Chapter 7
Chapter
Seven
Lana
For the first time since arriving, almost a week after settling in, I was finally alone.
The team had practice, and I was grateful when Lennon helped drag them out the door. Oddly, the delta that seemed to want me here the least was the one who listened the most.
After taking the longest shower of my life and enjoying every moment of it, I finally pulled on some workout gear and went in search of their home gym.
I’d seen them disappear into the basement more than once, so I headed that way after grabbing one of their disgusting protein shakes from the fridge.
The doctors wanted to see me next week, and I really wanted to prove to my brother that I had recovered and didn’t need to be hovered over anymore.
It was sweet, but stifling. Some moments, it felt like I went from one extreme to the other.
My nose wrinkled as I pushed open the basement door. It smelled horrific down here. I never considered the guys particularly clean, but I hadn’t considered them dirty either, until this very moment.
Even their natural mixed scents were hidden. Though… They were always subtle.
There were bottles of cleaner around the equipment, but there was also an overflowing basket of sweaty workout gear and towels in the corner. The bathroom beyond was even worse. I abandoned all hope of working out, and instead, went in search of proper cleaning products.
Of course, the basement and surrounding utility room had nothing. I ventured upstairs, poking around the kitchen under the sink and in the pantry, slowly growing more horrified each time.
The downstairs bathroom was also empty, and I couldn’t find it in me to search anymore.
I didn’t have a car, but I was proficient at ordering for delivery. I went to check my account first, rolling my eyes at the usual deposit. I couldn’t think of it as anything more than hush money at this point.
Money to be the quiet, obedient omega waiting at home for alphas that had no plans of coming home. I didn’t want or need their money, so I made a note to call the bank and block them after I figured this first problem out.
I couldn’t seem to help myself, adding just about every cleaning product known to man. The new mission was giving me fresh life.
I paid for express delivery, and by the time I fed myself a little breakfast, it was waiting for me on the porch. I pulled the bags inside and quickly put together a little caddy to carry around.
The basement was first on the list. The utility room had a small sink, and I filled a bucket with cleaning solution and water. Fresh rain had a much better scent than man sweat.
I tied my long blonde hair under a bandana to protect it from all the dust and donned a pair of elbow-length pink gloves before getting to work.
Bit by bit, I worked my way around the room, scrubbing gently and wiping each piece of equipment clean. Then, I moved onto the floors that were dirty enough that I dumped my mop water twice.
At that point, I was on such a roll that I didn’t want to stop.
Next was the kitchen. They were pretty good about keeping the dishes clean, but the walls needed wiping, the baseboards and floor scrubbed, and the shelves dusted.
The list went on.
I continued my cleaning rampage through all of the main living spaces and bathrooms. It wasn’t that they did zero cleaning. It was, frankly, that they just didn’t do it well enough.
Hours passed as I scrubbed the house from top to bottom, every space that I could reach, including the guest bedroom and bathroom, despite those looking like they had actually been cleaned within the last month.
My body was tired, but it was the good kind of tired, a familiar kind. The type that kept my brain from overthinking and grounded me.
When I was satisfied, I finally took another shower.
Now that my body was sore and my mind was quiet, I let myself think about my next steps.
I couldn’t hide out in this hockey house forever, but truthfully, I really missed being in this world.
My old pack wanted me at home. The only time they really took me out was to hockey-related events and yearly charity obligations, dressing me up and flaunting me around.
They loved to play the part of devoted mates, despite being absent.
Maybe I would talk to Conrad and see about that position he mentioned.
Sports nutrition became a necessity when Conrad started hockey. He mentioned wanting to bulk up and eat right, and I was the type to make sure he did it properly. Our dads were too busy to show him the ropes, and at the time, their team fed them.
And when they weren’t there, I’d seen my dads turn into angry messes when cutting.
When I realized I genuinely loved cooking and making healthier foods taste good for them, the more I wanted to do it. I even made some side cash from the hockey team, packing their lunches for school. The coach encouraged it, pitching in from time to time to make sure I could keep it up.
Helping my family and my pack was an important part of me, and I denied it for way too long.
By the time I collapsed on the soft couch in the living room, the front door crashed open as the team came in.
“Smells like a lemon in here,” Lennon noted, tipping his nose up in the air.
Conrad snorted. “That’s the smell of being clean. Clearly my sister didn’t like how dirty you fuckers are.”
“Hey, I am very clean,” Mason countered.
“And you’re about the only one of us,” Conrad agreed.
Kieran didn’t bother to chime in. I wasn’t surprised when it was his head that poked around the corner. His dark eyebrows furrowed when he found me there.
“Are you alright? What happened today?”
“Cleaning,” I said with a chuckle. “Clearly you guys haven’t heard of it.”
“Hey, now,” he protested. “Despite Conrad’s comments, I very much know how to clean.”
“Oh, do you? Because I smelled that home gym.”
He winced. “Yeah, I’ll give you that. We usually have a cleaning person come in, but it’s been a few weeks.”
“I’m not trying to tell you how to live your life,” I promised. “I just wanted to work out, and I couldn’t. It smelled horrific, so I started cleaning.”
“Well, thank you,” he said as he sat down, joining me on the couch. “Are you feeling okay after all of that?”
“Actually, yes,” I assured him. “It was kind of nice to get into something like this. Cleaning is my way to de-stress, along with cooking, and since it was just me, cooking wasn’t an option.”
That was enough talking about me, so I changed the subject quickly. “How did practice go? You have a game coming up next week, right?”
“Yes. Against North Crossing,” he admitted. “It’s going to be a bloodbath. Since the rest of the team heard about what happened, though they’re sworn to secrecy, they’re more than ready to wipe the ice with those assholes.”
I shook my head. “Don’t get in trouble. You guys don’t even know me that well. Not enough to risk your careers.”
“You’ve been with us for a week. I’m fairly sure we decided we like having you around, and this is only going to solidify that.” He gestured around at the sparkling room.
My cheeks warmed. It was nice to be wanted, and I genuinely liked the chaos of the hockey house.
“Who’s up for a round of Zombie Annihilator?” Mason called out as he walked in, his eyes lighting up when he saw me. “There’s our cleaning fairy. How are you feeling?”
“Like I’m going to scream if someone else asks me that,” I said with a fake smile that had him barking out a laugh.
Lennon walked in behind him, snatching up a controller.
Conrad was next, eyes falling onto the book in my lap and wincing. “If you want some quiet, I’d suggest going to the office. That’s where Wilder hides out to read.”
Now that they were home, I was even more settled, and a bit torn. The book was good, but Mason was holding out the second controller to me.
“Care to kick Lennon’s ass?”
“Yeah, right,” Lennon grumbled.
That did it. Mason smirked and looked at me, one expression all I needed for him to silently say, You gonna let him get away with that?
“Sure,” I said. “I’d love to kick his ass.”
Mason scooped me up, depositing me in the middle of the couch right next to him. Conrad let out a growl of warning that Mason promptly ignored.
“Have you played this before?” He leaned in close enough that his tart green apple and fresh rain scent wrapped around me. I had to bite back a sigh of contentment. Despite my brother’s protests, my touch-starved omega was desperate for these little moments.
“No, but I’ve played enough like it. I think I can handle myself.”
It felt like I was part of the group as Lennon rolled his eyes and teased everyone, including me. It’d been a while since I felt like I belonged somewhere.
Mason gave me a quick rundown of the rules, which were pretty straightforward, and before long we were dropped onto a map. It was me against Lennon, with a horde of zombies between us.
I locked in, my eyes narrowing and tongue poking out just a little as I focused on the game, clearing out a row of zombies before getting a headshot on Lennon. It didn’t drop him, but it tanked his shields.
The curses that erupted out of him made it worth it, and I couldn’t even hide the giggle that escaped me.
“Oh, this is going to be sweet,” Kieran said with a wicked grin, rubbing his hands together. “Cade, Wilder, get in here!”
Soon, I had the entire starting lineup in the room with me, watching as Lennon and I faced off.
I cleared another row of zombies before ducking behind a barricade. Despite the cover, the moment I popped up to take a shot, a stray bullet clipped my arm. My shields were down, but I wasn’t giving up that easily.
I ran to the side, sliding behind another set of crates before popping out and mowing down another row of zombies, then aiming for a second headshot. This one hit him in the shoulder, but it still did damage. He only had about a quarter of his health left now.
The guys’ whoops and hollers weren’t enough to throw me off. One more hit and his character was down.