Page 92 of All Packed Up

The pup danced for him as he reached for the knob, and he couldn’t help but grin down at her as she pattered her front feet back and forth, waiting for him to open the door to safety.

At least she was clean, right? Not a muddy paw in sight.

Griffith chuckled as he turned the knob, and Daisy wedged her snout in the crack, pushing it open more and slipping through. Her claws clacked as she raced across the floor to his room.

She’d probably be sprawled in the middle of it, snoring away by the time he got in there.

His gaze landed on the stairs, and he traced them north. There was no sign of omega or beta, though the voices drifting from the kitchen belonged to the tag-a-long alphas. They’d finally awoken then?

With the cold rain slicking his skin beneath his shirt, Grif tugged it off and made his way to the fireplace. Grif situated the screen over enough to make room for himself, hinges creaking, and laid his shirt over the top of it.

The soft drip drip drip of the rainwater from his shirt was the only sound in the room. The muted cadence of the voices from the kitchen couldn’t even disturb the peace.

Grif grabbed a log and a few sticks from the firewood rack before situating them in the pit blackened from use. With some newspaper and pinecones and precarious placement, he got the fire started, the wood giving way with soft crackles of sparks.

When he was satisfied, he stood and moved the guard back, balancing it around the opening so no embers could fly out and mar his floor.

Or, you know, set it on fire.

That would be just his luck.

“Hey,” a deep voice greeted, and Grif stiffened before turning. Arlo was in the doorway, and Tate was leaning against the wall.

“Hey,” he returned. “Glad you see you survived the night.”

Tate’s lips twitched, but Arlo was the one who scrubbed the back of his head and glanced away.

Well, that was mighty… endearing. Was Arlo the shy one? He wouldn’t have expected that, not after the way he’d jumped in and helped him take charge of the building project.

It reminded Griffith that he didn’t know these people very well. They were strangers in his home.

“Do you know what happened with Wendy?” Arlo finally asked, dragging his gaze back to Griffith.

He shook his head. “No. They were on a walk together in the woods, and he carried her out crying like that. I don’t know anything else.”

Griffith at first had imagined the worst. Wendy had fallen and broken something, or the alphas had found them. But none of that urgency had been in Nic’s steps. It had been with tight arms that Nic had held her close to him, keeping her steady as he’d raced the storm to get her inside.

“I think it was just personal stuff,” he answered the best he could. “Nothing we should be worried about.”

“But we are anyway,” Tate said, an appropriate frown in place.

Arlo nudged Tate with his elbow and held his gaze. “Grif’s right. We’re only involved as much as Wendy wants us.”

The steps creaked, and all three of their heads turned toward the stairs. Nic rounded the corner, expression shuttered. “Speaking of… that’s something I wanted to talk to everyone about,” Nic said shortly.

“When?” Griffith asked. Nic looked… tired, and he held one hand behind his back.

“When everyone gets settled.”

That took all of ten seconds for Tate and Arlo to scramble to a spot on the floor in front of the fire while Grif leaned against the wall. He needed to shower the mud and dust off himself before he tried to sit down. Rainwater still dripped from his soaked hair, and he ran a hand through it, smoothing it back over his scalp.

Lifting his gaze from the floor, he caught Tate’s eye and couldn’t help the twitch of his lips as the alpha stared. Caught, Tate just shrugged as Grif shook his head at the shameless alpha.

Nic cleared his throat, and Grif shifted his attention as the beta joined them much slower, chewing his lower lip in thought as he kept his secrets hidden behind his back.

“Wendy’s heat could hit any time. At the moment, we’re just waiting.” Nic sucked in a deep breath before blowing it out and swallowing. “We’re lucky to be the ones here for her, no matter what capacity she wants us. But if it comes down to it, would you be willing to… attend to her?”

Gazes flicked back and forth like the flames in the fire between them.