I wanted to explore more, but the moment I saw the staircase, I was heading upstairs.
There was a long hallway at the landing, and I turned to the left where I thought the nest was.
I pushed open the door to find a large pack room. It was big enough for one of those giant pack beds that would fit us all. The idea of waking up to them every morning had me longing for that life.
“There are enough rooms that we all can have one,” Cade said. “Plus, two extras if we decide to grow our family someday.”
He’d given thought to this house before buying it. The fact he purchased it already didn’t bother me. I knew if I hated it, we’d look more. But he knew me and our pack and had made the right call.
“I can’t believe you bought it,” I said, wanting to make sure he knew I was happy about it.
“It was on the market, and it was going to go fast. I had no choice. I figured if we didn’t like it, I’d resell it.”
“I’m glad you did,” I said as I pushed open one of the doors branching off of the bedroom. There was a large walk-in closeton the other side, a huge bathroom next to it with a shower big enough for us all.
Behind the third door was the best part. My nest.
There was something whimsical about the space. It was dark and cozy. There were already lights inlaid in the ceiling that were dim. The windows were covered in a stained-glass film that cast rainbows onto the mattress that lay on the floor.
It was big enough for all of us and everything I could’ve dreamed of. It was cozy, and the best part was it was nothing like the nest that broke me.
“Okay, you saw yours. Let’s go see mine,” Mason said, dragging me upstairs now that they’d uncovered the staircase that led to the attic.
Lennon was already waiting upstairs, staring into one of the doors with an unreadable look on his face.
Everything up here was exposed wood. It was polished and new, like the rest of the house, but a lot more rustic. There were two doors, and at the end of the hallway was a large window.
“What do you think?” I asked Lennon as Mason pushed open the other door to take his room in.
His voice was rough when he answered. “I think I might try, princess.”
A grin spread across my face. I wanted his delta settled as much as my omega was. This home felt as right as this pack did.
“Good, I like that you won’t have to crash my den now. Though we better make sure these walls are soundproof,” Mason said with a smirk before walking into his future den.
I peeked in to see it was the same style, just as big and just as empty. They’d have space to work with. There weren’t any windows in here, like it was made just for this purpose.
By the time they’d talked out layouts and we wandered back downstairs to the others, everyone was waiting in the living room, talking logistics.
Cade looked at us expectantly. “Well? What did you three think?”
I smiled. “When do we move in?”
Chapter
Thirty-One
Lana
The protests were getting worse at every game. After just a few short weeks of this, I was exhausted. We couldn’t get into the arena without an escort. Working in the kitchen meant a guard outside the door. There was also one standing guard at the clinic so Dr. Diaz and his nurse were safe.
It was wild.
Away games weren’t any relief either. The tension was rising in the hockey world, even if it started here. Every tabloid that covered sports gossip was blowing up. My face was being shared like wildfire, each new story more elaborate and more inaccurate as it rolled on.
The pictures of my exes’ beat-up faces were shared just as much as mine, only a few were close to the reason behind it, but they hadn’t said a word.
Any clip that showed a delta showing any sort of aggression on the ice was used against them like a weapon. It didn’t matter that the alphas fought ten times more, all anyone wanted to focus on was the deltas now. It was infuriating and discouraging.
