Chapter 111

Chapter 111
I chatted with Lor a bit as I walked, keeping an eye on the kids. She had some ideas, but nothing concrete. She said she wanted to come onto the territory, but she had a few more things to wrap up. Apparently, Noah and Finn needed her the following week, and then she would drive up to where we were.

What I did find out was that Lor helped Solaris with the pack house. The documents mentioned it, but I didn’t know for how long or how much magic was used to keep the place from falling apart after years of being left alone. According to her, the house and a few other structures around it were in a stasis-like state. Trapped in time from the day Lor cast it.

It was a contraption set up in the living room, and would deactivate as soon as it was touched. However, the packhouse was invisible to the human eye. She had also shielded the place from being able to be entered. That had been my thought originally to keep humans out of the territory, but there were limitations to that kind of magic. Another thing we would need to test out.

She hung up when we set a date and where we would meet, along with the things she may need for the trip. I told her I would update her once I got a better look at the property. It was another hour before the area opened up. Landon and Amelia had come back to me as soon as they saw the house, but looking up at it now, my mouth dropped open.

‘She really did it.’ Wren spoke up, looking at the massive building.

It was exactly as I pictured it in my mind. Everything was exactly as I remembered. As we drew in her notebook, that was probably still in Silas’ safe. Where I had gone more modern with the build for Moon River, this was a mix between Cottage and Craftsman. Skirting a thin line between the two styles. The house felt much more magical as trees sprouted in and around it.

“Daddy, this is really big.”

“Bigger than Alpha J’s house.”

I nodded. Somehow, it looked bigger in person. Bigger than I thought it would be, at least. The house looked brand new too. Lor was right. Time had stopped and not touched this place.

“Daddy?”

Dashing away the tears, I smiled down at Amelia. “Let’s go in, shall we?”

As if all they were waiting for was permission, the two of them raced up the stairs. The massive double doors that were mostly glass opened for them, and I smiled. If there was ever proof they were ours, that was it. Lor told me that the house wasn’t locked, but the doors wouldn’t open for anyone other than Silas or me. Rather, our blood.

“Don’t touch whatever is in the center of the room! You can run through everything else!” I yelled as I shut the door behind me.

They had already raced up the stairs from the sound of it, but I looked up, the ceiling massive as it showed the wood beams of the frame. Not just that, but from the documentation, they had used some of the wood around here and gotten it blessed by the fey. Making sure it would hold and never crumble.

There was a device with a crystal the size of my forearm dominating the center of the room, and I moved around it. The kitchen was enormous, the work space perfect for an army, but it was missing all the appliances. No stove, no fridge, nothing. It had space for it, and from the looks of it, it could easily have room for a commercial grade one, but everything would somehow need to be ordered and delivered out here.

“Daddy! There are a million rooms!” Landon yelled from somewhere down the hall.

Chuckling, I headed up the stairs. According to our plans, my room would be the first one to the right of the stairs. Double doors into the room, I opened them and broke out in laughter. Two large windows took up most of the far wall, allowing the bed to be placed between them. The bathroom was on the right, and the closet was on the left. It felt like I was home. The thought shocked me, and I forced myself not to break down again.

‘You okay?’

Wren’s question surprised me. ‘Yeah. I am.’

‘You feel…conflicted.’

‘Maybe, but not because of this. It makes me question what I thought was my home this whole time. This feels like…it’s a feeling I hadn’t felt since before Mother and Father died.’

He hummed. ‘A home can be a fickle feeling. Though, from what you said, this place is much more impressive than your parents’ old house.’

This place was incredible. The attention to every detail was there. I walked down the hall and found one of the three utility rooms. Sure enough, every was meticulously organized, and I would need to request for the power to be turned on here. Plus, the water wasn’t on or anything like that.

Worst of all, I needed to make a town in the territory. I couldn’t just have a single packhouse. I needed to figure out where to put a town. Somewhere with amenities and offices, places to sleep, and then of course there was a school. I wanted my pups to learn about everything. Not just math and science, but magic and shifting. If they had a chance to learn everything, they would be better prepared, and we as a pack could thrive with different supernaturals on the territory.

Sighing, I shut the closet door. This was so much to take on, and it really was not the time to do it. Starting from scratch sounded so fun until you actually started from scratch. The fun got sucked out by the little details. Not to mention, I didn’t have the slew of workers I did when rebuilding Moon River.

I could reach out, see if anyone was willing to help, but I hadn’t officially talked to the Alpha King about the pack yet. That would need to come first. Then, I would most likely need to have alliance talks with Alpha’s of the crews I requested, and that was more than I could even fathom right now. I had nothing to offer. Just thinking about it made me wonder if this was the right decision.

“Can we choose our bedrooms?”

“Can we? Can we?”

Landon and Amelia had made it back to me, jumping up and down.

“Do we get to live with Leah?”

“And Haley?”

“And Uncle Finn?”

“And Uncle Noah?”

“When will they be here?”

“When will we get to stay?”

Putting my hands on their heads, I pressed down. “Take a breath, you two. It’s going to be a little while. There are still things missing. Like a place to eat, a place to sleep, and even something to cook with. There isn’t any water or power either.”

They both made pouting faces, and I laughed. Pushing them back to the main area of the house, instead of going down, they raced to the far end of the hall. There was a door that went out onto the second-floor outdoor balcony. Following them, the whole place had been secured to make sure no kids could slip through. If there was one thing we made sure of, it was that the house was as baby-proof as it could be. We wanted a large family and not to worry about silly things like them slipping between the bars or getting into places they shouldn’t.

The smell of the trees somehow settled my beating heart, and I smiled, looking out over the forest. My forest. All of this area was mine now. Mine and what I soon hoped would be my pack. We could make it into a safe haven. That’s how I wanted it to be.

Everyone else, every other Alpha, could do what they wanted on their territory. If they wanted to invite humans, then so be it. I didn’t want that. It was going to be harder, and I didn’t know what I could offer to have alliances, but at the very least, I would try.

“Daddy! It goes all the way around!”

Nodding, I picked up Amelia in my arms and snagged Landon as he tried to run away. Holding both of them was getting harder, but I walked out to the south-facing deck. All you could see were trees, and I smiled.

“This is going to be our new home. It’s different from our other one, but this one is going to be big. Sometimes it’s going to be quiet, sometimes it’s going to be loud. Sometimes, I will be super busy, and other times we will go swimming in the lake, or just run through the forest with you. This will be ours for a long time, and hopefully, one day be yours as well.”

“Ours?”

I smiled. “That will be a long time from now. But yes, one day, it will be yours.”

“What about Papa?” Amelia asked, looking up at me. “Will Papa live here with us?”

My heart clenched, and I could feel my hold on them tighten. “I don’t know.” I smiled at her. “But no matter what, we will have fun and learn a lot. We will make a town, and it will be magical!”

“Magical?”

“Magical!”

I kissed both of their heads before setting them back down. They took off running, and I leaned against the railing, watching them. It would be magical. I’m sure Lor could help. Maybe get a couple of covens to move here as well. They could help teach the next generation. There was also the chance I could speak to the fey as well. Work out opening a portal in the forest nearby where they could come and go as they pleased.

“Right, Nate. It will not be that easy. You’re trying to create a perfect bubble when you have no idea how to sustain it. Don’t get ahead of yourself.”

Saying out loud, I chuckled. How to get everything delivered was first. Maybe I could purchase some ATVs and carts, and haul everything that way. Either that, or it would make the house accessible from the road. I wrinkled my nose at the idea. That would be the last thing I would want. Keeping the forest as untouched as I could would be the goal. The topographical map helped, but I would need to find the place with the least dense trees and work my way from there.

“Alright, kiddos, time to head back.”

I heard two ‘aws’ from different places.

“I know. We will be back tomorrow bright and early though.”

“Yay!” They both came whizzing around the corner as I opened the door to go back in the house.

The keys to the house had been on the kitchen counter, and I grabbed them. The stone would keep it hidden and untouched for a while, but the magic would have dropped on the door as soon as the kids touched it.

“Tomorrow we get to see Aunt Solaris’ old treehouse too.”

“Really?”

I nodded, locked the door and headed out. “Really. We will do more exploring tomorrow, I promise. Today we had a bit of a late start.”

Walking about through the forest, Amelia and Landon were slowing down. They were tiring themselves out, and I had a feeling both of them would knock out on the way to the inn. Amelia grabbed my hand about an hour into our walk.

“Daddy?”

“Yeah?”

She frowned. “Does this place have a name?”

“It does. It’s called Hidden Forest.”

“Like Alpha J’s White Sun?”

I smiled and squeezed her hand. “Exactly like that.”

“What’s Papa’s?”

For a moment, I thought about not telling her. “Moon River.”

“There are reasons behind names, right?”

“Yes, there are. White sun is from beaches and the sands of the island.”

Landon skipped around us. “And the buildings!”

“Yes, and the buildings.”

“What about Moon River?”

Taking a deep breath, I caught Landon’s hand. “There is a large river on the east side of the territory. It’s pretty big, and the moon’s reflection always feels so much bigger and brighter. So the territory was called Moon River.”

“And here? Is it because we are so deep in the trees?”

I smiled. “That’s part of it. It’s also going to be hidden away so only certain people can find it.”

“Like us?”

“Not just us, but others like us that are blessed.”

Amelia nodded, walking with me quietly. Landon, now that he was stuck holding my hand, was crashing hard. By the time we got back to the car, the two looked like zombies. Locking them into their car seats, they were out before I even put in the inn’s address I’d booked. Pulling out, I looked at the time. It was too late to make any work calls tonight, but I could do some shopping and fill Finn and Noah in.

‘You really are taking on a lot, Nate. I am both impressed and worried.’ Wren chuckled.

‘Your being impressed worries me. You’re never impressed.’

He hummed. ‘Maybe it should. This is a lot to shoulder. Alpha, a new pack, the pups, everything. Though if there was one person I trusted who could do it...’

I rolled my eyes. ‘Wouldn’t be me?’

‘No. It would be you, Nate. I’ll be here as well. We will do this together. You’re going to need all the help you can get.’

Goddess above, what did I get myself into?