truck. Lia’s rust bucket of a vehicle that I’m going to convince her to let me replace because no Omega of mine is going to be riding around in a death mobile.
Everyone’s cars are here. So why is no one opening the door?
Worry pools in my gut. I turn back to the door and knock a little more insistently this time. Eli knows I’m coming by, there’s no reason someone shouldn’t be up to get this door. Did something happen to Amber?
Dear god, did something happen to Lia?
Fuck this knocking shit.
If something is wrong with my pack, I need to know.
The balancing act I do with the soup and the bread is damn near on a professional level as I reach for the doorknob. When I turn it, the door inches open. An unlocked door, in broad daylight.
Sure, Honeysuckle Grove is a safe town. I still don’t like the fact that the front door is unlocked.
“Eli?” I say as I breach the threshold of the house. “Knox? You guys here?”
The quiet of the house is the only response I get. My mind is already running through worst-case scenarios as I close the front door behind me.
I’m so caught up in my worry that I don’t clock the most obvious thing lingering around me: the smell of the house. It isn’t until I get halfway down the hallway that my senses tingle. The hairs on the nape of my neck stand on end as their scent hits me straight across the face.
Pack.
The house smells like my pack.
It’s everywhere. Lia’s soft Omega sweetness is woven through Eli’s bright citrus and Knox’s unique smell of petrichor and mocha.
Their intermingled scents are thick and unmistakable.
Even Pickles’ fur somehow makes its way in there, with the smell of Amber’s crayons and markers filtering through it all.
Eli’s house smells like home.
My villa could smell like this for the rest of my life.
The thought hits me like a punch to the jaw. My lungs draw in a slow, deep breath before I even realize what I’m doing.
I feel my shoulders drop as I stand in the hallway, greedily sucking in the scent all around me.
A strange warmth spreads through my chest as I continue down the hallway, heading for where Amber was tucked in last. I open the door as softly as possible and find Pickles staring at me when I crack it open.
His tail wags against the bed. Amber shifts, groaning and mumbling something to herself before she flops down on the mattress and continues snoring softly.
Pickles continues to stare at me until I close the door.
I can’t ignore the scent around me any longer, though. It grows headier with every step I take until I’m standing in front of a closed bedroom door at the end of Eli’s hallway. I think about what this would be like in my villa as I stand there, my nostrils flaring as I commit the scent to memory.
Lia’s cardigans tossed over the back of my couch.
Amber’s markers and crayons spilled across my dining room table.
Knox’s tools filling a shed I’d have built for him.
Eli’s work covering a desk in an office I’d make up for him.
The image of my villa, filled with them, flickers through my mind. No longer would I have a big, empty kitchen or silent rooms with nothing in them. No longer would my dining room table sit lonely while I eat on the couch.
I reach for the doorknob in front of me as I imagine Amber running through the vineyard rows with Pickles in tow, chasing after her in a game of tag.
I imagine Lia humming in the kitchen while she bakes up her latest creation for her bakery.
I imagine Knox stomping around in mud working on whatever project he’s got going on around the vineyard.
I imagine Eli playing tag with Amber and Pickles when he’s not inundated with grading papers.
The thought of my villa full and alive with pack settles deep in my chest.
Maybe Knox is right.
Maybe we really are—
The door in front of me whips open, revealing a shirtless, disheveled Eli. His mouth quirks into a lazy, tired smile.
“I thought I smelled something,” he mumbles.
“Walker?” Lia asks, her voice heavy with sleep.
“You guys okay?” I ask as I peer around Eli’s shoulder only to find Lia and Knox curled up in bed. “I knocked on the front door, but no one answered. Did you know the damn thing’s unlocked?”
Eli assesses me with his tired eyes. “Amber up yet?”
I shake my head. “No. Why is the door unlocked when you guys are sleeping? That’s not safe.”
“Spoken like a true pack Alpha,” Knox says from the bed.
“Daddy?” Amber calls out, her voice groggy and exhausted.
Eli backtracks into his room and pulls on a shirt. “Coming, princess!”
I step off to the side so he can exit the room. “Soup’s on the stove and bread is in the oven warming. Shouldn’t take more than a few minutes.”
“Thanks, Walker,” Eli says as he disappears down the hallway.
“Walker?” Lia asks.
I turn and watch as my disheveled Omega picks her head up from Knox’s chest. She reaches her hand out to me, opening and closing her fingers.
I’m never going to be able to resist her, am I?
“Smells like you guys had some fun today,” I say as I enter what is very clearly Eli’s bedroom.
“It was definitely a day,” Knox says as he rolls over.
I realize he’s shirtless, too.
Come to think of it, they’re all shirtless. Lia’s dressed down to only her underwear, and I notice she’s got some well-placed hickies.
“Uh-huh,” I say with a grin as I slip into bed. “Come here, beautiful.”
“Mmm,” she hums and moves closer to me. Her soft skin slides against my body, and now I want to be shirtless, too. “Hi, Walker.”
I press my nose into her hair and inhale. “You get some rest?”
She nods against me.
“Were you a good girl for them?”
She nods again.
I kiss the top of her head. “Good.”
Lia’s hair is a little messy and her cheeks are flushed pink in a way that tells me everything I need to know about what I’ve walked in on. I hold her close as Knox slips out of the bed, mumbling something about a shower before dinner.
I pull the covers back up over Lia’s exposed body and head to the kitchen.
My feet work quickly, getting the pot of soup onto the stovetop so I can keep it warm. I turn the oven onto its warming setting and rummage around until I find where Eli keeps his baking sheets.
I plop the bread onto the pan and slide it into the oven before I hurry back to Lia’s side.
We lay there until the smells of dinner fill Eli’s home. I help Lia back into her clothes because she’s definitely still a bit blissed out. It makes me wonder how long ago they were entangled with one another.
Sometimes Omegas have longer recuperation times if their heat is close.
“Walker!” Amber exclaims.
I chuckle as I emerge from the hallway, bending down to scoop her up. “How’s my favorite girl feeling?”
She lays her head on my shoulder. “Better. My belly’s still weird, though.”
“Well, that’s why I brought soup and bread. Should be easy on that tummy of yours.”
“Promise?”
I nod against the top of her head before I settle her at the kitchen table. “Promise. And you don’t have to eat what you don’t want, okay?”
Pickles plops himself at Amber’s feet beneath the table like the furry sentinel he is. Amber reaches beneath it, scratching the top of his head lazily. I smooth her hair away from her forehead, and I notice she’s still a bit clammy.
“Let’s get this one some ice water,” I say as Eli comes to the table with the pot of soup.
“I’ll get it,” Lia says.
“Ohhh, we’ve got fresh bread,” Knox says as he pulls the loaf out of the oven. “Eli, where’s your butter?”
“Already on the table,” Eli says as he places the butter dish down.
It takes us no time at all to gather around Eli’s kitchen table. The scents from earlier are drowned out by the comforting smell of butter, soup, and the comfort of family.
Pickles is still underneath the table, his tail swishing aimlessly and batting at my shoes. No doubt waiting for anything that might fall so he can snatch it up for himself.
I watch them all while they eat.
Eli serves up soup for Amber. Knox butters some bread for Lia before he takes a hunk for himself. Amber foregoes her spoon completely and picks the bowl up, sipping from it like it’s a mug. Lia giggles at her before she abandons her spoon as well, cupping her bowl and raising it to her lips.
I can’t help but watch them all while they feast.
Their conversations go over my head. My ears are ringing with a desperate need that thuds in my chest. As I sit there and watch them all talk and exchange food together, the reality of it slams into me like lightning.
I need my family home.
“You know,” I say, interrupting the conversation going on around me, “there’s something that’s been on my mind today.”
Lia looks over at me. “Oh?”
“You still thinking about that trolley roof?” Knox asks. “Because Ford and I have that under control.”
“The trolley roof?” Eli asks. “Did something happen?”
I wave my hand through the air. “This isn’t about the trolley roof.”
I glance around at the table, looking at how they all look at me. Lia’s eyes, bright and wondering. Knox, completely perplexed. Eli, patiently waiting for whatever it is I have to say, and Amber sneaking Pickles a piece of buttered bread when no one else is looking.
My chest feels strangely full as the words come tumbling out.
“My place at the vineyard is more than big enough for all of us. If that’s something we all want in the future.”