Page 39 of What We Don't Say: Part One

“Let the van park before you open the door,” Garrett says.

Sloane cuts him a look. “I know how doors work.”

“You know how to remove doors,” Garrett says, calm as ever. “Different skill set.”

The corner of Idris’s mouth moves, and I almost laugh. It catches in my throat instead, sharp and nervous. Garrett notices, because Garrett notices everything, and his attention settles on me.

He doesn’t crowd. He only steps close enough to lower his voice. “He already knows this house, sweetheart. Today, he gets to learn it can be his too.”

I nod, holding those words carefully. They sound good. They sound like the thing I have been trying to believe since last night, when Sloane carried me out of the kitchen laughing and Idris followed us down the hall while Garrett stayed behind with the tablets and the timer and the flour still on his sleeve.

The van stops outside.

Sloane’s hand finds mine, and Idris’s settles at the small of my back. Garrett opens the door.

Counselor Miller steps out first, a folder tucked under one arm and her expression softer than Andrea’s ever managed to be. She gives Garrett a professional nod, then looks past him to the rest of us. When her eyes land on me, she smiles like she remembers the scarf in the care package and the note about the plant book waiting in the sunroom.

Theo steps down from the van.

For a second, he looks exactly like he did the first day he came here: too still, too careful, his bag clutched in both hands and his dark eyes scanning the doorway like every face is a question he might answer wrong. Then his gaze finds mine.

The air leaves him.

I don’t move toward him. I want to. Every part of me wants to cross the front walk and put myself between him and whatever memory made his shoulders climb so high, but we talked about this. Miller said arrival days can turn one eager step into pressure. Idris reminded me that choice only counts if we leave space for it. Sloane threatened to glue his own shoes to the floor if necessary.

So I stay where I am.

“Hi, Theo,” I say.

His fingers tighten on the bag strap. His mouth opens, then closes, and his scent reaches us with the faint breeze through the doorway, cardamom sharp over crushed peach blossom and the clean, flat trace of Bellwether laundry.

Garrett steps onto the porch, stopping halfway between Theo and the threshold. “Welcome home, Theo.”

Theo looks at him, and I watch the careful bow of his head, the way his body recognizes the head Alpha before his nerves decide what to do with the rest of us. Garrett doesn’t touch him at first. He holds out one hand, palm angled where Theo can see it, waiting until Theo gives the smallest nod before he rests his hand briefly on Theo’s shoulder.

It’s gentle. Grounding. Familiar enough that Theo’s scent steadies instead of spiking.

Sloane makes a low sound beside me and clamps his mouth shut as if he can physically trap the welcome he wants to shout. Theo’s eyes flick to him, and Sloane lifts both hands in surrender.

“I’m behaving,” Sloane says, quieter than usual. “Against my nature.”

Theo’s mouth twitches.

That tiny movement almost takes me apart.

Idris steps forward next, smooth and slow. “I have your cards placed where we discussed. Kitchen, sunroom, living room, bedroom. There are also blank ones in the drawer beside the sofa.”

Theo nods at him, and Idris takes the duffel from his hand only after Theo lets go first. No grab. No assumption. Theo watches the bag leave his fingers and relaxes when Idris keeps it low at his side instead of carrying it away.

Miller marks something on her paper. “We’ll do the walk-through, confirm room access and communication placement,then I’ll step out for the first private settling window. Theo, you can ask to pause at any time.”

Theo reaches into his pocket and touches the edge of his cards.

I feel ridiculous for how proud that makes me.

Garrett turns slightly, making the open door feel less like a threshold and more like an invitation. “Come in when you’re ready.”

Theo looks at all of us again, counting the space we’ve left for him. Then he steps inside.