Page 7

Chapter seven

Sofia

T he familiar scents of the Pack washed over me as I stepped into the Alpha House. Mai’s pregnancy had changed the underlying aroma of the house—there was something sweeter now, mixed in with Ryan’s sandalwood scent. Something that spoke of family, of future, of belonging. Unfortunately, the six enforcers hanging around spoiled it somewhat.

The enforcers barely acknowledged me as I walked in, though I knew they tracked my every movement. Ryan had tripled security since Mai’s fainting spell, though I had no idea what he thought all these enforcers would do if she fainted again—catch her mid-air? It made the usually welcoming Alpha House now feel more like a fortress. My wolf bristled at their scrutiny; we used to belong here, used to slip in and out like it was our second home. Now, even this felt different.

A sharp whistle made me glance toward the staircase, where Evelyn, Derek’s number two in the enforcers, leaned casually against the banister, arms crossed. Her long, dark braid rested over one shoulder, those sharp green eyes of hers missing nothing as she examined me.

“You made it. I was about to send out a search party,” she teased, arching an eyebrow. “Mai will be pleased you’re here.”

I smiled. Seeing Mai was worth the pain of driving here with Derek. “How’s security detail going?”

“You mean, how’s babysitting going?” Her lips quirked up slightly. “Ryan’s gone full doomsday prepper. Yesterday, he had us practicing ‘Operation Stork’—evacuating Mai through three different escape routes while timing how fast we could get her to Thomas’s.”

“You’re joking.”

“Nope. We had to wear earpieces and use code names. Mai only agreed to it if she got to name us all. I’m ‘Captain Cuddles.’”

I snorted. Evelyn was so not the cuddly type. “That’s ridiculous.”

“Tell that to Ryan. He’s installed panic buttons in every room, and there’s a go-bag with Mai’s favorite snacks at every exit.” Her expression darkened momentarily. “After what happened with Brock and Hayley, though…”

“Fair point,” I conceded. “Still, Mai must be climbing the walls.”

“Oh, she threatened to Shift and make a run for it yesterday when Ryan suggested bubble-wrapping the staircase.” Evelyn’s eyes crinkled with amusement. “But the big guy’s just terrified. You should’ve seen him when she fainted—I thought he was going to tear the house apart with his bare hands.”

I shook my head. “Yeah, but even so, this is full-blown a military occupation.”

“Well… that’s love, Sofia. Drives people to do dumb things, especially when they’re scared of losing that person.” Her gaze flicked over me with quiet assessment. “Not that I’d expect you to understand that… being as stubborn as you are.”

I narrowed my eyes. “You trying to say something, Evelyn?”

She grinned, slow and knowing. “Just making an observation.”

Before I could respond, Wally’s voice carried down from upstairs.

“Sofia! Finally!” he called. “We’re in the bedroom!”

I shot Evelyn a look that said this conversation wasn’t over, but she just smirked and waved me on.

Following Wally’s voice, I found Mai propped up against a mountain of pillows in her bed, looking thoroughly fed up. Her small frame was dwarfed by a shirt of Ryan’s as it stretched over her growing belly, and her dark hair was pulled into a messy bun. Wally lounged beside her, flicking through what looked like a baby-naming book.

“Sofia, you’re a lifesaver!” Mai exclaimed as I handed over the latest book by Rina Meyors and a jar of pickled jalapenos topped with peanut butter—her latest pregnancy craving that had Ryan gagging every time she ate it. “You even remembered the extra crunchy kind!”

“Well, the smooth kind is obviously not right with jalapenos,” I teased, watching as she eagerly unscrewed the jar lid.

“Don’t judge me,” Mai mumbled around a mouthful of her spicy-sweet concoction. “The pups want what they want. Last week, it was sardines dipped in chocolate sauce. Tomorrow, it might be something else.” She shrugged, licking peanut butter off her fingers. “If I have to be stuck in this bed, I’m at least going to enjoy my crazy cravings.”

“And how goes your enforced relaxation?”

Mai groaned, stabbing another jalapeno with perhaps more force than necessary. “If I have to read one more article about proper breathing techniques, I’m going to scream.”

“Ryan’s been making her practice Lamaze,” Wally stage-whispered.

“He’s driving me insane! Did you know he actually tried to carry me to the bathroom yesterday? The bathroom! It’s ten feet away!”

“Well, you did faint,” I pointed out, perching on the window seat.

“While having sex!” Mai threw up her hands. “It happens! Pregnancy hormones are weird! But try telling that to Mr. Alpha-Must-Protect-Mate-At-All-Costs. Now, I’m not allowed to do anything except lie here and think about breathing. He won’t even… you know. Says he doesn’t want to risk it in case I faint again!”

I clutched my chest in mock horror. “No sex? OMG, Mai, you have to leave him!”

She threw her pillow at me. “It’s alright for you; you have a vibrator. Me? I have a Ryan, and now he’s gone on strike! Even Thomas said it would be okay if we did it.”

“Mai, honey, you’re thinking of this all wrong,” Wally said. “You just need to tempt him. Make it impossible for him to resist his inner urges.”

I fluffed up the pillow and put it back next to her. “You have all this free time now, right? I have faith in my bestie that you’ll come up with something that will make Ryan—”

“Make Ryan what?”

I turned to see Ryan standing in the doorway.

“Choose Wally Junior as a name for one of the twins,” Wally answered without batting an eye.

Ryan had to have heard our entire conversation, but he went with it as he strode into the room. “We are not naming either of our children Wally Junior,” Ryan said firmly. “And we don’t know if either of them is a boy.”

Mai had insisted she didn’t want to know the sex of the babies until they were born. Thomas was the only one who knew, and it was driving Wally crazy that his mate wouldn’t spill the beans to him.

“Wallina, then? It has such a pretty ring to it.”

“No!” all of us said at the same time.

“How are you doing?” Ryan said, his eyes on Mai. “Not getting too tired?”

“I’m fine. More than fine. Stop fretting.”

“Never,” he whispered, leaning down to place a kiss on her forehead.

I stayed a little longer, listening to them talk about baby names and nursery colors. Watched them plan futures that seemed so certain, so secure. Mai had Ryan, would never be alone again. Wally had Thomas and now Amara and Ben, a family he’d built from choice and love. Even Jase was finding his place at Shaw Investigations, growing into someone who didn’t need his big sister anymore.

When I left, Evelyn was waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs, a set of car keys in her hand.

“Derek had Ava drop off a loaner for you. Said to tell you your car’s going to take a couple of days to fix.”

Of course he did. Derek fucking Shaw fixing everything.

Evelyn studied me. “You okay?”

I rubbed a hand over my face. It wasn’t Evelyn’s fault that Derek always knew how to piss me off.

“Yeah. I’m fine. Just tired. Thanks for these.” I took the keys and headed out.

By the time I got to the Bottley, I knew I didn’t like the loaner. It was a dark gray Range Rover and it felt too big, too stiff, and it didn’t smell right. I parked outside the Bottley, the car’s humongous frame making it take three attempts before I got it in the right place, and looked at the bar.

My sanctuary, with its sturdy brick facade and windows reflecting shards of golden sunlight. I loved this place. Like Erik, it had been here when everything else fell apart—when my parents left, when I couldn’t find work to feed Jase, when Mai disappeared for four years and I spent every freaking day scared mindless that she might be dead somewhere, when Derek… It was the one place I could always count on. The one constant in a life full of people walking away.

My wolf paced uneasily. She didn’t like the direction of my thoughts—she never did when they turned inward like this. But she didn’t offer any answers, either.

A sharp knock on my window snapped me out of my thoughts. Jase, his boyish grin lopsided, peered in at me.

“Nice car,” he teased, opening my door. “Derek’s got good taste.”

Did everyone in Three Rivers know about Erik?

“Does the entire town have a group chat about my car troubles that I’m not invited to?”

“Yeah, it’s called ‘Sofia’s Drama Alert,’ and yes, we all get notifications.” He opened my door with a flourish. “I’m the admin, obviously.”

“Obviously,” I muttered, climbing out.

He squinted at my face. “Whoa, that’s not your ‘I just got pampered’ glow. Weren’t you supposed to be getting hot rocks placed on your chakras or whatever today?”

“Shannon called in sick again.”

“You need to fire her ass. She’s been pulling this crap for months.”

“I know. But we’re already short-staffed. I’d rather deal with her flakiness than start from scratch with someone new.”

We walked into the warmth of the Bottley, and the smell of mahogany wood, ground coffee, and faintly lingering whiskey greeted me like an old friend. Something inside me unwound slightly just by being here. The lunchtime crowd had mostly thinned, leaving only a few tables occupied. I paused and listened to the quiet conversations mixed with the faint clinking of ceramic mugs against wooden tables, while jazz hummed from the speakers.

Okay, maybe this wasn’t the worst way to spend my afternoon if I couldn’t make it to the spa.

Jase jumped up onto the countertop. I had thought I’d have to replace the whole thing after it got broken during an attack on the Pack a few months ago, but it had been repaired seamlessly to blend with the older wood so that you couldn’t tell anymore which sections were new. The shelves behind it, which had also been shattered, now stood sturdier than ever, bolted into the wall with the extra support beams Derek had added. The alcohol bottles were arranged neatly in rows—whiskeys, rums, and gins nestled between jars of homemade syrup and coffee bean canisters.

After the attack, Derek had fixed this place up piece by piece, night after night. I only knew it was him because his scent was all over this place each morning when I came in. I’d never thanked him, never mentioned it, and he hadn’t, either.

Julie, the one staff member I could always rely on, offered me a quick smile as she wiped down the espresso machine. “Rough morning or just rough life?”

I sighed. “Both.”

Brian, our teenage goth barista, didn’t even look up as he meticulously frosted a scone. “Shannon bailed again?”

“As the sky is blue.”

Julie slid a latte toward me. The scent of rich espresso and hazelnut drifted up. “Medium foam, one sugar, extra shot. You look like you need it.”

I wrapped my hands around the mug, letting the warmth seep into my fingers. “I think I love you.”

“A tragic romance,” she sighed dramatically, flipping her dark curls over one shoulder. “If only I liked women.”

Brian snorted, tossing a kitchen towel over his shoulder. “I don’t know. If anyone could turn Julie, it’d be Sofia’s cinnamon roll energy.”

I flipped him off halfheartedly but smiled as I took a sip, letting myself just exist for a moment in my space.

Jase leaned against the bar. “Brian may be on to something, you know? Maybe life would be easier if you liked women?”

“You’re not wrong, Jase,” I muttered as I took another sip. “What are you doing here, anyway? Aren’t you supposed to be at work?”

“Just picking up some spare clothes and food. I won’t be back for dinner; Carlito’s making me catalog old case files.”

I suppressed another sigh. I’d been hoping Jase would make it home tonight. Even if Dad wasn’t here to celebrate, even if I didn’t know where to send the freaking card, last night after work, I’d made Jase and me a cake to share.

“Maybe I can help? Two pairs of eyes would make it go faster.”

Jase's expression softened in that particular way that always made me feel simultaneously loved and diminished. “Thanks, Sof, but we have it handled. You know what would help though? Some of your delicious coffee. You know no-one makes it like you do. You mind making me one to go?”

Right. Coffee.

I forced a smile onto my face. “Sure. Don’t work too hard, okay?”

At least Jase was here. He might be out all hours, might eat all my food, and leave his dirty laundry everywhere, but I was pretty sure that as long as I kept the fridge stocked, he wasn’t going to leave me. Not anytime soon, anyway.