Page 65 of The Alpha's Chosen Fate

I let the Beta guide me past the stairs and towards the back of the spacious home.

Passing a long hall on the other side of the stairs, I asked him what was down there.

"Workout room and a small media room.A meeting room takes up the opposite side of the hall, but big meetings are held at the Pack House."

I’d yet to be anywhere near the Pack House.The day Briggs carried me past it on the way to the healer didn’t count.

Memories of gatherings sparked.I’d lived as a rogue and craved the sense of belonging that a pack provided.

Rieka perked up, feeling the same.

I’m working on it, I assured her.

We entered the kitchen, all stainless steel appliances and dark wooden cabinets.Rustic yet modern at the same time.

What had Emery always called such things?Shabby chic?

"This is nice," I stated.

Colten studied me.“You’ve not been in the kitchen before?”

“No.”

He muttered under his breath and set about getting glasses out of the cabinet.

Waiting for the Alpha, I got comfortable in the breakfast nook.Several familiar scents lingered.

Baylor’s scent was there but more faint.So was Link’s and another enforcer’s.

Ruby hadn’t died all that long ago, yet I didn’t pick up a trace of her.

She probably refused to step foot inside the kitchen because she expected everything to be handed to her.

I shushed my wolf, still uncomfortable bad mouthing the traitor.It was probably because I felt so strongly about the loss of their child.Briggs didn’t open up much about that, but I knew he and Onyx would carry that loss with them forever.

Next my stupid brain decided to torture me in Rieka’s stead, wondering what life was like for Briggs and Ruby here as mates.

Did they share meals?Share coffee in the morning?Have sex on every surface?

My stomach rolled imagining their intimacy in this space I'm now confined to.Briggs may not have liked the two-faced bitch, but she didn't get pregnant on her own.

Trying to hide my discomfort, I asked Colten if there was an extra television or more books I could take upstairs to ward off the boredom.

“You should take a look at the bookshelves near the door to the balcony.”

“Which would be where?”The cabin wasn’t a mansion but it was large by most standards.

“You haven’t seen any of the Alpha’s cabin, have you?”

“Well, I was in the study for a few minutes earlier, but I've only really seen whatever is in view from the room I sleep in to the front door.”

Why I felt a little defensive was a mystery.I would not defend Briggs, not on this.

He and I had come to a sort of truce and I was working through my feelings, but I was more than unhappy about my internment.

Colten set three tumblers down.“Ivy, I’m sorry.I know this isn’t easy for you.”

“Thank you.”

---