Chapter 40 Gage
Gage
Watching my mate hold a baby this morning was equal parts terrifying and exhilarating. I couldn’t stop my mind from wandering, from wondering what a pup of our own pack might look like someday.
Afterward, Cole, the alpha who owns the hotel, pulled us aside and asked how long we planned to keep occupying his suite.
Corbin heard him, and a brief dominance contest followed.
When it ended, Corbin announced that his pack would be moving into his cabin.
I was ready to bark at him, but Winnie looked so damn happy that I managed to hold my tongue.
Things shifted after the spider incident and the pack activities last night. So here I am, standing in front of Corbin’s cabin with bags at my feet.
“Why’d you buy something this big if you didn’t have a pack?” I ask.
Corbin looks at the house, then down at Deputy, who’s sprawled on his back and soaking up belly rubs.
“It belonged to the last sheriff,” he says. “When I transferred in, it was the only place available. Figured it didn’t really matter.”
The image of Corbin rattling around this place alone hits harder than I expect. It almost makes me feel bad for him.
The bags get unpacked. Rooms get claimed. Corbin gives up the master and takes the second-largest room, leaving the master and the attached nest to Winnie. There are only three other rooms. To everyone’s surprise, including Eli’s, Rafe announces that he and Eli will share.
Eli looks skeptical. Rafe just laughs, reminds him that he already knows all his quirks, and heads inside.
Eli shrugs, but none of us miss the small, crooked smile that sneaks onto his face.
He wore his mask at the hotel, but it’s gone now.
Deputy sits at his feet, leaning into his legs with steady pressure. It’s obvious it helps.
Once we’re settled, we gather in the kitchen. Corbin puts down a dog bed and Deputy lays in it while happily watching us, clearly hoping for a dropped piece of food.
“What about Winnie?” Eli asks, voicing what we’re all thinking.
“She wants to,” Zeke says, probably feeling it through the bond. “But I don’t think she’s ready.”
Corbin nods. “She really likes her cabin. She’s made it hers. I want her close too, but let’s give her time.”
We all agree without argument.
“Any of you chuckleheads learn to cook while I was gone?” Corbin asks.
No one answers, so we order pizza.
Pizza on the patio turns into stories. Stories about how we first met. Tattoo mishaps. Nick. Things we said. Things we should’ve said sooner.
At some point, we’re all holding beer bottles, lifting them in quiet tribute. To starting again.
“This has been a fucked-up road to get here,” Corbin says. We meet each other’s eyes. “But I’m glad we made it.”
“I’m glad we did too,” I tell him.
There will always be a scar running through this pack, just like the one on Corbin’s face. But thanks to Winnie, it’s one we can live with. She closed the wound a little more.
We’re not bleeding out.
We’re still standing.