Page 71 of Redeem Me
“My friend has been with me since the beginning, I love him more than I think I’ve ever loved a friend.” Hurt flashed across Tracey’s face at my words. “He was there for me in a time and place that no one should have to be. I love him in a different way but that doesn’t mean I love you any less.”
Tracey looked at him in the rearview mirror. “There’s just something about him that I can’t quite put my finger on. The webs of magic around him tell a story that I can’t decipher. Did you bring home another hybrid?”
I changed the subject instead. “Did you check on Knox?”
Tracey gave me side-eyes. “Yes, he’s recovering at the training grounds.”
“I have a feeling this land is a lot bigger than what I think it is.”
Tracey laughed and the sound made me feel whole again. It made me feel like the last few months hadn’t happened. A few flurries hit the windshield and I gasped as snow fell from the sky. Children flooded the woods and the manor as we pulled up. Everywhere I looked there was magic happening. The children rushed to Tracey’s car as we pulled up. Lucas flattened his ears to his head in nervousness.
The trunk opened up but all he did was try to make himself smaller against the backseat that had been put back into the car. “You’re the one that decided to come with.”
He shook his head once. Tracey giggled as she went to close the trunk. At last second, Lucas changed his mind and barreled into her. She fell onto her ass, laughing, as he ran right for the woods.
“Who knew kids could be so scary?” Tracey giggled again. My eyes snagged on something behind the manor. I tried to step around Tracey but she blocked my path.
“I need to see something,” I said as I tried once again to get a better look at the cottage I would eventually call my home again. That is, if I still had a job. I had disappeared for a long time.
Tracey blocked me again. “I think we need to get inside to get some food.”
I rolled my eyes. “I think I need to see my future home. I know it had a lot of work that needed to be finished on it before everything happened. Maybe it’ll help me keep my mind off of what happened.”
Guilt flashed across Tracey’s face. “I have a confession.”
Panic bloomed inside of my chest. What was she going to confess? “Yes?”
“I used your cottage to get myself out of the depressed state I was in. I used it to keep my mind off of the guilt I was feeling and the intense heartache. I didn’t know what else to do.”
A new emotion took over my body. I wrapped my arms around her middle. “How does it look?” Tracey was the only one that knew exactly what I wanted to do the place. If it had been anyone else, I would have been nervous.
“Wanna see it?” Tracey asked just as Rafe stepped out from the manor. He crossed his feet over each other and leaned against the massive beam on the porch. His eyes bore into me with a new intensity.
I nodded my head at my friend as I watched the man ahead of me. His expression was neutral and too hard to read. But when Ford walked out, I had a feeling I knew a little more about the Alpha-hole. Ford’s expression was satisfied but also relieved to see me. He mirrored his brother’s stance on the porch and for a moment I wondered what Rafe would be like with a family. Would a family change him and the wolf inside of him?
I was so caught up in my thoughts about the Alpha that I didn’t hear whatever Tracey was rambling on about. I came back to reality and smiled at my friend but I didn’t miss Ford elbowing Rafe in the side out the corner of my eye. I pressed my lips together to fight a grin as Tracey led the way to her masterpiece. The front of the cottage had been painted all white but the trim on everything was a matte black. It even had black gutters. The front porch light had been left on and the white curtains in the front window were open.
Tears pricked my eyes as she unlocked the front door. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Under the front window was a cute window box with white fake flowers. I rubbed my hands down my arms as I watched more snow touch down on the ground.
The first thing that caught my eye was the broken couch in the living room. I snickered. “What happened?”
The smile Tracey had been sporting fell away. “Mav and his fat ass. He thought it would be a great idea to take a running dive on a couch that has smaller legs than his arms.” She huffed before she said sarcastically, “Makes complete sense to me.”
Leave it to Mav to break the first thing in my home. As we walked down the hall, my wolf senses started to come back to me. Rafe’s scent was everywhere. It coated everything. I could hardly focus on what Tracey had done to my space with the smell of him swirling around my head.
We stopped at my bedroom door where it was the strongest. “Did Rafe stay here?”
Tracey bit her bottom lip. “Yes.”
I frowned. “Why?”
“He was in the process of remodeling his own home and didn’t have any other place to stay. The witch kids have kind of taken over the manor at the moment.”
I nodded my head. That made sense. Kind of.
Everything about my home was perfect except the missing master bath but Tracey had told me she already had blueprints drawn up for one to be added on. She wasn’t allowed to continue with construction because they needed her to do other things around the pack. She had used my renovation as a crutch and the pack wasn’t allowing her to do that anymore. Which was fine, because I was really itching to do something myself. It was all a dream come true but having a project to keep me busy would be a good thing. It would also be a place for my family to come and visit me, I hoped.
Rafe was sitting at the head of the table when we entered the manor. His back was straight and he was speaking low into a cellphone.
