Page 97 of Alpha Exile

The biggest changes we made, though, were the additions both upstairs and downstairs. Pulling it off so quickly was a miracle—more accurately, it was an act of both witch magic and werewolf strength. Not to mention some generous contributions from Cat, Lance, and Finn, who as it turns out has almost as many investment funds as he does dirty jokes.

There's now a larger kitchen downstairs, complete with an ultra wide fridge to hold food for five werewolves and one wolf-witch hybrid. The kitchen island has a rack above it—Cat's line of gourmet stainless steel pots and pans hangs on the rack, the full set a preview of her merchandise line launching later this month.

Down the hallway next to the kitchen, the dining room has been expanded, part of the wall knocked down so it looks out into the living room. And there are four bedrooms downstairs: my old room, now Lance's room, Roarke's room, Kerry's room, and Kieran's room, which used to be Cat's.

Upstairs is my new bedroom, an expanded version of my father's room. The bathroom has been redone; we stripped old wallpaper as well as soot and water damage from the room. A walk-in shower has two shower heads and a clawfoot bathtub on the emerald green tile, and a skylight lets natural light inside.

Down the hallway are the biggest additions: Two extra rooms, one for Bastian, and one for Finn. At least in theory, the room we just painted is for Finn, if he'd get off his ass and put his things into moving boxes

"You can't keep crashing in my bed, or in Bastian's bed," I point out as we reach the bottom of the stairs. "It's disruptive."

"Why?" Finn waggles his brows at me. "Can't sleep because of all the sexiness?”

Bastian snorts dismissively from the kitchen. "You kick like a wild mustang. If I didn't have werewolf healing powers, I'd wake up with bruises every morning."

I laugh at that, mostly because Finn scowls. After a long moment, he finally sighs and says, "I'll take care of it this weekend. But you better convince Lance to help me—I'm not getting my king bed out of my three story walkup by myself."

"I'll convince him to help," I promise, already planning what I'll offer Lance in exchange for his reluctant cooperation. "Just promise me you'll keep your pots and pans in a box in the basement, okay? You don't have to get rid of them, but if Cat sees..."

"No promises," Finn shoots back. Then he jerks his head to Bastian. "Ready to head out?"

"Ready."

Bastian grabs Finn's keys off the kitchen counter and tosses them to him, passing me as he walks towards the door. He bends down to draw me to him in a sweet kiss, his lips pressing softly against mine. I stroke my fingers through his hair, enjoying the slide of dark strands against my skin.

"Love you," Bastian murmurs, a little smile on his face. "We'll be back in a few hours."

Finn grabs the doorknob and asks me, “You sure you want those brushed nickel faucets for the guest bath? Because if we just pop over to Tom's Hardware and pick up the polished gold kind—" The look I give him stops that sentence in its tracks. "Fine, fine, but I still don't understand why two of us are needed for this."

"You're also picking up my order from that plant nursery, and I don't trust you not to kill them. Bastian at least has a green thumb—yours is so black, my seedlings will die on the car ride home. And Ineedthem if I'm going to get to the next level in my witchcraft."

Delphine may be gone, but that doesn't mean the pack is done struggling. There are mate bonds to nurture, babies to birth, more homes to rebuild, and enemies gathering at our gates.

This time, the enemies are the federal government. I knew when I reclaimed our land out west that they would start sniffing around. The land the vampires were on wasn't appealing to them before—not just because of the bloodsuckers, but also because it was dead after years of war with our pack, before the treaties were signed. Now that the territory is full of life once more, private contractors are showing interest in developing it, and our patrols have spotted more military vehicles out there than I'm comfortable with.

If it isn't one thing, it's another.

"We'll make sure your plants make it home intact and flourish in the greenhouse," Bastian reassures me. "Just in time for fall and winter to hit."

"These are indoor plants?" Finn shakes his head. "Guess you're right, I would've killed them."

Once they're off on that all-day errand, I find myself alone in the house with a list of tasks I can't take care of on my own. The bathrooms still need work, and some of the rooms are in need of paint, but the house is coming together—and soon, we'll all live in it.

All that really needs attention now is the yard. Grabbing my phone, I head outside and scroll through my long to do lists. The fire flowers have been mulched, and are ready for the Pacific Northwest's long, rainy autumn. I've got the greenhouse set up, with help from the guys, so I can grow witchy plants to my heart's desire when winter hits. All I have to do is make sure that I've taken care of my final late summer tasks, which should be easy since it's...

"September seventh." Blinking at my phone, I toggle over to my calendar and marvel at the date. "So many days slipped away without me even noticing."

Something catches my eye in my calendar's app.

A row of greyed out red boxes predicted my period.

A particular event that hasn't happened yet.

Heart racing, I sit down suddenly on the back steps, holding my fingers to my mouth in shock. It's at this exact moment, of course, that Cat bursts through the back door—shoving me off the steps and down into the grass below.

"Lilah!" Kneeling next to me, she flutters her hands around my forehead in concern. "What the Hell were you doing sitting there? Someone could've—well, Ididknock you down. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Cat."

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