Page 82 of Reclaiming Home

Like last month, Carys and I made drinks and all three of us bundled up, then went out and around the house to sit on the back stairs that didn’t creak anymore since Rian had fixed them.

Seeing four massive wolves play together was even more unbelievable than two had been. We chatted as we watched them, commenting and egging them on every now and then.

After half an hour, the wolf I thought was probably Max—and not Ben—came to us and settled by our feet while the others continued to run around the backyard.

“Enough for you, buddy?” I asked, leaning down to scratch the top of his head.

He huffed, then leaned into the touch.

The pack run went smoothly, other than the wet dog smell lingering a bit when they came back. Rian teased them mercilessly, until Brodie took him down and plopped his furry self on top of the poor guy, soaking his T-shirt and sweatpants.

I left them to it and went to make coffees for everyone while Carys, as usual, took care of nighttime snacks.

Holden stayed over and slept on the couch. He was still asleep when I tiptoed downstairs the next morning. The only one awake was Max, who sat at the kitchen table, scrolling something on a very old looking laptop.

“If you let Rian see that thing, he’ll come home with a brand new one the next time he goes shopping,” I said quietly.

The corner of his mouth curled up. “Morning.”

I went to him and wrapped my arms around him from behind. “Morning.” I squeezed him, having caught the way he seemed to be hungry for physical contact. “Coffee?”

“Yeah, thank you. I didn’t want to wake up Holden so I didn’t make any yet.”

“It’s late enough for everyone to start waking up, so I’ll make us some, then start on breakfast.”

“Tell me if you need help.”

I stepped away from him, then asked, “What are you looking at?”

“Oh, it’s some online college courses. I was thinking if I got my GED, I could start figuring out something to study.” He blushed lightly. “Rian said he’ll pay for everything, as long as I find something that interests me for real.”

“That sounds awesome. I really need to get back to school at some point, too, now that I have somewhere to put that sort of degree into use.”

We chatted quietly about my studies and soon, Holden waved at us from the doorway, then vanished into the downstairs bathroom.

Rian was the next to appear. He seemed grumpy as hell.

“What’s up?” I asked, squinting at him, because he really did look different.

“I’m getting hungrier than I thought I would be at this point. Must be all the physical activity in the last handful of days.”

Holden stepped into the room and frowned. “I’ve donated before. I can help you out?”

Something complex flashed through Rian’s features, and he shook his head. “Nah, I’d rather not start that with anyone in the pack. It can be a slippery slope with the endorphins.”

Holden shrugged. “Okay. But if you change your mind, let me know.”

“Yeah, thanks.”

His mood continued to plummet throughout the morning, until around midday, Brodie gave him a patented Alpha expression.

We’d been watching a movie as a group, and Rian kept huffing and snapped at Ben when he adjusted the blanket that was partially on Rian, too.

“Rian? If there’s nobody available on your better app, then I’m going to have to pull an Alpha move here.”

The glare from his best friend was fierce. “What do you mean?”

“You’re getting a bit too snappy. I know how you get when you’re hungry. So either you check the app or you feed from me. We’ve done it before, and it’ll be fine.”

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