Page 179 of Alpha Mates

“No for me,” Isabel says. “I like my housemates. It’s a maybe for Emitt, and I think no for Beckett, right?” She glances at him, and he nods. “Makes no sense when he might be moving in with a mate soon.”

“Oh shit, happy belated,” I say to Beckett. His birthday had passed while we were away, and I had said it then too when Julian stole my phone so he could call his best friend at exactly midnight to wish him a happy birthday. But I’d been more focused on teasing my mate for needing a phone.

“Still no sign of them?” Julian asks, hope creeping into his tone.

Beckett shakes his head. “No,” he answers sadly, but he doesn’tlooksad. He looks off, but I’m not about to pry, especially not with something as sensitive a topic as mates.

“Why don’t you guys check out your place?” Emitt suggests with a smile. “We’ll be down here in the meantime.”

“Okay,” Julian replies, already tugging me towards the elevator with a sparkle of excitement in his eyes that the others don’t see.

He’s been looking forward to seeing our new place since we agreed that we’d move in. He had his cottage, which he still adored, and I’d grown to love. And I, of course, loved my place. But they were both in the centre of our old packs’ borders.

In our newly merged pack, neither would work. The new house meant no one could complain we were favouring one side.

“We have an elevator,” I whisper breathlessly as I stare at it like I’ve never seen one before.

“I know,” Julian says, pressing the button. “No more scaling up a million stairs every day.”

With a ping, the doors slide open, and we step inside. Hands intertwined, we rise up to the top floor, and there’s only one set of doors up here.

I let Julian open them, and follow him into our new home.

“Oh shit,” I breathe as I take it all in.

It’s like my apartment, with an open layout, only it’s far bigger and lighter. At the centre, a long grey couch stretches in front of a coffee table; to theleft, a kitchen that I can’t wait to share with Jewels. Further in, there’s a massive study with a table large enough for both of us. Two smaller bedrooms, then a larger one with a massive bed, and best of all—per my request—a bathroom with a massive stone tub.

“This place makes my home look like a dump,” Julian says as he drifts towards the study.

“So when we never leave, they can only blame themselves, right?” I ask, making Julian snort. “We’re not done yet. We still have to seeyourpersonal request.”

At the reminder, his eyes light up, and it’s only by the grace of Goddess that I manage to keep up as he bolts back into the elevator.

More than Julian’s wet dream come to life, the library’s supposed to be a space for anyone who wants to study our pack and species’ histories without inhaling the archives’ dust mites.

That being said, I hadn’t been expectingthis.

I’m no book nerd, but even I miss my next breath when the doors open. An entire floor of books. Shelves to the ceiling. Stacks upon stacks.

“Holy shit,” I breathe while Julian makes a strangled squeaky sound.

“Are those … globes?” he asks, pointing to the large, metallic spheres at the far end of the room. His hands come up to cover his mouth. “It’s so perfect.”

“Just don’t move in here,” I warn, and I’m half joking, but when Julian glances at me, the look in his eyes brings genuine worry to the surface. “Alright, you have your moment with all of this. I’m going to check in with the others.”

I get a grunt for my trouble because my mate is too absorbed in his new world to manage anything else. I smile to myself before heading back to the ground floor, where our friends lounge around the common room.

“Done already?” Emitt asks as I step out of the elevator.

“Yeah, it’s amazing. Julian’s up there, creaming his pants in the library.”

“He went without me!?” Isabel shrieks, springing to her feet. “I wanted to show him around!” She disappears up the stairs.

“Does she know there’s an elevator?” I say, walking towards my betas.

“I think she’s faster,” Beckett muses, making me laugh as I sink into the seat Isabel just vacated.

“How about a drink? To celebrate,” Emitt asks even though he’s already up on his feet and heading for the fridge tucked into the corner of the lounge.