“It is the package we wanted,” Aiden said.
Sounds of approval came from the rest of my Alphas. Theo touched me on the shoulder. “Why don’t you put your suitcase away and set up Cinder’s litter box before meeting us in the living room?”
“Where should I put it?”
He thought about it for a second. “Here.” I followed him to a small door in one of the hallways. A utility closet that didn’t have much in it, and what there was rested on shelves, leaving the floor free. “We can get a little door installed.”
“You hear that, Cinder? You’re going to have your own door.”
He laughed softly. “Meet us when you’re finished.”
I quickly put my clothes in my laundry basket and poured litter into the box before letting Cinder see and smell it. She climbed right in and used it. She was so tiny, but she looked proud of herself. I was proud of her, too.
“Do you want to come with me or explore?” I held out my arm for her to climb if she wanted, but she was already zooming down the hallway.
I ran after her. “Wait, silly.”
She was already around the corner. I slid to a stop in front of Logan’s door. It was open, and I was distracted by what I saw: the closet no longer had a door.
Slowly, I ventured inside to see if I was hallucinating. No. The space where the hinges would go was empty, and there was no door to be found. You couldn’t be locked in a closet that didn’t have a door.
Tears of gratitude flooded my eyes at the same time as memory.
Matt came into the living room and looked at me. “Follow me, Trinity.”
“I’d rather not.”
“It wasn’t a request.”
Dread swirled in my stomach. If I said no, he’d make it happen anyway. “Let me guess, Val wants to see me?”
“You’re getting better at this. See how easy it can be?”
I didn’t say anything.
Slowly, I followed him, putting my phone in my back pocket. I was supposed to go to Isolde’s house later, and I was waiting for her call.
He led me to the guest room on their side of the house. It was decorated the way most of them were: plain andboring. But Val had taste that lived at the crossroads of beige and mass-produced.
“Good, you’re here. I have a party in an hour.”
“I’m going to Isolde’s house, so you don’t have to worry about me.”
She smiled at me, sickly sweet. “Except I do have to worry about you, because you’ll come back in the middle of my party, and then I’ll have to explain why some sloppy teenager is letting themselves into my house. But I also don’t want your scent on my clothes having to drag your ass into my closet, so I came up with a solution.”
I took a step backward out of instinct. “I’ll spend the night. I won’t bother anything.”
The gaze she gave me was pure poison. “The fact that you fucking exist bothers people, Trinity. Don’t you get that? No one wanted you. You were left on a doorstep, and Cecil, though I love him, doesn’t stay to be around you, and the rest of us didn’t sign up to be parents. So shut up, do as I say, and I won’t kick you or your father out of the house.”
Fear crept up my throat. I would have nowhere to go. She was right. Dad never stayed. He hated staying in one place. He would hate me if I was the reason he couldn’t travel.
“I’ll just stay in my room then.”
“That’s not good enough. Come here.”
Right then, I saw the locks on the closet doors. That was the kind of lock that didn’t go on a closet. It went on a front door. Serious and heavy-duty to keep things out. Or, in this case, keep things in.
“It’s comfortable,” she said. “There’s a pillow and a blanket. And we’ve soundproofed it. It’s the best place for you. You won’t bother anyone.”
