Page 15 of Reclaiming Home

“You could shift and sleep in your wolf skin. Would make it more comfortable, I’m sure.”

It wasn’t a bad idea. That way I wouldn’t need to wonder about kinks in my neck and back in the morning.

“You know what, that’s a great idea,” I told her, wanting to give her credit.

She beamed at me, then glanced away as if she caught herself. “Thanks,” she whispered.

“We need to talk tomorrow about where all of this is going,” I told her, gesturing at the house. “I’ll obviously need to move here and we need to talk about what you and Kye are doing and such. My cousins need stability and I think Sheriff Drumm would benefit from a pack.”

He’d briefly mentioned that he went to run with Ramirez pack, but that he didn’t feel at home with them and had told the Alpha he wouldn’t be taking her offer of joining them officially. There was nothing wrong with the pack, apparently, but sometimes your instinct told you where you did or didn’t belong.

She nodded thoughtfully. “I don’t know what Kye has planned. We also need to call our Dad tomorrow.”

Right, they hadn’t done that yet. I wondered why. There had to be a story there.

“Well I’m in no rush with anything. Other than getting this house proofed for the winter, because holy shit is it in a bad condition.” My eyes caught some scorch marks on the carpet by the fireplace.

“It wasn’t the fireplace,” she said matter of factly when she noticed where I was looking. “It was a pipe.”

I grunted. I fucking hated my uncle.

“I bet this was a lovely house once,” Kye said, coming back into the room after the quickest shower known to mankind.

His whole being smelled so damn good that I wanted to devour him. The wolf inside me wanted closer, and I ignored it the best I could. Whatever shower gel he used was something woodsy in a way close to a werewolf’s natural scent. It seemed like wolfnip to me.

“It was,” I answered after a pause that went on a moment too long. “My mom loved it. She grew up here too. It’s been in her family for generations.”

“Huh.” Kye looked around again, taking in details. “I guess I can see it.” Carys’s yawn interrupted whatever he was going to say next. “Okay, bedtime.”

They decided they wanted to sleep with their heads toward the fireplace, and feet toward the door. I could understand the urge.

I stepped into the hallway and padded back in my wolf skin. I jumped on the third couch and curled up. None of us wanted to turn the lights off, so we fell asleep in a fully lit house.

When I woke up in the early morning hours, it was only to realize that I’d migrated to the end of their couches, sleeping by their feet, as if my wolf had made a decision to protect them during the night.

Sighing, I put my head back down and went back to sleep. There was time for human nonsense later.

Chapter Four

Kye

Iwoke up before the others. I opened my eyes to a heavy weight pressing down my right foot and felt confused until I glanced down and saw a very large dark gray wolf asleep at the end of the couch. For some reason, that made me smile, then chuckle, which I tried to do quietly and without moving.

Carys was curled up next to me, her back to me as she faced the couch cushions. I had no idea what today would bring. I wasn’t looking forward to the call we needed to make, especially because there were some hard discussions to be had before that.

Last night had been surprisingly calm, emotions-wise. The negative ones, at least. Those would surface, I had no doubt about it. The hug from Brodie had helped a lot, it had settled the roiling emotions that had tried to bubble into the surface as soon as she’d insinuated what Rusty had done to her. For months.

The large, furry head of the wolf lifted off my foot and he stared at me. It was interesting how I could tell the exact moment when Brodie took control. It was as if for a few seconds, I was looking into the eyes of a wild animal, and then somethingchanged. It felt as if, as he woke up, Brodie’s wolf came online first and the side that was man second.

“Morning,” I whispered, and he let out a little huffy sound.

He got to his feet very carefully, then jumped off the couch before stretching on the floor. I barely managed to prevent myself from saying “good stretch” like I would’ve to a dog. He glanced at me, as if he knew where my mind had gone. Then he padded out of view to shift, I assumed.

It turned out getting out of our little couch nest was pretty damn tricky. I maneuvered myself onto my knees and then knee-walked carefully to the end of the couch. By the time I managed to get my feet on the floor, Brodie peered in.

“Coffee?” he asked quietly.

“Yeah, thanks.”

---