Chapter 110

Chapter 110
Nate’s POV  

Leaving the kids with Maggie for the weekend, I flew back to Santorini for a few days. All I did was pack up everything. Fey and Nessa came over, helping me as well. The two of them were heartbroken that I decided to move away from the island. Still, they understood. Both for my kids and for me. The opportunity wasn’t something I could pass up.

Finn had reached out to a storage place near the pack territory, and they were willing to receive all our packages, as long as nothing needed to be paid for. It took so much more effort moving with a bunch of stuff. I left much of the furniture and larger items in the house. For now, it could serve as a vacation getaway, but I didn’t feel comfortable being here with the kids until we announced the new pack officially.

After packing, wrapping, or selling everything, I said goodbye to the pack. Some of them I knew, more than just Nessa and Fey, since I had been working as Beta. A few of them even asked if I would allow them into my pack. It seemed silly, but I was more than happy to welcome anyone. I just didn’t know if my pack would be for them. Considering the plan in my head of how I wanted it built.

Flying back to the States, I picked up the kids in a new car. I had to get one along with new car seats and some of their more critical belongings. I stayed at Maggie’s for a couple of days before we drove to the new pack. Finn and Noah were currently shutting down the Tap for business, closing everything, and then dealing with Silas. They didn’t say with what, but apparently it was part of their duel.

The navigation told me to get off the freeway, so I got over in the right lane before taking the curve off the freeway. Reaching over, I grabbed the land deed that had the territory outlined. Looking to my right out the window, the thick woods, even this far west, were mine now. The road curved around and took you through the forest to the closest city. Even then, it was a good half an hour drive around.

“Daddy, are we almost there?” Amelia yawned, just waking up from a nap.

“We are.” I glanced in the mirror to check whether Landon was awake. “You want to roll down your windows?”

They both nodded furiously, and I rolled down all four of the windows, as well as the sunroof above. I’d snagged another Jeep, but this time I got a Grand Wagoneer. It had seven seats, and the back three were wide enough to have car seats. I’d only have room for one extra passenger, but I wasn’t ready to buy a full cargo van yet.

The air that whipped through the car smelled so different. We had gotten used to the smell of the ocean, and even the lighter scent of the nearby city. This scent was pure, untouched forest. On the other side of the road was where the national forest started. There were few spots on the side of the road to park, and I knew those were the ones I would need to speak to the city council about.

“Do you want to go into the city and have lunch? Or do you want to go see the house first? It’s going to be a trek.”

“Lunch then house!” This time it was Landon who answered.

Amelia didn’t look thrilled about it, but she didn’t say anything. Chuckling, I nodded and continued the drive around the forest. It curved around the northern side, and it put into perspective just how much territory this was. The town that was closest was smaller than Jackson City. There was no university to push the population, and so it stayed smaller. From what the internet said, it thrived on the national forest and people wanting to hike and camp nearby. It reminded me of a smaller Flagstaff, Arizona.

“What do we want to eat?”

“Pizza!”

Both Amelia and I made rejection noises.

“What do you feel like, Ame?” I asked, glancing in the mirror at her.

“Maybe something with potatoes?”

My eyebrow rose, and I looked around for a moment. It was hard to know what the small restaurants served, and there wasn’t a lot of fast food in the area. Pulling over at a gas station, I pulled off to the side before pulling a map up on my phone. The both of them escaped their seats and leaned over the center console to look at the list of restaurants with me.

“I mean, potatoes is kind of broad. There is a burger place with fries. There is also a barbecue place with potato salad and tots.” I scrolled through the list of options. “Anything in particular?”

She hummed. “I don’t know.”

“This place has potato soup and sandwiches.”

Again, she hummed, and Landon let out an exasperated sigh that only a three-year-old could pull off. “Pick something, Ame. Or we can go get pizza!”

“Can I see the place with the potato salad?”

Scrolling back up, I chose the barbecue place that was number three on the list. It was a small Cajun barbecue spot, but it had over two thousand reviews and was sitting at a four-point-six. She frowned when none of the menu items had photos.

“They have shrimp, chicken, pulled pork, macaroni and cheese, and a bunch of other good stuff.”

Amelia finally nodded, and Landon threw his hands up. “Let’s go! I’m starving!”

Chuckling, I shook my head as the directions popped up on the screen. “Get in your seats, buckle up, we will eat there and then check out the house.”

“Are we staying the night there?”

“I don’t think so. I think we need to work on it a little before it’s ready to sleep in. We can see how much needs to be done, and then we need to get all new furniture.”

Appliances needed to be ordered. I needed to figure out how the water, electrical, and sewerage systems worked as well. There were notes on it, and I’d done enough in my time to read all the numbers and shorthand, but it was hard when the building wasn’t in front of you.

Pulling into the chosen lunch spot, the air smelled like barbecue, and I knew we were in for a treat. Except for the times that Finn made his barbecue, we did not consider anything here back in Greece true barbecue. It was new to the kids, and I enjoyed watching their reactions.

I got myself a pulled pork sandwich, Amelia and Landon split an order of ribs, while also sharing some potato salad and cornbread bites. We topped it off with some bread pudding that was so sweet I had one bite and that was enough. The kids devoured the rest of it, though. It made me glad we were about to run around in the forest for a while to work off the sugar rush.

Pulling out my phone, I scrolled through the messages. A few were from Noah and Finn, asking if we made it alright. I replied and told them I hadn’t checked out the house yet, but we were going there after lunch. The next message I had didn’t have a contact attached to it. All it said was, call me. After asking who it was, the reply was immediate. 

Unknown: You don’t know me. But I know you, Solaris’ mate. I want to talk to you. Finn and Noah said to reach out. 

My eyes narrowed, and I tapped my hand on the table. Putting the phone down for a moment, I focused back on the mess that were my kids. Laughing, I cleaned up the table as they fought over the last bite. We piled back into the car, still arguing over who should have had the last piece. We drove back to the territory, and I parked in one of the sections reserved for the national forest. Setting up the placard that was included with the paperwork, I got out of the car and took my backpack this time.

“Alright, remember. You can run around, but you do not go further than eyesight. Is that understood?”

“Yes, Daddy!”

Smiling, I nodded and took both their hands. We needed to cross the road and over the barrier before we entered the forest. Still, it was easy enough to do. It wasn’t very busy, and I doubted it would be on a normal day. It got crowded during certain times of the year, but November wasn’t one of them. The weather was also cool, but surprisingly hadn’t dropped into the winter temperatures yet. 

Unlike at Moon River, the trees here were much taller, much older. The canopy above was dense, and the trees were pretty close together. Pulling out the topographical map, I had parked in the far east parking lot, which was about a third of the way into the territory. The packhouse itself was in the middle, just before the drop-off to the lake.

Landon and Amelia ran off ahead of me immediately. Having free rein in a forest like this was new. They could run ahead of me, and they would tire themselves out before reaching the cliff that dropped into the lake. It was just miles and miles of trees. As we walked further south, the trees weren’t as densely packed, but there were larger trunks. Even older than the ones closest to the road. It smelled amazing, and I felt nothing but peace as I walked.

The buzz of my phone interrupted me, and I looked down at it. The unknown number was calling me. Putting the phone to my ear, I answered it.

“Well, it’s about time!” The female voice sounded exasperated.

“I’m sorry, who are you?”

She scoffed. “It’s Lor.”

My eyes widened, and I stopped walking for a moment. “I met you at the funeral. You were Sol’s best friend.”

“Yeah! Nice to be remembered. That was a while ago.”

“I mean, it’s not every day someone like me meets a witch. Plus, Sol spoke highly of you. She also mentioned you in her letters.”

Lor giggled over the line. “I hope it was all good things.”

“I’m not sure the stories she told me about you two would count as good. Mostly mischievous. Then, that you helped her a lot with researching our bond and what it would do.”

“How’s that going, by the way?”

I snorted and rubbed my bump. “Don’t ask. I could murder her for it.”

She burst out laughing at the other end. “Yup. I told her. I told her, but she said it didn’t matter ‘cause she would already be dead.”

“Yeah, well. She was right.” We were quiet for a moment, our chuckling teetering off, and I picked up my walking. “What’s up?”

“I was just talking with Finn and Noah. They said you might need my services.”

Ah, that made more sense. We had been talking about when kind of pack we wanted to be. Really, that I had wanted to build. Everything around us seemed to push forward into integration. That we were supposed to open our doors to humans, since we were pretty much human half the time.

The fey had removed themselves from being on this plane, and very few lived outside of their protected areas. Vampires stayed within human numbers because they fed off of them. However, their tendency was to stay away from humans if they could. Witches too, easily stayed within the cities, but preferred to be further away.

Solaris and I had always talked about a haven for supernaturals. A place where everyone could come together and be themselves. Wolf forms, practicing magic with friends, or showing off their wings, simple things we could do, but it was getting harder and harder nowadays.

“I did. I think…I want to cut off my territory from the outside world. If humans walk through the forest, they get turned around or something. I don’t really know how magic works or its limitations, but I would love to work with you.”

I could hear her grin in her words. “Music to my ears.”