Page 69 of Talk About… Trouble

Wren

The delicious smell of breakfast pulled me out of sleep. Devon and Braxton were still tangled around each other, and it took some effort to climb out of our shared nest.

Honestly, the shared nest was the best decision we made. I was hating nesting a whole lot less thanks to sharing it with my pack most nights, snuggled between them in our cozy space.

I grabbed a shirt that had been tossed aside, pulling it over my head. It was big enough it covered me, and smelled like Braxton. I breathed it in and started walking down the stairs.

The alphas were both busy, chatting easily like they’d been doing this for years.

“Good morning,” I said, pitching my voice loud enough that both men could hear. The smiles that greeted me were adorable, like just seeing me made their day better.

Nash was manning two pans of bacon on the stove. One looked strange, and I couldn’t help but investigate.

“What are you cooking?”

“Bacon. And this is vegetarian bacon,” he said. “Figured we’d give it a whirl. I read online there were a few ways you could doctor it up, so I’m trying those out, too.”

“You’re the best.” I leaned up and placed a kiss on his cheek before moving to Shepherd.

My mouth went dry as I watched his muscles flex while he squeezed fresh orange juice. It was such a simple task, and yet here I was, being a thirsty little omega.

A girl could get used to this.

He gave me a look but promptly came over, kissing me soundly, then placing me on the counter.

“You just sit up there and look pretty. Don’t touch anything.”

“I told him I was going to sign you up for a cooking class,” Nash said over his shoulder.

“Not a bad plan,” Shepherd agreed. “Until then, no touching anything.”

He raised one eyebrow in challenge, but the playful smile on his face was new, and I absolutely adored it. It lit up his whole face, taking away some of his hard lines and making him seem softer somehow, like a big, giant teddy bear.

“So, what are the plans for today?” I asked, swinging my feet a little as I watched them work.

We’d all fallen into our own roles in the house. Devon and I usually tag-teamed cleaning while the others were at work, though they did their own chores, too. Braxton always insisted on cleaning up after since the alphas cooked, and he was usually home the latest.

They’d even taken to tucking my coloring books throughout the house, but I’d noticed that I needed them less and less. Since becoming a pack, they were making me stronger, chasing away some of my triggers.

Although, I still checked the news sites as often as I could to make sure that our information hadn’t gone even more viralthan it had the first time. It seemed to be dying down, but I didn’t think I’d truly breathe easier until they found whoever leaked it.

But I trusted my legal team. They wouldn’t rest until they figured it out and got as many of those sites to take down the information as they could.

Shepherd moved on to cutting up fruit and vegetables. He always kept the trays in the refrigerator so we could pull them out during meals. He tossed all the scraps into the compost bucket, something we usually took out to the animals afterward.

I loved that there wasn’t much wasted on a farm like this.

“I got a call today,” Shepherd said. “We’re on standby if animal control can catch a few wild dogs they found. Depending on if they can be rehabilitated or not, they’ll do all the testing first, but we might have a few pups running around here.”

“Are they really wild dogs, or just strays that got lost or dumped in the wrong place?” I asked, my anger rising.

That was one thing I could never understand. If you didn’t want a pet, there were plenty of places you could drop them off without them getting hurt, lost, or dying of starvation.

Domesticated animals were not built for the woods.

“I’ll help clean out one of the stalls today and the small animal barn. They won’t be able to get out of those, and I think the barking would freak out Poppy. She’s still pretty skittish,” I said.

Shepherd smiled up at me. “You’re the best hire I ever made.”

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