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“Why are you out here?” I ask, looking back inside. There’s asingle light on in the room, but I can feel the heat coming off of it from here.

That’s a terrible lightbulb for her to have. There’s no fucking way any of those are allowed in our house.

“Vivian fucked with her stuff,” Carter explains. “All of her things are moved, she threw out her comfortable clothing. Just trust me. Go and touch the comforter on her bed to see how vile it is.”

The beta shudders at the memory, which makes me curious enough to go touch it.

“Is that…microfiber?” I ask. “It feels really awful. Nina wouldn’t be able to even sit on this shit.”

“That’s why I ransacked another room for pillows and a blanket,” Carter sighs. “It’s not the same, but it helped her get comfortable. Wait…Do I smell smoke?”

“You do,” Ethan says. “Ding, dong, the wicked bitch is dead.”

“Sweet,” Carter says, shifting before freezing to look at me. “Are you going to kill me if I carry her back inside?”

“No, but I’d rather you pass her to me,” I admit.

Carter lifts her into his arms and passes her to me before glancing out at the backyard.

“I’m going to leave the way I came up so I can see if anyone else can smell the smoke or if it’s just me,” he says. “Though, come to think of it, the open window is probably why I could tell there was a fire.”

Riley nods, closing the window as he waves at Carter. The beta scales down the house without a second thought and runs off the property to scout, leaving us to walk out of the room.

“Cooper!” Abbott calls out, and we move faster to run down the stairs. The drapes of the bottom floor are already ablaze. All of this is going to burn quickly. Fuck. “Let’s go.”

The lights at the front of the house are off as we sneak out and down the stairs. Abbott made sure to take one of the housekeys to lock everything back up, and we begin strolling along the sidewalk toward the cars waiting on the street.

“I’ll make sure the fire department is called,” Abbott says, opening the driver door to his SUV. “I want to go back to seeing Nina three times a week at our running club.”

“Consider this us accepting our standing invite,” Ethan says with a grin, fist bumping the alpha.

That’s my kid, making friends with everyone apparently. He’s come a long way from the antisocial kid who hated everyone.

Our car is parked ahead of Abbott’s and we get in as I cuddle Nina against my body.

“She’s so fucking loved,” I murmur, pulling her wig off and tossing it to the side.

Her hair is growing in, it’s just slow to do so. I wonder if her hair is skittish after being shaved so often. If she wants to grow it out faster, I can see if I can find anything that’ll naturally help.

Riley starts the car and glides us out of the parking spot. I have to say that he’s a much better driver than my son. Sighing, I let my head drop back as I slowly begin to relax in the back seat.

Fuck, I can’t believe she’s ours.

“Everything is in order,” Riley says, feeling my relief through our pack bond. “The Healthy Pack Organization should have us accepted by now.”

“I’ll check the website,” Ethan grunts, pulling his phone from his pants. A few quick touches on the screen has him nodding. “All good on that end. I also have an email from the real estate agent that we can swing by now to sign the paperwork for the house. Should I tell her yes and then have an alibi for tonight if we need it?”

Riley has his shirt on again since it had dried during the time I was finishing up downstairs, and none of us are wearing any blood on us. We’ll pass.

“Yeah, let’s do that,” I grunt. “Let her know we have a verytired omega who has been traveling so our realtor doesn’t get too chatty.”

“Will do, Dad,” Ethan murmurs. “She’s nice, but she does tend to talk a lot.”

“The house is perfect,” Riley adds. “All I had to do was make one call and she got working once I sent her all the paperwork to ensure that we had the money in order.”

“Money talks and bullshit walks,” I mutter. “Trinity works quickly. I’m a little shocked the place is move in ready. Didn’t she say we’d be able to have the house by tomorrow?”

“Yeah,” Riley says with a nod. “The owner passed away and his kids want to sell quickly. It seems they need the money. They also don’t live here.”