Page 129 of Claiming Their Omega

I thought I was a wallflower and that nobody even noticed that I had left town, other than my own family. But as people meet me at the barn raising or as they stop by to help, they all greet me warmly and talk about how nice it is to have me back in town.

I’m shocked. All I can do is smile and thank them and hug them when necessary. I feel like crying sometimes, not with anything bad, just overwhelmed with joy and surprise.

“What’s the plan?” everyone asks me at the barn raising.

“The plan is to raise the barn,” I tell them with a laugh. “Have you seen the blueprints for the expansion that we settled on? There was a lot of arguing over details but I think the men worked it all out in the end. We want to expand the herd, and maybe start focusing more on the horses than we did before, now that Hendrix is back into rodeo riding.”

I don’t talk about what my own plans are. It’s not something I want to think about. Which is silly, because I already know what I’m going to do. I just don’t want to talk to anyone else without talking to my Alphas first. They deserve to be the first ones to know.

But it still is a hell of a shift, to realize that this town was always my home. I just never realized it. And even with the angst and drama that ended up being involved, I don’t regret that I left. I needed to go to New York to appreciate what it would be like to come home. I had to go away so that I could return, and see it all with new eyes.

Although the barn raising does a lot to help bring everything along, it doesn’t get the barn completely finished. In fact, I’m not allowed to see as the men finish up the work on it.

“I’m not even the one who will be doing the most work in the barn!” I tell them as they force me to stay in the house while they go out to work on it every day. “It’s not like you’re doing it for me!”

“How do you know?” Hendrix teases me as they leave.

While they work on finishing the barn, I work on finishing my novel. I’m actually really proud of how it’s shaping up. I think I might send it to my boss.

It’ll soften the blow of things, after all. Or so I hope.

Finally, though, the barn is finished. It only takes a couple weeks, but it still feels like only a moment and like forever at the same time.

“Morning!” Easton greets me from the kitchen as I come down.

He’s made oven-puffed pancakes, topped with fresh strawberries and cream. I grin as I sit down. “Is this a special occasion?”

“It sure is.” Easton serves me and then sits down as the other three come in. “The barn’s finished.”

I jump up and Jesse plants his hands on my shoulders, pushing me back down into the chair. “Whoa, no, eat your breakfast first. The barn will still be there when you finish.”

“You’ve kept me away from it and haven’t let me see it for ages now! You can’t blame me for being impatient.”

“Yes, we can,” Hendrix informs me.

I roll my eyes at their teasing but I do as I’m told. If it’s really so important to them that they make a bit of a production out of it, then that’s fine by me. I just hope that this isn’t motivated by guilt and that they don’t think they have to make this special for me to make up for what I endured. Nothing that the McAllisters did was their fault.

“Oh, did you hear?” Jesse says as we all tuck into breakfast. “They set a date for the McAllister hearing.”

“That’ll be interesting,” Easton says.

“They think they can get it to stick?” Hendrix asks.

“Oh, the arson for sure. The rest of it I don’t know, but you should hear people in town talking about them. Even if they don’t end up in jail, they’ll definitely be run out of town.” Jesse shoots me a wink and a grin.

I never feel safer than when I’m surrounded by my Alphas, but it is nice to know that I don’t ever have to worry about the McAllisters ever again. Not that I’ve worried all too much. The footage that Cade got on his security cameras was damning. And I know my Alphas will always protect me.

My Alphas. I don’t fight thinking of them like that anymore. I know that it’s true.

We finish eating, then the men all insist on us doing the dishes, because they love teasing me—and then finally, finally I’m allowed to see the barn.

Jesse puts his hands over my eyes while Easton takes one hand and Cade the other, and Hendrix gives me verbal directions where to step so I don’t trip. Unable to see, I’m guided out to the barn area.

I know generally where I am, but I’m still a bit lost as I’m led around. I feel like the barn was supposed to start a little bit ago, but I’m still walking through grass.

“Okay,” Hendrix says as the hands I’m holding stop gently tugging me forward. “You can stop now.”

I stop walking, my hands are dropped, and the hands over my eyes fall away.

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