Page 24 of War Games

“Oh, so I’m driving us on this date. Am I also paying?”

I shrugged, letting him decide as I walked backward to the door to go to the garage.

“It’ll be my treat,” he said, laughing as he went to get ready.

I went into the garage, another eyesore we added to my home that wasn’t part of the original plans. Heath, being in construction and development, made the changes fast, easy, and well done, something most people couldn’t afford or even had access to. That also meant that every change popped up so fast, I would get dizzy. While Heath’s teams did an amazing job of matching the additions to my home, it was still odd seeing my home with a split-level garage, a giant shed thing, and a proper, very nice driveway.

Five years ago, I was parking behind Kick Shot, walking down a small, worn trail to get home. The tree line was closer to my house, allowing me to feel like I was surrounded at all times. I had been alone in my territory, completely absorbed in the small world I had claimed as my own.

Five years ago, I hadn’t known Heath. The five-year anniversary of that was coming up. Five years since a werewolf-witch, a half-breed like my mother and the twins, tried to take over the Dallas werewolf pack.

If it weren’t for that, nothing else in the last five years would have happened, not in the same way, if at all.

Time just keeps flying by. It feels like I can’t keep up some days.

Today wasn’t one of those days. Today, things felt slow and easy, even though I knew they weren’t. It felt like the moment at the top of a rollercoaster, and I kept waiting for it to go over the peak and begin the drop, but it wouldn’t. That feeling of sitting in the front row, seeing the fall before you, that second the coaster held you...

That was my Sunday.

Heath met me at his truck, and we went to brunch. It was a nice distraction, one I used to ask him about something other than witches and war.

“How’s the pack house coming?” I asked, laughing as I saw his eyes light up.

“We’ll be done by the end of the year. The basement floor is already finished and usable, just in case, and now we’re working on the ground level and upper floor. I’m also bringing in the landscapers and outdoor crews for the amenities behind the building next month.” He continued on, telling me how his plans were slightly different from the initial drawing, but nothing was major. Extra space was added to each floor, making some of the rooms bigger. It was little things.

I listened indulgently, knowing this was his passion project. It was necessary to have, but it didn’t have to be everything he was making it. He enjoyed giving something back to his werewolves, and the pack house was the biggest gift he could give them. A place they can call home at any time. A place they could throw their birthday parties away from humans who found them scary or weird. A place they could get together and call their own.

Things they had lost when the Dallas pack finally fell to pieces, thanks to the witches. The mansion they had once used for those events, those spaces, was now mine by conquering rights. I had renovated it into a family home for when my siblings visited but didn’t want to be in my territory with all the werewolves or at my house, which didn’t have space for everyone. There were no more werewolves in Dallas, so it was a good city for the werecat ruling family to have a place to live. The businesses and property of the pack all went to me and, in turn, to Heath, who was the original person who had collected or created everything.

While I couldn’t give Heath everything I had been forced to take on from the Dallas pack’s end, I made sure the businesses went back to him, merged into his own, and most of the accounts also went back to him for him to use on the Everson Pack, his rogue pack.

The pack house was a symbol of something important. While all the members of his pack were from the Dallas pack, they weren’t the Dallas pack anymore. He was building them a new home for a new era.

I smiled and nodded, enjoying his excitement even if I didn’t understand all the nuances and intricacies of construction, different techniques and build methods. I knew tile was tile, but he knew everything about what sort of tile he wanted and why it was important.

We got back right after twelve. Dirk was sitting on the front porch with Carey. As soon as I got out of the car, I listened in.

“Have you talked to him about leaving tomorrow?”

“No, but…” Dirk looked up and shut his mouth.

I narrowed my eyes on him. I had been hoping that was already taken care of. Heath didn’t seem to hear, and I tried to quickly mask my expression when he looked between Dirk and me.

“Anything I should know about?”

“Hopefully not. You’re planning on forcing Landon to stay with you starting tomorrow, right?”

“I am. He’s been avoiding me, but that ends tomorrow.”

“You gave him the weekend to reckon with his choices and behavior?”

“Yes.”

I looked at Carey and Dirk, who were looking at bit like Heath was a time bomb, and they had no idea how to diffuse it.

“Okay, well…” I finally felt something I had been waiting for. “Niko is in my territory. He’ll be here soon. Heath, why don’t you take Carey to the movies? I’m sure she’ll enjoy it.”

“Yeah, that sounds fun.” Carey hopped up and was already heading for his truck. “Come on, Dad. It’s been a long time since we went to the movies.”

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