Page 14

Mulder

I don’t know what I was expecting when I went with Kenny to his pack. I guess, in a way, I thought it would be similar to Wolfe Enterprises—which I knew couldn’t be the case since they were one of a kind—but at the same time, it was really my only experience with wolves.

It was nothing like that.

They were more centered around pack life than anything external. And it was fine, and they were nice, but I was glad we made the decision we did, happy that he gave Zoe his power. She was great and in her element. It would be good for the pack and for us. Basically, it was a win-win.

It was painful to watch him be stripped of his pack—not because he didn’t want it to happen but because the ceremony itself was…pretty harsh. I couldn’t even fathom how horrible it would’ve been if he was being forced rogue when the process for an amicable departing was this intense. There were even a few times it took all I could do to hold back and not tell Kenny I’d changed my mind. But as we left pack lands, he pulled over, leaned back, let out a long sigh, and said, “I’m free. I’m finally free.”

And in that moment, I realized—we made the very best decision for our family. Sure, the road wasn’t as easy, but the destination? It was everything.

We came home and went straight to Aspen to plan Kenny’s ceremony. We had to wait until he was officially out of his birth pack to begin, or we’d have already done it. He was already technically connected to them in a way similar to what I had been when Madeline became pack, but there were formalities I didn’t fully understand and of course a huge-ass party to attend.

“And there’s one more thing we need to discuss.” Aspen slid a folder across the table to us. “Now that you are a growing family, it’s time to upgrade your living situation. Here are some listings I think would be suitable.”

I rolled my eyes. He really did act more like a father than an alpha some days.

He wasn’t wrong. We were going to need a bigger house. We could make do in the one I had, and I did love it. After Jason’s insurance finally came through, I’d had the kitchen redone to be my dream kitchen, but the house was really designed for a family of two or three, and that was no longer going to be us.

I rested my hands on my belly, knowing that our young was growing in there, getting ready to join us. It was best for us to have a home where we weren’t packed in like sardines.

“Hey, don’t blame me.” Alpha Aspen smirked. “You think I’m the one who put this list together?”

“Grampa Swale,” Kenny and I said at the same time. I loved the man, but he was a class-A meddler.

“Exactly.” Alpha Aspen tapped the folder. “So you can see, you really have no choice but to at least check them out.”

I turned to Kenny, who gave me a single nod. There were some things worth being stubborn about, but having someone help us make our lives better wasn’t one of them, even if we didn’t ask for said help.

Kenny opened the folder and flipped through the listings. Upon first glance, they looked solid.

“Why don’t you go grab Madeline from school and start taking a look? I have Joanna outside, and she’s ready to show you all the places.”

Joanna was a pack member who owned a local real estate company. She’d helped me find my current house and, if we found a new one, was the perfect choice to sell it.

“Are we not able to do any of the deciding?” I teased.

“Nope. If Kenny’s going to be working here, then he gets relocation help—just like you did.”

I didn’t bother arguing with that not actually being a normal thing—not even for around here. Our alpha was big into making sure his pack members had what they needed, and that looked different for everyone.

For whatever reason, that night in the diner, even though I wasn’t pack, Alpha Aspen had taken a shine to Madeline and me I couldn’t imagine where my life would’ve taken us if he hadn’t.

Madeline was done with classes and in her after-school-care portion of the day when we picked her up. She was thrilled to go look at houses. Every one we walked into, she found something to love. And really, they were all fine. But if we were going to move, I wanted it to be one time—and to find the perfect place. It wasn’t a realistic expectation, but given we had no time crunch, I wasn’t in a rush.

We spent four days looking at houses, but none of them were quite right. At least not until we walked into the only one on the list I thought wasn’t worth looking at. I had been so wrong.

The windows let in so much natural light and in the living room, the light refracted through them perfectly, forming little rainbows that danced on the wooden floor.

Madeline ran over to them and twirled and twirled and twirled. “It’s a fairy house!” she singsonged. “Do you think my room has fairies, too?” Not the bedroom but my room.

And just like that, we knew we were home.

Three weeks later, we were moving in.

“You know, my love…” Kenny wrapped his arms around me, placing his hand on my belly—which was still just as flat as before.

That’s how it had been with Madeline, too. I didn’t look pregnant until, suddenly, I looked like I was very pregnant. Pregnancy was wild.

“There are enough bedrooms here that if you have a full-on litter, we have room.”

I turned in his arms and scowled at him.

“I am not having a litter.” Although, given that he was a shifter too—and another animal who often did have litters—it was actually quite possible I was.

“Okay, my love.” He kissed the dip in my nose. “Whatever you say, but fair warning, Madeline told me she’s having four sisters. But what do I know?”

I’d heard her say it, too. But wishful thinking did not make reality. Probably.

“Papa!” Madeline ran from her bedroom with two tutus in her hands—and they were identical aside from size.

“Why do you have two of those?” I had a feeling I already knew.

“Because I went shopping with Grandpa Swale, and I saw this, and I said, ‘Papa needs this!’ and he agreed.”

She handed Kenny the one she’d purchased for him, and I could barely contain my giggle. He’d been warned. From the very first time she saw him shift, she said he needed one. Most alphas would’ve discouraged her. Not that he was a pack alpha anymore, a change that had us both happy.

“We’re in a new house, and we haven’t even shifted yet.” She stepped into her tutu. “Papa, your wolf can dance now!”

“Then dance he shall.” Kenny walked toward the back door, not a single hesitation in his step.

Okay. We were doing this.

We undressed on the back deck. I loved our backyard. It was huge and private. I didn’t have to worry about a pissy neighbor here, for sure.

I shifted first, wanting not to miss a second of my mate’s wolf dressed in a sparkly tutu. In hindsight, I should’ve waited to shift so I could get a picture of it—because if he wasn’t the epitome of a great dad in that moment, dancing around in a magenta tutu with Madeline, I wasn’t sure there ever was one.

If a human had stumbled upon us that afternoon, they’d have wondered if they were dreaming. Big-ass wolves didn’t stand on their hind legs, wearing a tutu, and letting a little girl hold their front paws as she sang a song and taught them a dance. None except for Kenny, aka best papa ever.