43. Cash
Cash
That first day was only made tolerable by pancakes.
Admittedly, I really liked pancakes. Something about the trees and hauling all that wood—pancakes with perfectly sweet maple syrup made me feel right, like I was doing what I was meant to be doing.
There was no better comfort in this world, especially when Katya handed me a plate with a smile that said she was grateful I’d defended her sons.
I’d done that.
In retrospect, the thought alone made my heart race and my palms sticky with sweat, but it’d been right. The pack had been proud.
As far as I could tell, Viktor was all right.
Maybe the spell just didn’t work on werewolves the way that the witch had intended. Maybe Viktor was just especially hardy and knew it already. Nobody knew what kind of shit he’d faced back in Russia, but maybe he had some reason to think he’d shake off a witch’s curse.
More likely, I thought Viktor cared about his family more than he cared about his own life, but either way, it seemed like we’d gotten lucky.
Now that everyone who belonged here was home and the pack was fed, there was work to do. We cleared out the old big house, making room for people who wanted to stay together. Unlike other supernatural creatures, wolves relied on each other. In trying times, we needed the closeness of pack.
At least, that’s what Pa said.
It’d always made me nervous to have so many people around, but watching how the pack gathered and worked together, I thought he might be right.
While people cleared out Grant and his old enforcer’s things, divvying up resources where they best belonged, I wandered to the clearing we’d made for Grant’s new house.
It could be Aleks’s home now. It could be anything.
I no longer had to make it something that would satisfy a man I hated. And I knew Aleks—knew him to my marrow. He wouldn’t care what I made of this place, so long as it served the pack.
We had a space in Katya’s home for as long as we needed it, and even if I worried I was imposing, well, his family accepted me as one of their own. Her home was right near Pa’s smaller cabin. I wanted to stay close, and for the privilege, I’d make myself useful.
But there was more to plan. Our ramshackle homes around the square had been built by circumstance and necessity. No planning had gone into it, but I could plan now—where we could dig wells, where the community would gather, what Aleks needed to effectively lead us to better days.
I spent the day not wiping away the past, but planning for the future. Aleks came up to me in the late afternoon as I was sitting on Katya’s porch, a cheap yellow legal pad on my lap, covered in sketches of what I thought we might do.
“If we cleared here and here”—I pointed to the places on my sketch, but then raised my pencil to indicate the real space in front of us—“we could make a couple of short roads for homes. When the pack grows, we build them out to where the main buildings are now, then connect them. One big loop so no one feels disconnected or shoved out to the edges. By then we’ll have a chance to tear down the old buildings and rebuild. ”
Aleks tipped his head as he sat beside me. I knew he saw me, that I was trying to keep anyone from ever feeling how I’d felt all these years, an outsider, unwanted and in constant danger.
But all he did was smile, his blue eyes glistening, and he leaned in for a soft kiss. “Sounds wonderful.”
That was it. He didn’t question me, didn’t offer other plans. He had enough on his plate, and he trusted me with this.
That trust was staggering.
And yes, I talked my plans over with Pa the next day because I wanted to make sure they were right.
Viktor seemed fine, but that didn’t stop Aleks from calling Dakota. Well, he called him, but he was anxious for his brother.
It was Katya who did most of the talking, and truth told, I thought she was the only reason Jax and Dakota hadn’t jumped on a plane to Idaho.
It was nice to have their support, but the pack didn’t need another alpha walking around with a claim to leadership, even if Jax had no interest in running this pack.
With what I knew he’d seen back when he’d been part of the Wildwood pack himself, I was certain he wouldn’t send his mate out here alone.
But Dakota checked in with Prudence, and all parties agreed that while Viktor remained healthy and normal, there was no sense in stressing too much about it.
Werewolves were hardy, and there’d be time to save him if anything went wrong.
Days passed, and he continued to seem fine.
He had more stamina than anyone else when it came to working, and with a few changes, we got back to work on the new big house, which wasn’t going to be for the alpha anymore.
It was going to serve the people—one place where those who wanted the safety of being close together could live in harmony.
Aleks said he didn’t need a house that big and certainly didn’t plan on consolidating power within it.
One night, my biceps aching from stripping logs all day, I trudged back to Katya’s house only to find the twins and their mother sitting at the table, staring at me like I wasn’t supposed to be there.
At first, my heart clenched hard. Wasn’t I? I’d been staying with them for over a week now, and no one had complained, but maybe I’d overstayed my welcome.
Fuck, maybe I imagined all that. I’d half convinced myself that nothing was as good as I thought it was, that I was just building dreams around myself, when I asked, “Where’s Aleks?”
Katya blinked, but Leo’s face broke into a wide grin. “Out at the overhang,” he said. “He’s waiting for you.”
“Oh.”
Okay, so that wasn’t so terrible, even though I didn’t know what he wanted out there.
It was a little behind Pa and Katya’s houses, sort of between them. You could see their homes through the trees, but in the quiet, it felt private.
I trudged out there, the sky a deepening purple as the sun’s last rays disappeared.
He’d—had he built a tent?
He’d propped up a sheet as a small canopy, and flickering lights filtered through it.
I walked around and beneath it, he had his mother’s picnic basket.
There were plates and food spread out, and my stomach twisted at the memory of our interrupted picnic.
That had been years ago—an opportunity lost.
I caught my breath and met his eye. He smiled from his place on the spread blanket, reaching his hand out for me. “Come here.”
My mouth went dry, but I knelt there with him. The candles were lovely, the food smelled delicious, but the important thing was him, there. He’d . . . he’d done this for me. Created this secret little space for us.
It wasn’t for work. We weren’t hiding.
Fuck, I was going to cry.
Aleks’s eyes widened, and he pushed up onto his knees. “Hey, hey—” His hands were on my face, his thumbs brushing away tears that I hadn’t meant to let overwhelm me.
This was the most romantic thing anyone had ever done for me, and there I was ruining it by crying.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I’m just . . . I’m tired.”
He shook his head and drew me closer with a gentle shushing sound. His hands stroked my shoulders, cradled the back of my head, and combed through my hair. He drew me against him and let me cry.
When I relaxed, he tipped to the side and we wound up curled toward each other on the blanket, my face still buried against his chest while he traced the shell of my ear.
I wasn’t just tired, but he—he didn’t say anything even though he knew it too. This was all just overwhelming. Aleks, my alpha, the man I loved and who loved me—
I knew he was good, but I’d never really expected anyone to be this good to me.
When I calmed down, he stroked my cheek and smiled at me. “You are silly.”
I wrinkled my nose. “What?”
“I bring you good food, light all these candles, and you cry. In front of all those stars and everything.”
He waved his hand out. There really were a ton of them visible tonight. We hadn’t been able to see them in San Francisco, but I saw them now. They were beautiful.
Once, Aleks’s sarcasm had been barbed and defensive, but I’d seen it with the pack since he’d taken over. Now, his teasing was kind. It broke the tension, and I laughed wetly, wiping any tears from my cheeks.
“You’re right. Wouldn’t want to bring the stars down.”
He blew a raspberry and flicked his hand. “Impossible. The moon, maybe? But she listens to wolves. Not the stars.”
I laughed again. “Never the stars.”
“Will you eat with me?”
“Of course.” There wasn’t a thing on this planet I wouldn’t do with him.
We ate and talked about the day. I calmed down, mostly. It was still overwhelming, to think he’d taken the time for me when he had so much else on his plate, but all I could be was grateful. I was in awe of him.
After supper, we wound up on the blanket again. Aleks was on his back, his arm looped around my shoulders, my head perfectly nestled in the dip between his chest and his collarbone.
I stared up at the stars, and peace washed over me. This was right. I wasn’t meant for San Francisco or Jax’s pack. This was my home, and it was the place my work mattered.
“Cash?”
I hummed as Aleks stroked his fingers down the back of my arm to my elbow and up again.
“I wanted to talk to you about—” He broke off, and I felt the soft huff of his breath against the top of my head before he tried again. “I’d like you to—Do you want to . . . mark me?”
My head popped up, and I frowned down at him. “Like a . . . mating mark?”
I assumed if we did that, he’d bite me. It certainly wasn’t a given that I’d return it. Most alphas didn’t allow for it, but Jax had.
My heart jackhammered in my chest as I stared down at him, but there was no doubt on his features, no humor, just seriousness and maybe a smattering of nerves.
“Yes,” he said. “You are the one I cannot do this without, my alpha mate. I belong to you.”
I shook my head, and his face fell. Oh fuck, that’s not what I meant.
I cupped his cheek. “You belong with me,” I said, blinking fast because, well, I’d cried enough for one night, hadn’t I?
“Of course I’ll—I’d be honored to—if you’re sure you want—” I sighed, heat rushing into my cheeks.
“I’ll bite you if—if you’ll bite me. We mark each other, okay? Our bond belongs to both of us.”
He smiled, and the way his teeth gleamed in the starlight made it seem just wicked enough to send a shiver down my spine. “Yes, good, both of us.”
And he hitched his hand behind my knee and pulled me into his lap.