He was officially moved out.
Conrad had given me a hug, reassuring me every way he could that it was going to be alright. He was in the same town and a phone call away.
I knew that, but right now, my heart was shattered.
Conrad was my lifeline, the one who got me out of the worst situation of my life. The only one who consistently stuck by me every day of our lives together.
I just didn’t think he’d be leaving so soon. It had only been a couple days since he told us he wanted to move out. I guess the place was on the market immediately, and he snagged it before he lost it.
He was excited for the next chapter. I didn’t blame him for not wanting to be around. Nothing was worse than feeling like the odd man out around a pack.
“Come on, princess. Let’s go inside,” Kieran said gently. When I didn’t move, he scooped me up. I burrowed into his chest, the tears coming harder now, knowing he’d hold me together.
“I’m sorry,” I sobbed, the words muffled by his shirt.
He squeezed me harder in response.
“There’s no reason to be sorry,” Lennon said. “I get it. But now we get a chance to prove to you that we can be just as trustworthy and strong for you.”
“Oh, that was almost poetic, delta,” Cade teased him.
That had me letting out a watery laugh.
Our once-quiet alpha had been standing taller lately, coming out of his shell. Now that the drama around deltas had struck, he’d gone into full protector mode. He’d even had to bark down a few reporters when they tried to ambush us.
I’d tried my hand at letting the world know that the rumors were wrong. I’ve never been afraid of any delta I've been with. I loved my pack, and sometimes packs just simply didn’t work out.
But no one wanted to hear the truth. They wanted the messy story that everyone was trying to spin.
The arena had hired extra security, and I heard it was the same throughout the entire league across the nation. Westgrave was the national seat of the AHA, and I had a feeling we’d be hearing from them soon enough.
Even my parents wouldn’t tell us a thing. And every conversation with them was another invitation to come to dinner that I avoided.
Everything combined had me feeling like I was losing my mind. Conrad leaving was just the cherry on top.
My pack continued to close ranks around me, holding me together as I calmed myself down.
It wasn’t even that I was afraid of being alone with this pack. Conrad was the buffer between us, but I made sure that I was independent of this pack, and they were accepting of it.
Sometimes change, even good change, was hard.
We made it back inside now and my tears were slowing. I let out a breath and willed myself to stand stronger.
“So, I have news,” Cade said. That had us all turning to our head alpha. He looked nervous now. “Ever since we talked about looking for houses the other day, I’ve been keeping an eye out. I don’t pretend to know exactly what kind of packhouse you want, Lana, but I might have a lead. If you want a distraction, we could go check it out? I have it on hold for us.”
I gave him a nervous smile. This was another way I needed them to prove they listened to me. “As long as it’s not big like my old packhouse.”
“I saw that thing. It was a monstrosity,” Mason said, wrinkling his nose.
Lennon nodded. “I couldn’t even imagine trying to keep that palace clean, even with help.”
“It was horrible,” I agreed. “Not that my pack would know. They never put a single thing away. They were a mess whenever they came home.”
“Ex-pack,” Kieran clarified on a growl.
“Okay, alpha, don’t get all intense,” Wilder said, giving me a wink before pulling me out of Kieran’s arms.
He snuggled me close. He was the one who craved touch the most out of my pack, and I loved it.
