Page 86 of Fated to the Alpha

Shane shook his head again. “Anything I can think of can wait until tomorrow.”

Paul wordlessly put up his thumb in a sign of good deal and walked out.

Kimberly snuggled close, reveling in the moment they had to themselves. “Are we still going to check in with Dominic?”

Shane made a noise of remembrance. “Oh, yeah. I almost forgot.” He pulled out his phone and checked the time. “It’s almost time for the alpha meeting. Want to chime in now or wait?”

Kimberly linked an arm with his. “Now is good. It’ll distract me from the mess.”

Shane chuckled and tapped a few buttons to make the call. “It’s not a mess if it’s only been here for a couple of hours.”

“So, by tomorrow it’ll be a mess, and I can unpack?”

Shane kissed the top of her head, and pleasant shivers shot down her spine. “No.”

Kimberly made an objecting noise when Dominic answered the FaceTime call. He looked to be outside, and by the way the camera bobbed and shook, he was walking. Kimberly tried to study snippets of the background to see what part of Tolstone he was in. As happy as she was to be with Shane, a part of her missed her temporary home.

“Hey, guys! I see you got in safely.”

“Yep,” Shane replied. “Paul and Wanda just left.”

“We’re surrounded by boxes!” Kimberly cried. “Tell him it’s okay to unpack!”

Dominic let out a thunderous laugh. “Oh, you can hold off a day or two. Get your bearings.”

Kimberly threw back her head in a dramatic gesture. “You men and your clutter! I bet Erica would side with me.”

Suddenly, Erica’s pretty face popped up beside Dominic’s. “I completely agree! No mess makes a clear head!”

Dominic scoffed, “Says the one who unpacked her whole house in, what, a couple of days?”

“Something like that.” It looked like Erica snatched the phone from Dominic and angled it so her face filled the screen. “You unpack your shit, Kimberly. Even if it’s a couple of boxes a day.”

“Yeah, and what happens when we have to leave in a couple of months for a permanent home?” Shane asked.

Ignoring his logic, Kimberly glanced around the apartment. “I don’t know. I kind of like this place. It’s not fancy or big, but it’s nice.”

“Anyway!” Dominic took control of his phone again. “The pack is all good?”

“Yep. Everyone’s settled, and we hope to hear back on Trent’s college application soon. John’s got a job already lined up for next school year. Everyone else is still job hunting, but they’re getting interviews on the calendar, and we should be in line to get your loan paid back soon.”

“Take your time,” he told Shane. “Hank will say different, but I’m not worried about the money. I’m more concerned about everyone’s safety.”

Kimberly sobered at the reminder. “Any news on that front? With the hunter?”

Dominic sobered and let out a sigh. “We got a name and info from his license plate. No family. We dumped the car and body outside a town about three hours from here. The news was all over it and claimed it was an animal attack like we wanted. Some organization, supposedly the hunters, took possession of the body. No burial that we know of. Cole’s kept a pulse on the comings and goings outside that town, but his connections haven’t seen anything unusual yet. We’re still keeping a lookout, and as much as I hate it, we may have to put Tolstone on a lockdown until we know anything more.”

Shane shifted on the sofa cushion. “What about that pack from Virginia? Any word from them?”

“Their alpha got back with us soon after we initially reached out and said he would pull the pack out at the first sign of real trouble. Haven’t heard anything yet, but maybe I should check on them again. Just to make sure or see if they found out anything.”

Kimberly leaned over. “Is Andy still there? Has he had more visions?”

Soon after the night of the attack, Cole came to tell Shane that Andy was not interested in rejoining his pack. Instead, he was assigned to Gage’s pack to make up for their loss of Kimberly. That eased some of her guilt of leaving, but Shane’s ego might have still been bruised over the affair. He told Kimberly he really wanted that second chance, but Andy was adamant. Either way, they both knew he would be in good hands with Gage.

“If he’s had any new visions, he’s not sharing.”

“What about Gage and Declan? How are they? And the flower shop? Do you know if they found a replacement for me yet?”