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“You didn’t find any in the storage?” I asked.
“No. The woman at the door said a bunch of kids came and grabbed some after their graduation. We were a couple of weeks late,” she laughed.
I nodded and was going to leave when I decided to speak more seriously with her.
“Can I be honest?” I said.
“Of course, Alpha.”
“Evie’s been a friend since we were kids. I had a mind to go grab some furniture and show up with it, but I know you’ve been alone for a long time. Would you be offended if I did?” Her mouth flopped open, and she sat on her chair.
“I know I fucked up pretty bad yesterday. Is Gamma James mad at me?” she asked quietly.
“No. He would be here if he didn’t have to lead training. He felt bad you thought he insulted you.”
“He didn’t do anything wrong. I am just naturally defensive since I found out I was pregnant and alone.”
“He understands. You don’t have anything to worry about. Will you let us help you, though?” I asked again, and she sighed.
“My first instinct is to say no, but Molly’s birthday is coming in a month and a half, and it would be nice to have money to throw her a little party with the friends she’s making at daycare. I’ll accept your help, Alpha Cory. Thank you. I honestly never expected to join another pack again, but I’m beginning to remember what it’s like to have a support system. Evie and her parents have been amazing in welcoming us, and so have all of you. I’m truly thankful Molly will be able to grow up with our kind around her.”
“I’m glad to hear. Will you and Evie be home this afternoon? We can bring over the stuff then.”
“Yes. I will. Evie... is hit or miss. Depends on if she found what she was looking for. Sometimes she hyper-fixates, and I won’t hear from her for a few days.” I frowned at her words. Not seeing Evie for days? What if something happened to her? Zi must have misunderstood my frown because she quickly added, “But I’m sure she’s working, and she’ll be checking in with you. She’s a hard worker.” I smiled at her words, glad Evie had such a loyal friend.
“I’m not worried about work. I’m worried about Evie going out for days with no one knowing where she’s at. What if something happens to her?”
“We have the ‘track my phone’ on each other’s phones, and have since we were in school. We looked out for each other.” She smiled. I nodded, glad they looked out for each other.
“How long have you guys known each other?”
“Almost four years? I was pregnant with Molly at the time. She went into the diner I was working at and recognized me from class. We’ve been friends since.”
“I’m glad you had her.”
“She’s the best,” she answered brightly.
“Yeah, I know,” I agreed quietly then cleared my throat. “The first of the new workers will arrive this afternoon and they’ll be trickling in over the next two weeks. I’ll bring them by and show them around. Do you know what Evie wanted them to get started on if she’s not here?” I asked.
“Yes. We made binders for everyone,” she said, pointing to a stack of binders in one of the conference rooms.
“You guys are very well prepared then. I can see why she insisted on you having this position. You work well together.” I smiled.
“I won’t make you or her regret giving it to me,” she promised.
“I know. I don’t expect anything less from someone Evie befriended. I gotta go. If you need anything, feel free to text or mind-link any one of us,” I said.
“Will do.”
I left the building feeling a little disappointed at not seeing Evie, but happy to have had a good talk with Zi. I had most of the morning free, but the afternoon would be full of people arriving and becoming pack members, so I reached out to James and Jo to help me pick some stuff out. Meli also joined, not trusting three men to pick things out for two women and a little girl. Probably a good call.
We bickered the whole time about getting things that were functional versus comfortable versus high-end. In the end, Meli reminded us that Molly was only three and accidents would happen, so we couldn’t pick anything too high-end or decorative. So we went with some comfortable couches that reclined, round coffee tables and a TV stand that was too high for Molly to hit her head. I grabbed a bunch of kitchen appliances and a set of pots and pans that I liked. Lastly, because we were all children at heart, we headed into the toy section of the giant store and bought a shitload of toys for Molly. On the way out, I saw a baby blanket with cute little wolf pups howling at crescent and full moons, and I had it wrapped for Cecilia and Lucien.
We managed to fit everything in the back of Jo’s and my trucks and drove back home. After lunch, the four of us met with all the new employees as they came in. We made about fifteen trips to the new building, showing everyone around, getting their new badges from security, and settling them in before dumping them on poor Zi. Although truth be told, after looking a bit green in the face when we dropped the first set of ten employees on her, she looked like she hit her stride, and she seemed comfortable in her role by the time we came around with the fourth set.
I didn’t hear from Evie until the third day. I wanted to call her, but I didn’t want her to think I didn’t trust her or was checking up on her. It was killing me, but at least Zi had received a text each night.
I showed up on the third day with two sets of breakfast as usual, and the moment I walked in, Evie ran out of her office and dragged me in. I barely managed to hand the Tupperware to Zi, who was laughing.
