He nodded once, trusting me. The surly delta wasn’t just warming up to me anymore, he was treating me like a true packmate.
Chorizo let out an excited yip before racing across the grass in circles.
We were right on his heels, cracking up as the insane puppy ran at top speed through the grass.
Greer pulled a tennis ball from his pocket. Roxie held out her hands and he tossed it to her. She caught it easily and rushed out to the middle of the yard.
Chorizo froze, staring at the fluorescent yellow ball like it was his long-lost love. As soon as she threw it he was off, racing through the yard and tumbling over himself as he tried to catch it. He eventually managed to snag it in his mouth before proudly carrying it back.
They took turns throwing the ball until Chorizo stretched out in the sun, soaking in the warmth. I glanced back to find Hayes watching, too. His hair was wet from a shower and he was smiling softly out at our pack. I knew that feeling. I’d felt it often since we’d come together like this.
I sat at the patio table, looking out at the empty yard. It was another thing we’d have to fill. The gardens were long gone and it was just a stretch of empty land.
It drove me crazy how empty and hollow this house felt when my grandparents died. Family members claimed a lot of the furnishings. I didn’t mind at the time, but the lack of extras left it feeling even more haunted.
Now I was grateful for the extra room. It gave us a real chance to make this place our own.
There would always be a legacy here. We weren’t erasing it but adding to it.
“I was thinking we could make a garden out there,” I said, pointing toward the sunniest corner. “Fence it off so Chorizo doesn’t pee on everything we grow.”
Hayes walked over, looking where I pointed and nodding. “I’m thinking we could build a nice outdoor cooking station. Maybe some kind of covered structure for shade.”
Soon, he was listing everything he’d love to add—smokers, fire pits, an outdoor stove.
“We have to fix up that pool,” Rylan said. His eyes tracked to Roxie, then me and Greer. “Shirtless mates, Roxie in a bikini, hot summer sun, cold water. Sounds like a perfect summer to me.”
“Damn,” I laughed. “That does sound nice.”
“We should get those string lights,” Roxie added. “The ones with the round exposed bulbs. We could hang them over the whole area. And get ceiling fans so I don’t melt every summer.”
“We can make it happen,” I agreed happily, picturing each new thing they added and loving it.
We were all buying into the future we were building. There was no more worrying over age or incomes. It felt like the heat had put us on even ground.
“There are plenty of bedrooms upstairs,” Rylan added carefully, glancing at me, then Roxie. “We need to have more heats so we can start filling them with babies.”
Roxie’s cheeks turned bright red. “I could be persuaded. We’ve got a little while before another one happens. Hopefully, postseason, if we’re lucky.”
“Fuck that,” Greer said firmly. “Hockey isn’t getting in the way of whatever our omega needs. If it hits early, it hits early. We take the time off.”
“Don’t worry. I won’t lie about that. The last thing I want is to suffer through a heat without you.”
A collective growl of protest echoed around the patio.
Roxie rolled her eyes. “Can we go back to talking about what we want to do with this pack house?”
“We need a bigger refrigerator,” Greer said. “The one here is just a single fridge. Or one of those restaurant-style refrigerators with the glass fronts.”
I blinked. “Clearly you’ve never been in the pantry or the basement.”
Greer froze, tennis ball still in hand, poised to toss for Chorizo who was yapping impatiently.
“Are you kidding me?”
I laughed and shook my head. “There are a couple of commercial glass-front refrigerators in the pantry. More shelving than we’ll ever fill. The basement also has a wine cellar and a wine cooler.”
“Damn.” He actually sounded impressed.
