I rolled my eyes. “Just have a lot on my mind, is all.”
It doesn’t help that my father has been questioning me about Nora. When did you guys start dating? Why didn’t you tell me you guys were together? What did I see in her? How serious were we? He had hounded me with questions when I got back home that night.
I couldn’t admit we weren’t together, but I knew I only had a few more days before he was going to start calling out my bullshit, and I would really need to come up with a story. I would need to either come up with an even better lie or the truth.
“If you don’t want the position of Beta, I’ll gladly take it,” Asher offered, running a hand over his dark black hair. I glared at him.
“Brandon would never give it to you.”
“Yeah,” Westley elbowed Asher with a head nod. “He’d give it to me.”
Brandon snorted as he shook his head. “Are you guys done?”
I looked at Brandon, my best friend since I was little. The guy I told all my secrets to, the man I leaned on when times were tough. He was my brother.
Brandon had changed a lot since we arrived back in town. I had always been close with him, but since he got with my sister, I’d seen a gentler side of him. I saw him turn into a father, soften up for his daughter, and protect like I’d never seen before.
I glanced at Asher and Westley, who were looking down at the schedule we had printed out. I considered them like my brothers as well. We had all seen things together, fought things together. We had a bond that only came from seeing the worst in each other.
Asher had held my hand when Brandon had to dig a bullet out of my calf just a year into our service. He promised we were going to make it out, even if he had to carry me. We had gone out for drinks endless times. He told me about his family and how he loved what he did. He did it for them after losing his parents to a murderer.
Westley and I had gone undercover for six months together. Got into a brawl over milk one afternoon because we were practically living on top of each other, trying to get intel. We gave each other broken rips and busted lips. Brandon wasready to kill both of us for acting like animals. But I learned a lot about Westley during that time, and he learned a lot about me.
“I’m not saying I can’t handle the job,” I pointed out. “I’m just saying I have a lot going on between the house hunting, my father, and my sister.” I waved at the schedule. “Is this finalized?”
“That is the plan,” Brandon said. All of us looked down at the schedule he had made out for us. Since Brandon wanted one of us awake at all times, we had a schedule made up. Asher and Westley had managed to do look out at night, but we could tell it was wearing them out.
“For the next couple of months, we will switch between days and nights. I obviously will not be able to do nights as much as you three, but I will help where I can.”
I didn’t expect Brandon to do overnights at all. Between the Alpha duties he had during the day, he was left with hardly enough time to sleep as it was.
“Are you sure about this?” Asher asked, “You don’t need to stretch yourself any thinner than you already are.”
Brandon shook his head. “I’ll be fine. It’s just for now. Once we get a couple of guys up to speed and trained closer to our level, we can come back to it.”
Brandon leaned back in his chair. “Report on last night?”
“Nothing to tell,” Asher said. “It was uneventful. We haven’t seen one in a couple of days now. Has Jade sensed anything?”
Brandon shook his head. “No.”
I could feel the worry that we were all thinking. We all saw the town after the hybrids were there. It was terrifying. Andif we didn’t get something figured out, all the surrounding areas, including us, were doomed.
I left the meeting feeling like I had more questions than answers. I knew that we were all feeling off balance. Asher and Westley were exhausted from staying up overnight. Brandon was feeling the weight of pulling the pack back together. I felt like I’d returned home to the issues I left behind.
I arrived at my father’s house and was relieved when I noticed his car wasn’t in the driveway. I only had a few things to pick up for the house since I finally put an offer in on a house. It was just the next day after I spoke with Nora, and now ten days late, I got the keys. I wasn’t expecting it to happen so quickly, but the owner had already moved out months ago. The house had sat empty since. I was grateful because I couldn’t handle my father constantly bothering me with questions.
When I first started looking at houses, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to buy. The plan had been simple: come in, save the town, and go back home or die trying. I never planned to stay. Even when Brandon decided I’d been on the fence.
I had an apartment that was a ten-minute drive from the office. I had pulled an entire life together near our base in California. I never set down roots since we were constantly moving, so it felt wrong to try to do so here.
But I knew this was different. I already lost over three years of time with my sister. Didn’t even know I had a niece that I lost time with. I felt a tug to be here.
So, I bought the house and decided to settle down here. But that didn’t mean I was going to get married, have children, and look for that life. I didn’t want to end up like my father. I knew where to draw the line in the sand.
I shook my head, reminding myself I needed to focus. “Just grab your stuff, Kaleb. Before dad gets back.”
I grabbed the last of the things I needed and headed to my house. It was close to Brandon and Jade’s house—just four blocks away. It was a small cottage-shaped house, only a little over a thousand square feet, but it had recently been remodeled and was mine.
