Chapter 29
CLAIRE
Three Weeks Later
“Seventeen thousand preorders, Claire. In one week. Do you know how huge this is? It’s gargantuan!
” Katie’s voice is tinny through the speakerphone propped against the desk lamp, but the excitement comes through at full volume.
I’m in my new office that we’ve set up in my Alphas’ house.
We’ve officially all moved into my home, and theirs has turned into our business property.
“Holy crap!” I’m gasping for air, staring at my three men around my desk, their eyes huge from the news. Bookshelves filled with cookbooks line the walls.
“Right!” Katie says, then laughs.
I lean back in my chair, grinning at the ceiling, unable to believe this. The morning light is pouring through the window, and Damien is lounging on the windowsill beside my desk, his tail swishing against my notebook, watching a sparrow on the fence.
“And the publisher is loving your new blog,” Katie says. “Such a good idea to make it personal and about cooking for your family, your pack.”
“I love it too. Brainstormed it with the guys,” I say.
“Totally Claire’s idea,” Brody calls out, and Corey playfully nudges him aside.
The blog post wasn’t planned. Last Wednesday at midnight, unable to sleep, I sat at this desk and wrote about Nana.
How she’d press her thumb into dough and know by feel alone whether it needed more time.
I wrote about inheriting her binder and opening it for the first time after she passed and finding, tucked between the honey cake recipe and the chowder, a handwritten note that said Cook for the people who stay.
The ones who leave were never hungry for what you’re offering.
I photographed the note. Included the recipe for her brown butter cookies, the ones she baked one-handed the night my mother was born.
And the post went viral. We’re not talking the angry, pile-on viral I’d already experienced, but the kind where comments are full of people posting photos of their own grandmothers’ recipes and their own stories of kitchens that smelled of love before they understood what love was.
“The comments are so moving,” Katie says, and her voice has softened. “People are tagging their mothers. Their sisters. One woman said she called her grandmother for the first time in three years after reading it. That’s what your writing does, Claire, and that’s why it’s selling so well.”
My throat tightens. I press my fingers to my eyes behind my glasses and breathe. My Alphas surround me in my chair, each touching me, closing in, kissing me, and my chest is so full. I never knew it was possible to feel this loved.
Louis never had me experiencing such emotions.
And why I was so happy to hear this morning that his bail hearing was denied.
His lawyer is trying to negotiate, but the security footage is damning.
Breaking and entering, battery, and the judge isn’t budging.
Louis is sitting in a cell with a court date he’s going to lose, I’m convinced.
And Trudy’s restraining order against Kristian is active. His court date is next month.
“Okay, so I’ll send over everything, sweetie,” Katie says, “but wanted to personally let you know that your preorder is killing it. Now just to wait for the publisher to finish edits. But I gotta go. Speak soon.”
“Bye,” I say and hang up.
The doorbell suddenly rings. Damien’s head snaps toward the sound, his body tensing, and he launches off the windowsill and thunders into the hallway with the urgency of a cat who must approve all visitors before they’re granted entry.
I’m on my feet, but the guys are already heading toward the entry, and Brody opens the door.
The man on the porch is shorter than Jakob by a few inches.
Leaner, with the same blond curls cropped close to his skull, and hazel eyes that carry the same depth behind thick-framed glasses.
His skin is tanned, his jawline softer than Jakob’s, and he’s wearing a rumpled linen shirt over dark jeans that are creased.
Damn, he looks just like Jakob. He’s got an overstuffed backpack and a huge suitcase beside him.
He grins. Wide, brilliant, and adorable. “Hey, bro.”
“Eli, you’re finally here.” He steps forward, wraps his arms around his brother, and holds on, while Eli laughs.
I stand in the hallway, watching them in my doorway, and my chest aches at seeing their reunion.
When they break apart, Eli wipes his eyes, grins, and then spots me over Jakob’s shoulder.
“You must be Claire.” He extends his hand. His accent is thicker than Jakob’s, the vowels rounder, every syllable distinctly Kiwi. “Eli. I’ve heard so much about you that I could write your biography.”
“All good things, I hope.” I can’t help but giggle.
Jakob’s smiling, and I squeeze his arm as I step past him because seeing this man happy is a gift I didn’t know I needed until it was in front of me. I give Eli a huge hug. “Welcome to our home. It’s amazing to finally meet you.”
He embraces me, and his scent is sweet like caramel and apples.
“Come, let’s head inside,” Jakob states. “I’ll grab your bags.”
We all step back and head into the living room, Corey and Brody hugging Eli, chatting about how great it is to see him again, as it’s been years since he last visited them.
Trudy emerges in the kitchen at the same time, her dark hair tied back in a ponytail, wearing jeans and a loose violet T-shirt. She’s gained a bit of weight on her thin frame in the past week, along with color in her cheeks and steadiness in her hands.
She turns, her gaze locked on Eli. “Trudy, this is my brother. And, Eli, this is Trudy, your new housemate,” Jakob says.
“Oh my God.” Her voice cracks. “You’re actually here.” She rushes to him and hugs him, almost bowling him over, sending Eli into a chuckle. She pulls back, saying, “Oh, sorry, I get a bit excited sometimes.”
“I love that,” Eli states, and it’s clear he’s slightly overwhelmed with all of us staring at him.
“Right, who wants a coffee?” Corey says from behind me, making me jump because I didn’t hear him move there. His hair is sticking up from where he keeps running one hand through it, while eating a banana with the other. I hadn’t even seen him grab that.
Twenty minutes later, I’m snuggled on the couch with Damien, leaning my side against Corey while my feet are tucked under Brody’s thighs for warmth.
Jakob, meanwhile, seems to have ants in his pants.
He keeps topping up coffees no one has finished, checking the plate of cookies, then pacing around with the biggest grin on his face every time he glances over at Eli.
Corey leans in toward Brody. “He’s going to ask if Eli packed enough socks next.”
Brody chuckles. “And underwear.”
“He’s one coffee away from bubble-wrapping the man.”
I bite my lip to stop smiling, but it’s impossible. Jakob’s usually all in control and calm, but right now, he’s just a big brother trying not to smother the person he missed most in the world. It’s ridiculously, painfully adorable.
The doorbell rings again.
Jakob is gone so fast that Corey coughs into his mug to hide a laugh. A moment later, Maggie’s voice carries from the hall, and I’m already untangling myself from the men. Damien gives me an offended look before hopping over to Brody’s lap as if he’s been personally abandoned.
I hurry into the entryway just as Maggie steps inside, rain on her coat, her sharp new bob framing her face.
“It’s so good to see you,” I say, dragging her into a hug. “And I love your new style.”
“Thanks. I needed a change,” she says, squeezing me hard.
Jakob appears behind her with two suitcases, looking far too pleased to be useful.
I pull back, smiling. “You ready for your new place?”
Maggie’s eyes shine. “I can’t wait.”
The townhouse is already waiting for them here in Mistberry Cove, big enough for Maggie, Trudy, and Eli to start over without feeling like they’re crammed into someone else’s life.
They’ve been planning it for weeks over email and long phone calls, sorting rooms and furniture and a hundred tiny details, but today is the first time everyone is finally in the same place.
Trudy steps forward, her face lighting up. “Maggie, I love your hair.” She reaches out, touching the new hairstyle.
Maggie does a tiny pose in the hallway, and all three of us start giggling. Jakob’s grinning my way so adorably.
“Come in before we block the hallway forever,” I say, steering her toward the living room.
Maggie waves at Corey and Brody, both of whom greet her from the couch, but then her attention catches on Eli as he stands. He looks a little nervous for half a second before she crosses the room and hugs him like they’ve met a dozen times already.
“Oh,” Eli says, laughing as he hugs her back. “You really are this friendly in person. I thought maybe it was just an online thing.”
Maggie pulls back, grinning. “Disappointed?”
“No, relieved. I thought this was going to be awkward.”
Corey lifts his mug. “The only awkwardness here is your brother being overprotective of you.”
Jakob gives him a flat look, while everyone else laughs.
Maggie sits cross-legged on one of the chairs, and the confidence in her posture is impossible to miss. Now that she’s dumped Louis, she’s practically beaming.
The afternoon unfolds in chatter and laughter, mostly with the rest of us watching the three new friends settle into each other as if the universe had been waiting for them to find the same room.
By the time evening deepens, Maggie, Trudy, and Eli are still talking in the living room, half-finished coffees on the table, cookie crumbs everywhere, their voices overlapping with easy warmth.
Damien has abandoned all of us for the armchair closest to the heater, and for once, nobody seems to need me for anything.
That should make me nervous.
Instead, it feels peaceful.
I’m standing at the kitchen window, looking out at the harbor lights scattered across the dark water, when Brody comes up beside me. The moon is rising, pale and bright over the bay, and his hand slides into mine.
“Come outside with me?”
Something in his smooth voice leaves me breathless.
Outside, the night is cool and clear, stars pinned everywhere above us. Corey and Jakob are already on the back porch, leaning against the railing, and the energy between the three of them is different.
“We have something to ask you,” Brody says.
My heart stumbles. “Okay. Should I be worried?”
Corey reaches into his jacket and produces a small velvet box. He passes it to Brody, who takes it carefully, almost reverently, then opens it.
My heart is stuttering right now.
Inside is a gold ring with the biggest diamond I’ve ever seen, and my breath catches in my chest.
All three of them drop to one knee before me.
The porch creaks beneath them, and my hand flies to my mouth.
“Claire.” Brody’s voice is steady, but his hand trembles around the box, and the contradiction wrecks me.
“I love you to bits. You fogged up your window watching me bake. You signed my book with a heart. You accidentally invited my entire pack to a wedding and then survived everything the universe threw at you and came out standing.” His eyes are bright, the tears there unhidden.
“Marry us. Be our Omega. The forever kind.”
Corey’s wearing his crooked grin, his hand settling on Brody’s shoulder. “I love you, Claire. Plus, what he said. Except I want to add that you’re the toughest person I’ve ever met, sunshine, and I’m going to spend the rest of my life making sure you never have to be that tough alone.”
Jakob is quiet at first, but his control breaks enough that I watch every emotion flaring across his face.
“I’ve wanted this since the first day I met you,” he murmurs with a smirk.
“Not because it was easy. But because even then, some part of me knew our pack had been waiting for you. And I absolutely love you.”
I’m a wreck. Tears streaming, grinning so hard my face aches. “I love you three so much.”
Then the ring slides onto my trembling finger with Brody’s help.
“Yes.” The word shatters on its way out, and I let it. “To every one of you, I want to be your Omega and to marry you.”
Brody’s on his feet, his mouth on mine, while Corey crashes in from the side, his arms around us both, his face against my shoulder, and Jakob’s arms close around the group from behind, his chest to my back, his breath warm on my neck.
This is my pack.
When we separate, breathless, laughing, I meet each of their gazes. “I can’t believe this is my life.” And for the first time, I stop waiting for the good things to leave.
They’re staying. All of them.
And so am I.