Page 88 of A Farmer’s Guide To Gamers

“We’re fixing this. Now.”

Kai stood up and tugged me up with him, Aiden standing up slowly to follow.

“Dean, you know how to contact her family, right? We have to fix this.”

Kai led the way inside and I laughed, humor breaking through any tears that were still drying on my face as he teased me about being technology challenged. Aiden set up to help him and they took over with some input from me about what should be on there.

I snuggled in between the two of them on my couch, happy to relax into their soothing presence as they took care of me.

I wasn’t looking for a pack, but I had zero regrets as they all stepped up and helped take care of me. My omega practically purred as I cuddled the otter some more and tried to let the images of red spray paint fade from my mind.

For now.

Kai

The house was quiet for the first time in days. The security cameras were up and running outside already. The moment Dean explained it to Tillie’s parents, they went all out and called their contact, even insisting on paying for the extra monitoring service.

They were appalled when they saw what that asshole had done.

Tillie was out with Jack for a coffee date, Dean was fixing something in the barn, Aiden was asleep in bed, and I was milling around the house.

I’d felt unsettled since that day and found myself wandering around. Not quite bored, more needing to move, but not wanting to go outside.

This house was quickly becoming a packhouse and I couldn’t help but poke around a bit to see the spaces I hadn’t explored yet.

The living room and kitchen were joined, a sunroom off the kitchen and a double patio door leading to the back porch off the wide living room. Upstairs were the bedrooms and bathroom. Her bedroom was the master suite. Then Dean and Jack were sharing one room while Aiden and I had claimed the other.

There was one door I assumed was a linen closet in the hallway.

Curiosity won out, and I opened it up, ready to see it stuffed full of extra nesting supplies or fabrics. Instead, I found stairs.

The hallway was dim enough I searched the wall by feel to find a switch. I clicked it and a dangling overhead light lit up the wooden staircase. The wood wasn’t even stained or treated, and I was unsurprised by the creaks as I climbed upward.

My eyebrows rose as I took in the large, empty space up here. Dust coated most of it and there was one large window that faced the back of her pasture. I wasn’t sure how I didn’t notice before. The roof hung low over the walls but was high enough you could stand tall against them.

With the stairs in the middle, it spanned the entire house, only a few discarded boxes and what looked like a Christmas tree broken in half in the back corner.

I was going to have to talk to Tillie about this later.

Before I could check out the boxes, I heard someone on the stairs. I turned to find Aiden coming toward me, his eyes taking in the space with open curiosity. In the low lighting, his pale hair seemed to glow.

“What are you doing?”

“Exploring,” I grinned. The truth was, I was stuck on my current work project and was going crazy searching for a distraction.

“It’s creepy. Come back downstairs,” he muttered, already turning away.

“Why are you awake already?” I asked, realizing it had only been thirty minutes.

He sighed. “Bad dream.”

Something that had happened twice since Jonathan’s handiwork on the farm. I think seeing Tillie like that had shaken him more than he cared to admit.

“Aiden,” I said softly, and he held up a hand as if to say ‘not now’ but I didn’t let him dissuade me.

I reached out and snagged his wrist, and pulled him close to me. He was stiff but let me hold him. Slowly he melted into it and let out a deep sigh, wrapping his arms around me to return the hug.

“Just imagine this place cleaned up,” I started describing my vision. “The room being finished with some dry wall and paint. This could be the perfect place for our omega’s nest since we’ve moved in. She always says the whole place is her nest but I think we all agree she needs a dedicated nest space now that we’ve moved in.”