Page 22 of Alpha Bear Accountant

I’d officially quit my job, and Todd and I were on our way to pick up all my belongings.

I still didn’t know what I was going to do full-time, but with my background, it wouldn’t be too difficult to find a remote job. I was waiting until everything was finally straightened out with the accounting fiasco at the family business before even looking for something else.

When I came out to Oak Grove and suspected it would be more permanent than a quick trip to help my father, I’d thought I’d be sad to give up everything I’d worked so hard for.

That hadn’t been the case, not even close.

As we drove to my old apartment, it felt more like Christmas morning than a regretful affair. In fact, regret wasn’t even in the same county as we were. I was about to start my new life with my sexy mate in the home we’d been working so hard to fix up. We were going to turn it into the home we wanted to raise a family in. A home to grow old in.

With our family.

For so long, I thought that would never be part of my life, and I’d been fine with it. At least, I pretended to be. But ever since we decided to officially get married and finally mate, the talk of babies began.

And I was excited for that. But also worried.

There was always the chance it might not be in the cards for us. My brother was known for being not too picky in bed and being less than careful, and so far, he was childless. Did that mean he had fertility issues or had he just been lucky? And if he did have fertility issues, would that mean I did as well?

We hadn’t been particularly careful. As in, not at all. And so far, there was no baby growing in my middle. But then again, we’d only been together a few months now, so it wasn’t outside the realm of normal. I was just impatient. Just as impatient as I was about Todd marking me.

When my father suggested a formal wedding instead of us hitting up the courthouse, that only added to my waiting time. And while I loved the idea of getting married surrounded by people I cared about, the yearning to wear his mark was intense. So intense, I found myself thinking about it pretty much non-stop.

And moving out of the city meant we were one step closer to that future in my mind.

“It was good luck that your lease is up now.” My landlord had seemed a little too happy when I called and said I was planning to move.

My place was rent-controlled, and as long as he did renovations after I moved out, he could fetch twice the rent. I knew that but still thought he would at least pretend to be disappointed by it.Not that it mattered to me. Not really. Although, not having to buy out the rest of a lease was pretty sweet.

Todd’s hand settled on my knee and gave me a shake. “Hey, where are you?”

“Oh, sorry. I was just thinking about my landlord and moving. And how well the house is coming along. And how everything is falling into place.” I looked out the window to see how long I’d been spacing out. We were a lot closer to the city than we’d been the last time I looked. “I wasn’t trying to be bad company.”

“You weren’t. I needed to concentrate while we were going through the construction anyway.”

Construction? I really had been in my own head. It was difficult not to be with all the changes happening in my life.

Everything except for our final decision from the IRS was done on the business side of things. Our meeting had gone well—at least, that was my perception of it. I wouldn’t be able to truly breathe until I knew for sure that everything was done, sealed, and my father wasn’t going to be held liable for the crap my brother did.

“How about I turn the music on, and we can play car karaoke?” I think he thought I was kidding when he agreed. I wasn’t, and the next hour of our ride was filled with some very off-tune, not quite accurate lyrics.

Until we were finally there. “It’s the next block up.”

I’d been surprised when Todd offered to drive. City driving sucked on a good day, and we had a box truck, making it doubly so. But he didn’t seem to mind any of it—which was good,because if I’d been driving, I’d probably be gripping the steering wheel so hard it would crack in half.

Todd pulled into the alley where the loading area was for my building, and we went inside. It was weird walking inside the building that had once been my #lifegoals. It was as if I was visiting a past time—one from eons ago, a whole other lifetime. And I suppose, in a way, I was.

“This is it.” I pushed open the door to my apartment, and we stepped inside.

The air was stale, but that was to be expected since no one had been here for months. I didn’t have a lot of things to move out because the apartment had come furnished, and I wasn’t a stuff kind of guy. It still took most of the day to get the kitchen and books packed up, along with my clothing.

Todd stood at the window, taking in the skyline. “This really is a pretty view.”

“It’s a different kind of beautiful. I prefer the one we have at home.” I came up behind him and took his hand in mine.

“Are you sure about this, love? Are you sure you want to make Oak Grove your home again after all you did to leave it behind you?”

“Oh, silly bear, Oak Grove isn’t my home.” I stepped between him and the window and reached up to place my hand over his heart. “You are. You’re my home, alpha.”

I stood on my tiptoes and kissed him. Todd’s arms came around me and pulled me close. We stood there for several minutes, just holding each other until the alarm on my phone went off. Rude.

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