Page 85 of Truth or Pack

Ash, Holt, and Mathias stood, pulling me up with them.

“Let this be a formal withdrawal of membership support for you,” Ash said to my mother. “We are the only reason you couldafford this, and it came with stipulations...which you blatantly ignored.”

Then his eyes shifted to Sadie who was beet-red now and seething. His mom slowly withdrew herself and took her seat, putting a divide between them. Seemed she was loyal only to herself.

“As for you. I’ll get an order of protection against your crazy ass if you even talk to us again. I found a mate who is far better for me than you could ever be. Don’t worry, we won’t be back and we absolutely won’t be attending this disaster of an event.”

With that mic drop, we filed out of the room, heads held high and a sense of pride and accomplishment burning in me.

I’d finally separated myself from them, told my mother how I saw her, and I’m embracing the real family I have in this life.

My eyes burned, my fingers ached, and my back was in pain, but I was done. I’d spent the better part of three days locked in the editing cave.

But now I had a ton of content for my page. I couldn’t wait for the guys to see what I’d come up with and I kept a few blanks for later to adjust text and songs with.

If I knew packing up would be a wealth of content, I might have considered it sooner.

A loud knock was my only warning before it was shoved open and a familiar voice pulled me from my stretching.

“Girl, what the hell?!” Bea screeched. “Tell me you didn’t get lost in editing again.”

“Bea!” I screamed, all thoughts of aches and pains falling away as I launched myself at my best friend. I hadn’t realized just how badly I needed to be close to her until now.

She held me back just as tightly, like we both needed this. If there was a tear or two shed, we didn’t comment on it.

When she pulled back, I couldn’t help but grin at my gorgeous friend. “God, it’s good to see you. How long are you in town for?”

“Well, three little birdies told me about the audacity of the rich people and that you’d been in editing hell, so I took aweek. Though, have you seen this place?” she asked, pulling my window open so the breeze was blowing in.

I’d opted to set up at the lake house, needing the views to ground me. They all had gone back to work and so had I, but spending our nights here felt right at the moment. I loved that we had options and I knew how lucky we were for that.

“Yes, now you get why they bought it from my parents,” I said as I dug out a fresh pair of clothes. “We’ve been bouncing back and forth between the two places. I just like working out here a bit more.”

“So, I hear we’re opening up a shop in town?” she teased.

“Wait. ‘We?’” Instead of being upset she was inviting herself into it, I was beside myself. “Does that mean…?”

She deflated. “I got fired. My boss was a dick and thought it was okay for alphas to grope us for a bit of an extra tip and customer loyalty. Fuck that. They deserved that hot coffee I accidentally spilled.”

“Oh my god,” I gasped. “I’m so fucking sorry. That’s disgusting.”

“It is, but I’ve been saving like crazy, so I’m going to find an apartment in Willow Lake and help you open up your shop. Even if you only need me temporarily, I’m here for you and for a change of scenery.”

“Having my best friend help me make my dreams come true? Sounds like a fucking dream,” I said as I pointed at the bathroom. “However, I need a shower. Give me five.”

She waved me off. “I’m going to start coffee and open windows. You take your time.”

The shower felt amazing but I didn’t linger, washing up and drying my hair as quickly as possible to find my friend again.

When I walked downstairs she was at the island, nursing a cup of coffee while Holt, Ash, and Mathias were preparing snacks in the kitchen.

“Hey, baby, you all finished?”

“These guys can cook? You lucky bitch,” Bea said at the same time, making me cackle.

My guys stopped and watched, that dopey look in their eyes.

“I was hoping we’d hear that laugh again soon,” Holt said, dropping his towel and coming around to give me a hug.

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