Page 123

“That makes sense I suppose,” I say. “After seeing Nina’s room, I’m ready to give her everything she needs or wants. Starting with new clothes since we just burned everything up.”

“From what I understand, none of that shit is anything she’d want to keep,” Ethan says. “We still have her bag of clothing and things from the Colorado house in the trunk. Anything else we can buy for her.”

“Only one of our signatures needs to be on the bill of sale for the house since we bought it outright,” Riley says. “Do you want to do it as the head of the pack, Cooper?”

“I don’t want to wake her if I don’t have to,” I say honestly. “One of you can sign, and then we can go home for the last time. We’re mostly packed up already.”

We’ve been living out of boxes for weeks.As soon as things started unfolding, the three of us began to pack so we could move as soon as possible. The place we’re at is a rental and came furnished. I figure I’ll rent out the townhouse in Minneapolis to a teacher or students at the university and we’ll just buy everything new for the house.

Every item will mean something because it has Nina’s personal touch. We’re building our lives together now. A purr of happiness rumbles my chest, and Ethan grins.

“Did it just hit you how fucking lucky we are?” he asks.

“It really did,” I rasp. “You work toward a goal, and then finally achieve it. Now what?”

“Now we remind Nina of this until she believes it,” Riley says, parking outside of the realtor office. “Here’s to hoping I’m in and out.”

Watching as he walks into the office, I get lost in how pretty Nina is while she sleeps.

Nina

I vaguely remember Cooper helping me into bed last night, but then I was knocked out again. Yawning as I open my eyes, I smile as I look around. I’m in a bed that’s much smaller than we were using in Colorado, sleeping next to Ethan. Cooper is asleep on the floor on one side of the bed, while Riley is on the other side.

They aren’t going to be happy when they wake up with knots in their back. Ethan’s arms tighten around me as he kisses my temple, his breaths still steady as he sleeps.

There are boxes all over the place, and I wonder why. Are they moving in or out?

There’s a lot I’m confused about, or I don’t have all the answers to things. Now that I’m bonded, I think it’s about time I got some of those. Elbowing Ethan, I grin as he grunts awake.

“Little Queen, you woke me up,” he says, rubbing his cheek against my forehead. “Do you have to pee? Am I holding you against your will?”

Giggling, I shake my head. Ethan is really cute in the mornings.

“I realized I have questions, and you seemed like a pretty willing victim to get them answered,” I say.

“That’s fair,” he says, turning to his side to wiggle down until he can use my breast as his pillow. “Fire away, baby.”

“Where are we right now?” I ask, choosing a safe question. I have to ask about my mother, but I don’t know if I can jump into that.

“We are in what equates to an apartment,” he says. “It’s a little bigger, but still as you can see, not ideal. It’s close to where Riley has clinical rotations at the hospital, which was the main reason we decided to lease it.”

“Okay,” I say, letting my fingers play in his hair. I love the purr deep in his chest as he sighs happily. “Why are there so many boxes in here?”

“Two weeks into your fake courting, we decided to pack everything up so we would be able to pivot in any way needed,” he says. “Whether that meant buying a house with you or chasing you to another part of the country. Your mother was very volatile, and anything could have happened.”

“Was?” I ask, biting my lip.

“Nina,” he whispers, looking up at me. “Fuck, we should have woken you up to tell you yesterday. Yes, the packs killed her for what she did to you. Dad and Riley were there as well, while I kept watch. Afterward, we burned the house down. Abbott made sure the fire department got an anonymous call to come put the fire out. I haven’t heard anything else since.”

“Nina?” Cooper asks, sitting up. “Good morning, baby.

“Morning,” I say with a smile. “Ethan is filling me in on things that I need answers to.”

“Good, you should ask whatever you want,” he says.

“How did you get the packs to agree to all of this? I know that no one wants an omega who is already promised to someone else, but they could have made it really difficult for you guys,” I say.

Riley sits up sleepily, pushing his brown hair off his forehead.