“It’s okay. More of the past. What you came here for was to learn more about your abilities—your gift.”
“Yes. They all say I’m a healer but it only happened that once.”
She nodded. “Explain what happened that once.”
“Escher was hurt. The wolves from Rattlecreek had attacked us on a date.”
She shook her head. “No, tell me what happened inside you while you were healing him.”
Oh. “My body got warm, and I didn’t think about it. I didn’t even know what I was doing. I just loved him and didn’t want him to die and I guess I pushed that toward him?”
Everything I said to this woman sounded like a question.
“Well, that won’t work for the rest of the shifter population. Dig deeper.”
“I didn’t want anything to happen to him. If I could take it away, I would.”
She leaned forward swiftly and pointed right at my face. Her nails were long and ribbed at the top but painted to perfection. The lines around her face told a tale of a woman who worried even though she seemed like the last person in this pack to ever fret over anything. “There it is. Explore that. And what happened in the days that followed?”
I thought back to that time. “I slept for days.”
“That’s the key, child. Because you took his pain and hurt into yourself. It’s not about your ability to heal necessarily, but more that you take it away from them and pull it into yourself. It’s your ability to heal yourself that is the key here. All you have to do is learn how to pull the sickness out of others. Your body and your lineage will do the rest. It runs in the family of swords. It always has.”
“The family of what?” I asked but she stood and walked to the door.
“I think that’s enough for now. You will come here three times a week, and we will explore your gifts and your heritage. In the meantime, I want you to practice. Even if it gets frustrating and even if nothing happens. Practice is what you need. Lean on those fine ass mates of yours if it gets to be too much. But don’t quit. You have it in you. Now, scoot. It’s time for my lunch.”
Before I could ask questions or even argue, I was out the door and standing on her front stoop looking at an equally confused Moss.
I snorted. She’d called my mates fine asses. This woman was a crack up and yet had given me more information in minutes than I’d figured out on my own in weeks.
“So…what happened?” He asked, coming up to take my hand.
“I have no idea. But apparently, I need to practice.”
Chapter Nine
I walked past the new construction every time I could, going out of my way if necessary just to see how it was coming along. They guys had made me promise not to go inside without one of them because it truly was not a safe thing to do. But it was so tempting. The frame was up and I could see the outline of the many rooms, picture where the living room would be and the bathrooms with their carefully chosen tile and tubs or showers. Moss and Cash only wanted showers in their bathrooms, joking that they’d never take a bath unless it was with me, but Brandon wanted a shower/tub combo and Escher selected a separate shower and the most amazing hammered copper Japanese soaking tub I’d ever seen. It was also the only one I’d ever seen. And it featured twelve jets for soothing sore muscles and relaxing the weary wolfman. Way pricy but he’d done someone a favor and that someone happened to be a dealer in high end fixtures and other bathroom accoutrements and thanks to that favor my tub was going to be pretty extraordinary, too, and big enough for a group, should we ever all decide to bathe together.
The very thought made my cheeks flame.
Mine was gray soapstone. It had been delivered and I’d opened a corner of the box just to run a hand over the buttery smoothness. I planned to spend a great deal of time in it, but I also hoped that I’d get a chance to try out Escher’s copper tub, just because.
But for today, I’d stand outside the frame and imagine how it would all look when we lived there. Where we’d put the couches and the tables. Would we eat all our meals around the big round table in the kitchen or maybe have dinner in the dining room? Or on the patio?
Or in bed.
Darn my mind was going down the gutter, but who could blame me with four such toothsome mates just waiting for the word to take me to bed. For sex. We’d already gotten the bed/sleeping part down pretty well.
As I took in the expansive footprint of our new home, I wondered how often the guys would be in their own rooms. We’d all agreed sex woud be one at a time, and I had a really strong feeling that once that wall came down, once sex began, I’d be pretty busy most of the time. So right now, when we all slept in a puppy pile, was a precious experience all on its own. We might not do that again until we were old and gray if then.
It was critical to recognize that every day of life should be appreciated for its beauty. Before I moved here, when I’d lived in my aunt’s house, every day was the same as the one before. Get up, eat breakfast on a tray, do online school…take my meds… But now! Every day is different than the one before and the one after. Sometimes fun, often intense, and occasionally dangerous.
And I’d take that anytime.
Because I was loved! Through anything that happened, I always knew that my mates loved me. This beautiful, magnificent home they were erecting for me with their own hands, and with the assistance of other members of the pack that had accepted me with open arms represented that love.
Which was why it was time for me to accept that I would not be moving back to my little home in town anytime soon. Or ever. Yet I was unable to entirely let it go.
“What are you thinking?” Cash came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. “You’ve been standing here for ten minutes. Is something wrong with the house?”
“No!” I leaned back against him and twisted my neck so I could see his face. “It’s perfect. How could there be anything wrong?”
“Then what are you thinking so deeply about?” His lips rested on my hair. “If you’re just loving on the house, why no smiles?”
“Oh, that.” I shrugged. “I’m just deciding what to do with my home in town. I haven’t been there in days, and then only to pick things up. It seems like a waste to have it standing empty.”
“Did you want us to go back and stay there?” He sounded concerned. With reason. When I lived there last, they had guards on me full-time, and with the Rattlecreeks still trying to get me to join them, albeit also by legal channels, nothing would change about that.
I couldn’t ask the pack to keep putting themselves out or my mates to have to guard me just because I insisted on living in my little house. I squeezed my eyes closed picturing the place.
“It represented freedom to me, when I bought it. And you all helped me fix it up.” A lump grew in my throat. “But I guess it’s time to sell it and look forward.”
“You don’t have to sell it to look forward.” Brandon spoke, but when I opened my eyes I saw they’d all circled me, and now they closed in. “We’re all looking forward together.”
Their warmth, their affection soaked me in peace. “I don’t want to live there.” And as soon as I said it, I knew it was true.
Cash stroked my hair back from my forehead. “Maybe you could rent it out. It never hurts to have investments. Right guys?”
A chorus of agreement and more hugging made me feel terrific about the compromise. “It’s the first thing I’ve owned, and I do love the place. Not that I won’t love this one. I mean I already do!”
“We know, mate.” Escher spoke close to my ear, sending shivers down my spine. “But that doesn’t mean you can’t love more than one house. It’s kind of like us.”
The comparison settled in my mind, and happiness followed. “So houses are like mates? In that case, we’ll need to buy a few more.”
Brandon roared with laughter. “I guess we’ll have to be land barons then. So, have anyone in mind to rent to?”
As a matter of fact, I did.
Christie paced from room to room, petting the couch and touching the curtains, with an air of hesitation that broke my heart. “You can’t really mean it, Wendi. I mean…I can’t afford to pay what it’s worth, and it’s not fair to you to take the pittance I can come up with.”
“I love this house, and I love you. You would be doing me a huge favor just by staying here and taking care of it for me. You know what it means to me. How many days did you spend here helping me paint and hang curtains and things. Especially before I could walk more than a few steps at a time.”
“It’s a lovely home.”
I’d recently learned Christie needed someplace to live. She was sharing a one bedroom apartment with several other students, giving her no privacy and, since most of them were party animals, no peace to study. When Cash suggested renting it out, of course she sprang to mind. I only regretted I hadn’t asked her to move in sooner. Like the minute I learned of her situation. But there was no going back in time, so all I could do was get her in here now.
And I didn’t want to charge her but my best friend had pride and dignity I couldn’t deny or offend. “Then you’ll do me the favor of staying here.”
“You don’t think you and the guys might want to come back while the house is finished.”
“No. I love being able to walk over to the construction site all the time and see the progress. Also Rattlecreek is still a danger, as you know. I make everyone’s life simpler by remaining on pack lands when I’m not in school or at work.” I flashed her a grin. “Or shopping, of course.”
“And you don’t want to take any of the furniture with you?”
I shrugged. “My mates want to buy me new. But there are a few sentimental pieces I’ll pick up when we’re ready to move. Would you help me pack up my clothes and stuff?”
“Uh, yeah! And your dishes and things.”
“I think those will stay as well. Every time I turn around someone is shoving a catalog at me or holding up a tablet to show me a website, or having me sort through samples. I’m not gonna lie—it’s exciting and we’re going to have a really wonderful home. But I think I might have picked out dishes already. It’s a blur!”
Christie giggled and hugged me. “I think you’ve got yourself a tenant. As long as you’re sure you don’t want someone who can pay a reasonable rent.”
“I’m very particular,” I told her. “And I probably wouldn’t find anyone else I’d find acceptable. So what do you say? Are we good?”
“Just get me a lease! I’ll sign on the dotted line.”
“Oh I don’t need you to…absolutely.” Her pride was on the line, and I’d make sure the lease gave her all the advantage in the deal. “But let’s get started on packing me up then we’ll go to your place and do the same.”
“It won’t take long.” She rolled her eyes and tried to act offhand, but I knew her better than that. “My roomies have borrowed, stained, or broken nearly everything I own.”
“Jerks.” I wanted to give them all hard shakes.
“They are,” she said, “but sharing that hovel with them made it possible for me to stay in school. Even with my scholarships and working part-time, you know how expensive living is here.”
“It is. I thought moving to a small town would mean things were cheap, but they aren’t. So. Let’s get started.”
I’d brought a whole bunch of boxes with me, and we packed my clothes and shoes and other personal things then Brandon drove us to her place and went up with us so we could pick up hers. It was lucky he came along because one of her roommates, a guy, objected strenuously to her moving out, insisting she’d committed to the whole semester, and only Brandon’s appearance in the doorway shut down his complaints and stopped him from stomping on some of Christie’s clothes.
Jerks. For certain.
When we got back to my old house, as I thought of it now, there was a guy in the yard next door. A very familiar face and form. Although I’d never seen the alpha without his shirt mowing a lawn. Or with a shirt mowing a lawn for that matter.
“What’s he doing here?” I asked Brandon. He was, after all the alpha’s brother. “Is he also an owner of investment property?”
He was staring though, as if he’d seen a ghost.
“Brandon?” I elbowed him. “What’s the matter?” I mean, I knew it was weird to see the alpha doing yard work, but stranger things happened in our world.
“Why is the alpha gardening?” Christie came up on Brandon’s other side.
“It isn’t the alpha.” I’d never heard my mate’s voice sound anything but confident, but now it came out as if squeezed inside him.
“Well of course it’s the alpha.” What was he thinking? “I mean, I haven’t known him as long as you, but even I recognize him.” My mate was losing it. Probably shock. I’d never seen the alpha do anything physical in human form although he was a heck of a runner as a wolf.
Still, the differences between that and leaning into an old-fashioned push mower were many.
“It. Is. Not. The. Alpha.”
Christie drew in a breath. “Well, whoever he is, he’s coming over here.”
“Brandon,” Not-the-Alpha said. “It’s been far too long, Brother.” He held out his arms and after a moment my mate went into them. And it wasn’t one of those backslapping guy hugs, either, but a warm embrace that ended with both of them rubbing at their eyes when they stepped apart.
Christie and I were both sniffling, even though we didn’t have much to go on. But to see these two big, strong males looking at each other as if they’d thought they’d never see each other again? Melted us both.
Finally, they both faced us again, and Brandon’s expression held wonder and a little bit of worry. What was the story? “Ladies, may I introduce my brother and your new neighbor, Christie. This is Tris.”
Another beat passed…
“The alpha’s twin.”
Chapter Eleven
“The pack decided?” Brandon asked, doing a mini-pace in the alpha’s office. “I’ve never even heard of that. Usually the couples decided and then the pack attends. What gives?”
We were all ignoring the fact that Tris was in town and that he was the alpha’s twin and all of those things.
We had bigger things to attend to, like the fact that the pack wanted to throw us a wedding, like…in two weeks.
I didn’t think my eyes went back to their normal size through the entire meeting.
“Well, they are excited about the promise of harems again in our pack and they are equally excited to have the healer as one of us. I thought it was an excellent idea, but didn’t tell them as much. It’s a decision for the five of you to make. They didn’t decide, Brandon. They just strongly suggested.”
Moss put a hand on top of my bouncing knee and gently took my hand from where I was tapping my finger on my chin. “We will discuss it, alpha and let you know as soon as we’ve made a decision. But we are grateful for the pack and what they want to do for us.”
Every stare landed on me, and I shriveled under the weight of them. “Um, yeah, we are really glad they decided to do that.”
I didn’t even believe myself.
We left the alpha’s house and I stopped dead in my tracks a few steps from the bottom. “It’s not that I don’t want to get married. I just want to get that out in the open,” I declared a little too loudly, garnering some snickering from a passersby.
My mates laughed, all except Escher.
That boy would mate and marry me right there on the steps if he had his way. He was such a beast, and I loved him for it.
“Are you sure?” Brandon asked, but the smirk told me he was kidding.
“Yes. Don’t be an ass. This is a lot to handle.”
He bounded up the few steps and wrapped me up in his arms. “I know. I really was kidding but we’re on the subject now. So let’s discuss it. It’s only the timing that makes you uncomfortable, right?”
I dipped my chin
and rested my forehead on his chest. “Yes. Of course. I would just like some time and really I would like for our home to be done. One transition at a time. Does that make any sense at all?”
I got grunts of agreement from all of them.
Moss rubbed a circle along my lower back. “We completely understand, Wendi. It’s been a whirlwind of a few months for all of us. It’s completely reasonable for you to want the house done before we get married. But we are males and maybe just needed a little bit of assurance that you do, in fact, want to marry us.”
Boys.
“Um, let’s take this to Moss’ house. We have gained an audience.”
A group of eager pack members were visible to me as I looked over Brandon’s shoulder.
I hated to disappoint them.
But two weeks was very fast.
We got to Moss’ house, and my men looked even more eager than the pack.
“I want to marry you. All of you. And I swear all I need is some time. How about a month? Would that be okay? Will the house be done by that time?”
Cash’s eyes widened. “If the plan is that you will marry us when the house is done, then absolutely. I can make it happen in a month. If that’s what you want. But just know that we would wait a year or more—however long we had to for you.”
Escher growled, and the rest of us laughed.
“I promise. A month or the house is done. Whichever comes first,” I said, accepting the group hug and affection I received as an answer.
Escher, Moss and Cash filed out minutes later claiming they needed to whip the workers in shape on our house. And something about promising them bonuses to get it done faster.
“Tonight is our date night,” Brandon whispered in my ear making me shiver.
“And what do you have planned?” I aksed, trying to be flirty, but it came out croaky.
“Come on, mate. You know me by now. Not telling.” He chuckled but leaned forward to plant the most languorous kiss on my lips. I kept my eyes closed longer than necessary.
“What should I wear?” I asked, coming out of the passion fog he’d put me in.
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