The headlights carve a path through the dark as I take the last turn. The gravel road crunches under my tires, the house rising slowly out of the trees as if it’s been waiting for me. White siding, wide wraparound porch, tall windows glowing faintly under the porch light. It looks big. Strong. It could hold everything I want to give Lo. And everything Ford and Hayes need, too.
My chest tightens. This isn’t just about her anymore. It’s about all of us. The pack we’ve built, the family we didn’t expect to find but can’t live without. And I’ll be damned if I let the world tear that apart before it even has a chance to begin.
I pull the truck to a stop and kill the engine. For a second, I just sit there, staring. Letting it sink in.
I pull my phone out and scroll until Ford’s name flashes on the screen. It only rings once.
“Hey, what’s going on?”
“You and Hayes free?”
There’s a beat of silence. “Yeah, what for?”
“Because I need you both to meet me,” I say, and then I give him the address.
Ford whistles low. “That’s out past the river. Beck, what the hell are you?—”
“Just get here,” I say, my tone sharp enough to slice through any more questions. “And bring Hayes.”
I hang up and stare at the house in front of me. The place was built to hold something bigger than one person. Bigger than just a couple, even.
It looks like home.
Ourhome.
The crunch of tires on gravel cuts through the quiet a little while later, and beams of headlights sweep across the trees. My pulse kicks up. This is it.
Ford’s truck pulls up, Hayes riding shotgun. The door slams, and Ford’s voice carries across the night before his boots even hit the porch steps.
“Beck, what the hell is this?”
Hayes hangs back a few feet, eyes flicking from me to the house, waiting for the punchline.
I take a breath and step down off the porch, boots hitting the gravel with a thud. “It’s what I called you here for.”
Ford looks around, eyebrows raised.
“You buying a murder house or something? ’Cause that’s the only reason a place this big would be sitting out here empty.”
“Funny,” I deadpan, shoving my hands in my jacket pockets. “No ghosts. No crime scenes. Just… a house.”
Hayes tilts his head. “A big house.”
“Yeah,” I say, eyes lifting to the wide porch, the tall windows glowing under the security light. “Big enough for all of us.”
Ford’s laughter bursts out sharply with a twinge of disbelief. “All of us? Beck, what are you even saying right now?”
“I’m saying…” I meet his stare dead-on, letting the weight of it land. “I want to buy it. For the pack.”
That shuts him up. For a second, anyway.
Hayes blinks. “Wait. You mean… us living here? Together?”
“Exactly.”
Ford scrubs a hand over his jaw, staring at me. “Beck, this is?—”
“Not crazy,” I cut in. “Look, we’ve been drifting for so long. We deserve better. Lo deserves better.”
