Chapter 30 #2
I had an old pair of black overalls that I put on with a white T-shirt underneath. Not wanting to deal with the mess, I twisted my hair into a messy bun before tying on a bandanna to catch most of the paint splatter.
Even Kota didn’t complain as we got to work painting the room, taking the walls from the pristine white they were before to this soft, neutral cream-brown.
“Oh, oops,” Greer said as he bumped into Kota, streaking his arm in paint.
He didn’t sound sorry at all.
Kota narrowed his eyes before smiling, which was absolutely unsettling.
“Oh, no worries. Accidents happen, right?” Kota said, his voice full of innocence. Thank god we’d put Chorizo out back or this would be so much worse.
Greer backed away, absolutely sensing the danger that was being presented.
“What are you about to do?” he demanded.
Kota just smiled and said nothing.
“I thought we were getting to work,” Greer started.
Not one of us trusted the nod Kota gave.
Sure enough, a few minutes later, Greer let out a distressed sound.
We looked over to find a glob of paint sitting in his hair. Kota had the roller working on the ceiling and, of course, looked surprised.
“Now, children,” I said, pointing at them. My deltas turned, narrowing their eyes at me. “Hey, I just call it like I see it.”
There was a shift in them both. The look they shared was united now, not divided… and I was the target now.
“Rylan, could you take this from me?” He chuckled and plucked the brush from my fingers.
Then I turned on my heel and ran.
The two deltas were running after me as I moved through the halls, unsure where I was even going.
I managed to slide downstairs as fast as I could.
There was a door on the other side of the kitchen. I slipped inside, apparently, never having been in the pantry before, because I stopped in my tracks as I glanced around.
Sometimes you could forget about the sheer amount of wealth this family possessed, and then you were standing in front of a pantry the size of a restaurant.
It wasn’t bare in the least. Kota had it loaded down, likely thanks to his mysterious house manager that I had yet to see.
There was a door on the other side, and I carefully pushed it open to find yet another hallway. This one was short with a door at the end and one on each side.
The first room held an industrial laundry room, which might come in handy a time or two.
The second was an extra bedroom. I closed it quickly, just in case someone used that room.
The last door led me right to a separate parking lot. Now the full pantry and mysterious house manager made a lot more sense.
“Found you,” Kota sang out as he slipped inside. I let out a screech as his voice broke the silence.
“Dammit, delta!” I yelled, heart pounding now as he looked pleased.
“I see you found your way to the pantry and staff hall,” he said, biting back his laughter.
“Now I know why Hayes hasn’t had trouble making us food every time,” I teased as I gestured back at the pantry.
“I’m not exactly the type of man who can provide for his pack the way Hayes and Greer can. I’m not a big leader. I don’t have skills to work with my hands,” he said, holding up his hands.
“I disagree. I think you’re fantastic with your hands, Kota.” He gave me a smirk but shook his head.
“This is my way of taking care of you guys. Making sure the house is stocked with things we might need. I may have to outsource to do it, but at least my pack won’t go hungry.
Rylan mentioned that you guys like to make cookies so I made sure there are plenty of supplies for that and some boxes of cookies in case you felt like eating them and not making them at some point. ”
“I think you underestimate your ability to take care of us, delta,” I said gently. “You’re perfect.”
“Thanks, omega.” He pulled me closer and kissed me softly.
When he pulled back, he looked down at me, his finger tracing gently under my eyes, where I knew there were dark circles.
“What kept you up last night?”
“This whole thing with my dad. It just got to me, and I couldn’t sleep.
Greer found me in the middle of the night.
He showed me this online journal thing where I could get my thoughts out, so I did.
I said the things that he didn’t let me say.
I needed somewhere to write it down that was unfiltered and raw, where I don’t have to share with anyone. ”
“Good,” he said simply, not prying for more.
Kota accepted my explanation and gave me reassurance that they would never push me where I didn’t want to go.
“You better get your asses up there,” Hayes called. “Last one upstairs has to clean the brushes.”
“Oh hell no. He’s cleaning brushes,” Kota said, snatching me up and swinging me around so I was on his back.
I clung tightly as he bolted through the house, past the pantry, and up the stairs.
Greer cursed, and I could hear his footsteps pounding behind us, my laughter echoing out before we were back in the room.
Hayes gave us an exasperated look but said nothing.
Rylan held my paintbrush back out to me as he laughed. “You guys are a mess.”
“Your mess,” I corrected as I got back to work, a smile on my face the whole time.
It was such a simple morning, but such a powerful one.
This showed that our pack was meant to be a pack. We had light moments and intense ones. We helped each other when we were needed.
There would be some growing pains.
There always were.
But at the end of the day this pack was everything I never knew I needed and everything I deserved.