Chapter 57
Blindfolded and given no hints, Sonnet could do nothing but sit in the car listening to the radio while Zayden drove.
Even Jude was surprisingly quiet, trying to hold in whatever surprise they had planned for her.
Sonnet could tell they were driving far out of the city, and even farther out of that when the car went from a smooth ride to rocky on a gravel path that didn’t last very long until they were parking.
“Can I take my blindfold off now?”
“Hang on,” Jude huffed.
She heard the car doors opening and everyone wrestling out, talking to each other under their breaths. She crossed her arms over her chest and pouted.
“Easy now,” Kai teased. “Come here. Let me help you out.”
She huffed as Kai wrapped his arms around her waist and carried her out of the car. He carried her a few more steps; he and the others fixing her position until they finally unfastened her blindfold. And what Sonnet saw, she didn’t know what to make of it.
It was a house. A beautiful, beautiful house in the middle of nowhere with rolling green hills, cows far out in the fields, and a gravel road paved by an old wooden fence with flower bushes.
The property was big but cozy, with the house at the very center of it all and a healthy, overgrown garden.
The garden itself was circular and had white picket fencing with flower beds, and shrubs rested in a curved pathway.
A small greenhouse rested nearby, and from what she could tell, was already filled with life.
The house itself was huge, a prominent brick mansion with vines climbing the walls up to the steep-sloped roof. The front door was a welcoming yellow, and a pathway of flower blushes and two large trees led to it.
“Would you like a tour?” Zayden asked, extending his hand.
Sonnet gulped, almost too scared to ask. “Why?”
Zayden didn’t answer. He led her inside with the others trailing behind, and each room stole the air from her lungs.
The kitchen smelled like fresh paint, and the cabinets were brightened by colors. The stove was an old, retro green and had a white subway tile backsplash. The open shelving offered a sneak peek at some beautiful glassware, while copper pots hung above the stove.
An archway led into the dining room, which was just as cozy and colorful as the kitchen. There was a built-in bench, a long wooden table that looked handmade rather than bought from IKEA, and green-patterned chairs.
Behind the bench, the cream-colored wall was cozy with an art collection, each picture random and yet harmonious. It didn’t escape Sonnet that some of these pictures included her, her pack, her family, Felix’s grandparents, and all of Jude’s family members.
Before she could ask, Felix opened the sliding glass door adjacent to the gallery wall, revealing the back porch and a beautiful view with no skyline and no sounds of the highway.
“This place is beautiful, but I don’t understand. Why are we here?”
Kai shrugged his shoulders. All of them refused to say anything as they walked into the simple living space. A large, green couch that looked like a bunch of clouds sewn together sat in the center of the space with decorative pillows and blankets that looked oddly like the ones back home.
“There’s a second living room upstairs where the TV is,” Felix explains. “There are two guest bedrooms and two bathrooms downstairs. We can skip the tour of those spaces for now. Let’s go upstairs.”
“And what’s upstairs, hmm? Are there pictures of us all? And more things from our house? I want to know what you have planned. Whose house is this?”
“Come on, come on.”
“Kai!”
She couldn’t help but giggle as Kai slung her over his shoulders and carried her up the stairs. They passed by more pictures.
“Aha! See! On the one right, there is a picture of Goose. Stop ignoring me,” she demanded.
Kai dropped her at the entrance of the house’s built-in omega suite.
It was smaller than the one back at their home, and yet this space felt so much better.
The bed was just as huge, made to fit her and her alphas.
It was decorated with a baby blue and white striped comforter, mix-patterned pillows giving soft pops of color, and a low bed frame easy enough for Goose to jump into bed.
The left side of the bedroom wall was covered in windows, with long, beautiful curtains, and the right side was an open closet area with baskets, plants, and plenty of hangers and storage.
Sonnet saw two doors in the bedroom, one leading to an empty nest area that intrigued her omega, who wanted to decorate the space and set it up.
The other door went to the bathroom, which had a large bathtub like the one at their coastal beach house, blue floral wallpaper, and yellow-and-white geometric floor tiles.
The tour didn’t stop there. The boys showed her four other spaces, none with beds, but obviously set up as individual areas each could own. There were desks, bookshelves, cozy chairs, and closets, and oddly personalized details that Sonnet couldn’t help but notice represented her alphas.
One space was filled with a huge bookcase full of black and white movies, classic novels, cookbooks, as well as antiques.
It was easy enough to figure out the space belonged to Felix, just as it was to guess the room with different instruments and soundproof walls was for Kai.
Jude’s space had the most windows, with fairy lights, random projects, and an entire gaming set up.
Zayden’s space was simple, hardly personalized, but there were newly bought notebooks and business-like supplies.
None of them had admitted they had bought the house, but it was hard to deny after seeing what Sonnet could only assume was spaces dedicated to them. And the intention was clear. These spaces were theirs because they wanted to sleep with her each night if she’d let them.
“This place is so beautiful it makes me want to cry,” Sonnet admitted as they all stood outside the front of the house.
She didn’t want to tell her mates how their dark, modern mansion made her want to pull every strand of hair out of her head or how sad and depressing their aesthetic really was.
However, after being in a space as warm and colorful as this, she couldn’t help but realize how much she wanted to live somewhere else.
“It’s a twenty-minute drive from the sub-burbs, and a bit longer to get to the city strip,” Felix said.
“We’ve been looking for a good location since we came back home, and this place felt perfect, so we all chipped in to get it looking the way we wanted before showing it to you.
It’ll only be a thirty-minute drive each morning for you to get to work, too, if you don’t mind the commute. ”
Sonnet shook her head. Did they all sniff Sharpies before driving here?
Babes, this is shroom-level shit, not sharpies.
“I don’t understand,” Sonnet laughed awkwardly. “You already bought the house? And what job of mine are you talking about?”
“We didn’t just buy you a house, sweetheart.” Zayden stepped forward and held out a formal document and a silver key. “We bought you a building in town for you to open up that doggy-daycare you’ve talked about.”
She choked. “What?”
“We were all talking about our futures with Maddox,” Kai said. “We all agreed it was time to make some changes. We’re different alphas than we were before, and we want different things.”
I don’t know if I like where this is going.
Sonnet sucked her bottom lip between her teeth and squinted her eyes at each of them. “What kind of changes are we talking about?”
“Well,” Kai awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, “we want to disband.”
“You what?”
“We all agreed—”
“Oh, God. All your fans are going to blame me for you splitting up! I blame me!”
Sonnet knew deep down the men in front of her were no longer the Obsidian Alphas, they were her mates. And yet, Kai’s confession of her beloved boy band splitting up devastated the fangirl inside of her.
“No more music? That just doesn’t feel right.
All of you are so talented. But…” Sonnet sighed.
When she looked at them, she understood.
They were right. They were completely different versions of themselves, versions who deserved to pave a better path forward.
“What would all of you want to do instead?”
“I’m not giving up music,” Kai blurted out. “No way. And especially not with my hair looking as awesome as it does. Turns out, everyone agrees purple is my color.”
“I told you!” Jude shouted and slung his arm playfully over Kai’s shoulders. “Kai is going solo. It’s what he’s wanted. I have no idea what I want, so for now, I’m going to help you with your doggy daycare for a bit. If that’s okay.”
My doggy daycare.
Did they really do it? Had they made her silly, childish, lifelong dream come true?
“Of course you can work with me. I’ll need help.” Jude pumped his fist in the air happily, and she laughed. “Well, Felix, Zayden? What’s your plan?”
“I’ve always enjoyed cooking, and Maddox found a network that would be happy to provide me with my own cooking show. It’s still in the works, but it’ll be a nice step up in my career.”
“Showboat,” Kai muttered.
“No, it’s wonderful. You deserve to do something that makes you happy,” Sonnet beamed.
But what made Zayden happy?
Zayden was looking off at the rolling hills, a faraway gaze in his dark blue eyes. When he turned to her, she felt Cupid’s arrow strike her, as if she wasn’t already completely in love with him. With all of them.
Zayden shrugged his shoulders coolly. “I considered going back to school. It’s something I have considered a few times. But I want to be home more often, and I don’t think I’m ready to give up music. Instead, I’m going to sell and write lyrics for other artists.”
“Like me!” Kai smirked at Zayden. “He’s going to help me write my first debut song.”
“That’s wonderful.”
Jude laughed. “You keep saying that.”
But it was wonderful. This entire moment with her alphas brought indescribable happiness, as well as grief.
Sonnet never thought much of herself. She floated through life, trying to find the meaning to it all, but the meaning had found her instead. Love was more powerful than she ever gave it credit for.
It’s so weird. But I feel like my mother is watching this moment right now. I feel like she’s finding peace.
I feel it too.
She couldn’t hold back anymore. Sonnet buried her face into her hands and sobbed, not out of sadness, but overwhelmed that anyone could be this kind to her.
“Oh, sweetheart." Felix was the first to hug her. “Did we overwhelm you? Maybe we should have waited until after your heat cycle.”
“No, this is perfect. I’m just so happy I can’t stop crying.”
They all chuckled, completely understanding her emotions, and allowed her to cry it all out.
I can’t believe this. I want to move in right now.
There’s no time. Can’t you feel it? Our heat cycle is coming.
Sonnet could feel it, and for the first time, she wasn’t afraid. She looked at each of her men and couldn’t stop smiling. In just a few days, they would be bonded together permanently, and she would never have to feel unworthy again.