Page 35 of Reclaiming Home

Brodie was happy with her purchases, and she went to take them upstairs.

“And what did you get for yourself?” he asked, looking at me seriously.

I felt as if I was being tested, like it would disappoint him if I hadn’t gotten anything good for myself.

“The rest of the books are mine.” I nodded at the pile Carys had left behind.

He went to it and lifted the top one, then leafed it through. He didn’t say anything. He checked the second and third ones, too, still too silent for me to know what he was feeling.

“Did I fuck up?” I asked, coming to stand by him.

Brodie stared at me, his expression almost stunned. “What?”

“Should I not have…?” I gestured at the books.

“No, no it’s not that,” he quickly answered, then smiled. “It’s just so…thoughtful, Kye. That you’d want to do this.”

“What? Want to know what I’ve gotten myself and my sister into?” I attempted a jokey tone, which he clearly understood.

“Yes. That.” He chuckled, then pulled me into a hug and squeezed the life out of me. “Thank you.”

“Hey, thank you, Alpha,” I murmured and hugged him back. “This is home now.”

He let go of me and looked at me like I was something special. “Yeah. Yeah it is.”

Chapter Nine

Brodie

My head was filled with everything Kye.

It turned a bit problematic when I was supposed to be making plans for the renovations and I realized I’d been staring at the list I kept on my phone for several minutes without seeing it. Instead, my brain was giving me a replay of the books he’d bought the previous day, the way he’d acted as if it was completely normal, and anyone would do it. But most of all, my wolf was flashing me glimpses of the way it had felt to wake up another morning with Kye wrapped around me.

I heard the telltale sound of a beater driving up to the house, so I put my phone back in my pocket and pushed away from the side of the truck I’d been leaning on.

Ben and Max were finally coming to visit, and we needed to have some hard talks about everything.

It was mid-afternoon, and the cleaning crew had finished work an hour ago. The people I’d hired to tear down the barn would arrive on Monday—expedited because I wanted that fucking building gone.

The car was around the same amount of junk held together by duct tape and hope than Kye’s, except this one was still running.

It stopped nearby, and I couldn’t help but to smile at the sight of my cousins as they got out.

They gave me almost identical grins. Most people thought they were twins even though Ben was a year and some change older. With their blond hair that curled a little around their ears and hazel eyes, they looked so similar that the only difference at first glance was the fact that Ben was a few inches taller than Max’s 5’8’’. They even had similar builds, with both being on the slimmer side but with the muscle tone that came from being born wolf.

“It’s so damn good to see you guys,” I said, grabbing them both into a hug.

We clutched each other for a while, the emotions running high in a good way for once on this property.

When I pulled back to look at them, there was no dry eye to be seen.

“Fuck we missed you,” Max blurted out, then burrowed back against me.

Ben smiled and wiped his eyes, always the more stoic of the two of them. He put a hand on his brother’s shoulder in support.

“I missed you guys, too.” It was the truth, I realized now. “I’m sorry I was away for so long.”

Ben shook his head. “We get it.” Then he glanced at the house and frowned. “None of us could’ve known it would get this bad.”

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