Page 32 of Reclaiming Home

“Oh, yeah.” I chuckled. “I better not go into town looking like this.”

Brodie snorted. “Agreed. Do you have a beanie?”

I shook my head. “I had one but I’ve lost it since.”

“I have one you can borrow. I’ll get it for you.”

“Awesome, thanks.”

It didn’t cross my mind then that it would be a beanie he’d been using and thus smelled like him. The fact that I’d barely held to my wits last night and mostly managed because of a head injury told me a lot of my attraction to our Alpha.

We managed to get my hair sorted to a point where I could hide the rest with Brodie’s beanie.

Once we were ready to go, I realized Carys was uneasy about leaving the house.

“Wait, when’s the last time you went outside?” I asked her as she seemed to procrastinate by the door.

A strange little grimace-twitch expression flitted past her features. “Months?” She gnawed on her bottom lip for a few seconds, then said, “I tried to run.”

Brodie had gone onto the porch to wait for the crew to arrive, and he opened the door, clearly having heard her.

“What do you need?” he asked immediately.

The feeling of fondness that burst into life in my chest at that moment took my breath away.

“I… I think it’ll be okay, I’ll get used to it in the truck.” Her words sounded like a hopeful question more than a statement.

“We can turn back at any moment,” I promised. “We don’t have to even go today if that’s easier.”

She seemed to steel herself. “None of the things I’ve experienced since I was brought here has been easy. This isn’t hard.” Then she walked out past Brodie and stopped as soon as she got to the middle of the yard.

“She’s so strong, but…,” Brodie murmured to me. “I think we need to find her a therapist.”

“Yeah, I don’t think this will last.” It had all gone too easily, as if she maybe had pushed the bad stuff to the back of her mind or something.

Brodie checked the time off his phone. “You two should get going so you can get off the driveway before they get there.”

Right, with the dumpster deliveries and the crew coming in, there wasn’t room to go past anyone on the narrow dirt road.

Brodie looked worried for a moment as he glanced at Carys, but then he turned back to me. “Call me if you need anything. Come back home as soon as you need to.”

Home.

I smiled. “I’ll keep an eye on how she’s doing. Don’t worry, Alpha.” I squeezed his arm and barely kept myself from swaying closer to kiss his cheek.

Carys was happy to get into the car, and I didn’t ask why she visibly tensed at a certain part of the driveway. She’d tell me if she wanted to.

Instead, I handed her my phone and told her to pick some driving music. It wasn’t that we were going that far, but it would give her something to do and think.

She picked a rock band that sang in… Italian?

“Don’t worry, most of their stuff is in English now,” she said preemptively, as if reading my mind a little.

“Hey, I can still understand a word here and there!” I protested.

Our dad’s side of the family was Italian American and his parents, our Nonna and Nonno, had taught us some Italian over the years. They passed away when we were younger, but some things stuck with you.

“I’m so glad they both passed away before I ran away,” she said after a while, her thoughts going to where mine had. “It would’ve broken them.”

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