She laughed, but no smile lifted her lips. “I bet you have a big, fancy house, huh?”
I shook my head. “No. We have a comfortable home with a mortgage like anyone else. I work from home. Rowan runs the nonprofit clinic, and Miles is a professor at the city college. Nothing fancy about it. But we watch our finances and do okay.”
“Oh. You don’t have dreams of being rich and having some mansion?”
I laughed hard. Those things weren’t on my radar. “No. That’s not one of our goals. We value peace and security. A safe and loving home. Being the best packmates we can. Helping others when we are able.”
“That’s…different.”
“It’s true, female.”
“Miles asked me to come and live with the three of you. Did you know that?”
“Yes. He told us. We only want to help you.”
She turned in a slow circle and, while her back was to me, she swiped at her face with the back of her hand. Goddess, this had to be hard for her. Starting over after trauma was one thing, but having life crap on all her efforts had to suck. “If I do this, it means nothing other than living there until I get on my feet.”
I put my palms up in surrender. It would mean everything to me, but I understood. We had zero expectations other than helping her and keeping her safe.
“Can…oh, this is hard.” Her wolf was making grabs for a mental connection to me. Shifter animals sometimes bondedwithout a touch. Especially mates who were fated for each other as we were. I believed we were.
“What’s hard?” I asked, taking a step toward her. She perfumed, and my bear caught every ounce of scent coming off her. Suppressants could only do so much. Once an omega met her alphas, biology pushed through even the thickest of boundaries.
“Accepting help.”
“How can I make it easy on you?”
She smiled then but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Keep doing what you’re doing, Lev. Keep it up. You’re making me believe in other people again.” She cleared her throat of the emotion. “I don’t have much. Help me get my things?”
I gasped. “Wait, does that mean you’ll stay with us?”
“It means I’ll accept the offer. Thank you. Thank you all. But this doesn’t mean I’ll stay forever.”
“Right.”
She squinted. She was so good at that. I was kind of scared of that look. “And this doesn’t mean I’ll pay for rent with any omega service, if you know what I mean.”
I did. “Of course not. I can’t believe you even thought of that.”
She snorted. “It’s not forever.” Harper was repeating herself now, endearing as fuck.
“Not forever.”
Yes, forever.That damned bear of mine.
She picked up two duffel bags. One black and large and the other flowery and wild. Neither of them, I thought, were something she would pick out on her own. In less than ten minutes, she set them down at the door and put her shoes back on. “That’s it.”
“These are all of your belongings?” I asked as my heart sank. Our omega. Our precious female and her whole life fit into oneand a half duffel bags. If my bear ever got his paws on her other pack…it wouldn’t end well for them.
“Yes. I left with nothing but the clothes on my back.”
I took both of them from her in one hand. “Let’s go. I’m starving and it’s cold in here.”
Chapter Eleven
Harper
I had to take the chance.
