I needed to talk to the guys about that, and I would when everybody came back, but until then, I was just going to worry about our day-to-day life and finding new land and possibly a house. Now that they were out of the Airbnb, James had set up an old pop-up trailer he picked up off a social-media marketplace alongside the house. It was old—older than me—and had seen better days, but we’d cleaned it up and helped make it as comfortable as possible. He used the bathroom and ate with us, but it felt important that until we were all together, we stayed apart.
I was nervous telling them that, but they all seemed to get it.
“Gram-Gram, I just got a call from the Realtor that they think there’s a good plot of land for us. Mind watching Maddox while I snag James?”
She looked up at me like I had five heads. “Why would I mind?”
“I was being polite.”
“Well go be polite somewhere else. I have to finish this episode of my show and then wake Maddox from his nap. I told him we would make cookies this afternoon.”
“Are you saying I’m coming home to have him all sugared up?”
“Absolutely you are coming home to him being all sugared up—and even frosting them.”
I could only imagine the amount of frosting that was going to be in that boy’s hair, but it washed out and would create a memory he could savor, unlike the one that still haunted his dreams.
I ran out to the pop-up. James wasn’t there. I called to him—nothing. Finally, I shook off my clothes and called my wolf forward and scented the air. Sure enough, he was in his wolf form. I followed his scent to where he was sleeping in the sun near the river.
My plan had been to wake him up and have him come with me to look at the property, but instead, I padded over to him and curled up beside him, resting my head on his back and falling asleep.
The property could wait. This was exactly where I needed to be.
Chapter Eighteen
Romi
Maddox stood at the front window, staring out. He was as excited as I was that Seth and Heath were coming back today. They had put their belongings in a storage pod that would be delivered to our new property as soon as we closed and were bringing back their vehicles. Their land was already sold—signed, sealed, and delivered. I teased them that there was no going back now. A person couldn’t live out of a storage pod, after all. It was the wrong joke to make because both of them had their wolves flickering through their eyes and growls building in their chests. My sarcasm was lost on their beasts, and I spent the rest of our video call calming them down and letting them know I was teasing. And then, of course, there was no turning back because we were pack, and pack belonged together.
Silly wolves—although not so much silly as we’d been apart too long. Two months. Two months since they left. It was necessary; details had to be figured out and dealt with, but it was far too long, and I really hoped we didn’t have to do that again.
“Here, Mommy!” Maddox jumped up and down before bolting to the door.
Gram-Gram chuckled from her chair. “I’m going to stay here and let you guys have your reunion.”
“You’re family, too, Gram-Gram.”
“That may be, but I’m old family. They can come see me when they’re ready.”
As much as I wanted to argue with her that that was completely ridiculous, I was too eager to see them. I got outside just as Maddox was jumping into Heath’s arms and hugging him, before fist-bumping Seth. And best of all, they seemed just as happy to see him, based on the smiles on their faces.
James came up behind me, intertwining his fingers with mine, giving a squeeze. “The family’s together now,” he whispered in my ear, and I kissed his cheek before running to them.
I hugged them both hard, holding on for dear life. “Gods, I missed you,” I whispered over and over again.
Space really put things in perspective. I knew they all scented me as theirs, and that there had to be a little bit of hurt from me mating with James first. It had been the right thing to do at the time, and I didn’t regret it—especially after they had to leave. I couldn’t imagine the pain of being mated to them and having them gone when this hurt so much. But I wanted to move forward, and it was a discussion that needed to happen—not today, not now, though, because we had places to go.
“The closing is in an hour—you guys cut it close!”
“We had plenty of time,” Seth insisted.
Heath rolled his eyes. “You said that every time you wanted to stop at a new exit.”
“What?” Seth shrugged. “It wasn’t like you didn’t want to go to those places too.”
“Wait. Did you guys do an eating tour?”
Heath leaned over and whispered in my ear, “More like aRomi and Maddox and Gram-Gram spoilingtrip.”
