Page 71 of Pack End Game

"On what?" I ask, already crossing my arms in suspicion.

"The city doesn't always move quickly on these things." He looks genuinely sorry to be the one telling me this.

Freddie pats my shoulder. "Don't worry, leafy green. If necessary, I'll seduce a zoning official."

Spencer doesn't even look at him. "No, you won't."

"I said if necessary."

"No."

Spencer shifts his body to face me. "We can still start the remodeling work right away. I know some contractors who will expedite our renovations. We don't have to wait on the decision about zoning for that, and the sooner we begin, the sooner we can move in once the zoning change is official."

That does help.

A little.

There's a lot of renovating to tackle before the entire building will realistically be comfortable for us to move into.

But there's still one ugly truth to face.

My heat isn't going to politely wait for municipal approval.

That inevitably sits heavily in the back of my mind all the time at this point. My body has become increasingly aware of my mates' presence. Every time Zak calls me his baby girl, or Spencer uses his calm voice to wrangle the pack. Even Freddie calling me his leafy green, which I think could win awards for most ridiculous pet name of all time.

I want them.

As an omega, I need them.

Rufus, to his credit, is all about introducing solutions instead of problems. "There is one thing you could try," he says cautiously.

All four of us look at him.

He lifts a shoulder. "There's a city hall meeting on Thursday evening. Sometimes there's room on the agenda for community members to speak and make a personal case for expediting their request. More importantly, seeing the public figures that are behind the request could also go a long way in getting community support for the zoning change, which also might speed things along."

My back straightens. "So we'll go to the city hall meeting."

And let Spencer and Zak's football fame win over the community to the point that the city has no choice but to approve us swiftly. Perfect. Such an obvious answer.

"Well, there's the one complication with that..." Rufus looks to Spencer.

With a grim expression, Spencer quietly says, "Thursday is an away game."

Of course it is.

Missing practice this morning to finalize details of our home purchase was already a big ask from Spencer and Zak to Coach Lamb. Their coach ultimately okayed them missing under the circumstances, but there's no way they would miss a game. I'm sure their contracts don't allow them to, but even if they don't, the guys would never ask.

They're dedicated to the team. And to the game.

The pack matters.

I matter.

So does football.

Spencer blows out a long breath. "Maybe if we drove separately instead of taking the bus with the team. We could leave straight from the game, we could–"

"There's going to be so much traffic leaving the game. We'll never make it back in time," Zak interrupts quietly.