Chapter 166 Chapter 166
The drive ended up being a little over four hours, with two bathroom stops added to the agenda. Blair spent most of the trip worrying about—everything. He had no idea what the state this house was in, he just hoped it would be livable until it was fixed up. He couldn’t remember how long it had been empty—that alone told him he could have a lot of repairs over the next few months. Winter in their area tended to arrive earlier than the rest of the province, so it could be even less than that.
His cat was no help the entire drive, not with Kobie sitting in the passenger’s seat and being so close to him. If it hadn’t been for Daisie’s chatter in the back seat, Blair may have lost his mind completely or done something stupid, like confessing more things to the woman beside him.
He didn’t know who Daisie had grilled, but she knew more about the Alliance and the politics of the clans than he did now. There were two hundred clans in North America and an unknown amount around the world. Also, Devin’s father didn’t have to run all of them personally, Daisie had informed the adults in the car because he had ambassadors in other countries that took care of everything.
The only thing she said that he knew, was all clans looked out for one another no matter if you had fur, hair, or other stuff.
He wasn’t sure what the ‘other stuff’ was, but trying to figure it out had distracted his brain from worrying and his cat from jumping out of his body onto his mate beside him. He needed to ask more questions about the clans and Alliance, he decided once they got through all of this.
“I am so over long trips.” Rayne’s unamused voice broke the call’s silence.
Blair hit the mute button on his phone. “Five more minutes.” He informed everyone. Then his nerves hit him, making him tenser. Five minutes and hopefully he pulled in to see a habitable home. He pointed down the dirt road as they went by. “That’s where my Alpha lives and we work.”
“I haven’t seen a house in twenty minutes,” Cortney said quickly.
Blair glanced at her in the mirror. “That’s the way we like it.”
She smiled, even though it didn’t reach her eyes. “I suppose it makes going for a run easier.”
Blair nodded. “Just have to be careful of the bog areas.”
She gave him a quick, curious look and then turned to look back out the window.
Blair pulled into the long drive. “We’re here.” He glanced at Kobie, who had been silent most of the ride. “It’s going to need some work, but it’s a safe place to live.” He slowed as he crested the small hill and saw three trucks he recognized. He grinned. “Looks like you get to meet some of my clan that I work with.” He shrugged one shoulder, “most of them are like brothers. We’ve been together since we were kids.”
Kobie turned, and he could be sure, but it looked like she was scared. Blair reached over and squeezed her hand, then winked at her, trying to assure her it was all good.
Parking beside Jake’s truck, he got out and stretched.
As the other cars pulled in, Jake and Gary came out of the house. Paint was splattered all over their clothes and faces. Blair hadn’t realized until this moment how much he’d missed them.
The women and girls got out of the vehicles, and all stood together in a little cluster beside the van that Jay was in. Blair’s heart ached for them, having left their entire lives behind. He’d be damned if he would let anything happen to them again.
Blair’s cat was on edge with other men near their mate. Mentally shaking it off, he went over to Jake.
Gary turned and looked up at the roof. “Noah, come down. Beth will be back soon, and we’ll need a hand.”
Blair looked up to see Noah crawling like a crab down the roof to the ladder.
Jake grinned, “he’s not good with a paintbrush.”
“Or a hammer,” Gary added.
“Who’s running the shop if you guys are here?”
Jake wiped his hands on a rag. “Ed and Gage have it covered. Kels is with Coop—who is demanding one of us big assholes carry him to a truck and bring him over here to supervise.”
Gary nodded, “Beth left early this morning to pick up some groceries and things for the kitchen.” He shook his head, “she’s been barking orders and buying things for the last few days.”
A lump formed in Blair’s throat, “I can’t thank you—”
“Fuck that.” Jake glared at him. “We need your ass back at the shop before the fall hits and everything comes in for repairs and painting.”
Nodding, Blair glanced over to see Kobie watching. “All right, come meet the girls.”
“Brave son of a bitch.” Jake mumbled under his breath.
The van door flew open, and Rayne jumped out looking frazzled. “I think we need to start flying everywhere.” She flipped the hair back off her shoulder and watched her mate get out and stretch.
Jake and Gary bowed their heads to him.
Devin waved them off and then looked from one to the other. “How much did you get done?”
“Five rooms upstairs and the lower one for,” Jake motioned to the van. “They’ll have to double up until we get some more ready.”
Gary pointed to the closest of the small buildings. “We got that one all cleaned up.”
Devin nodded his head and looked at Blair. “The crew Dad sent are doing the fencing and setting up alarms along the property edge, so Gage volunteered his guys to get the house ready.”
Blair glanced over to see the emotional expression on some of the women’s faces. “I appreciate it.” He said to no one in particular.
“We’ll stay and lend a hand for a few days.” Calum put his arm around Shaelan, “Shae wants to keep an eye on Jay for a while.”
“I can help paint too,” Shaelan said, then covered a yawn. “I don’t travel well,” she smirked.
Kobie stepped away from the girls and held Blair’s look.
He motioned to her, “I guess I should introduce everyone.” He went over and stopped beside her because his cat demanded it. “This is Kobie,” he winked at her and then placed his hand on the back of her neck. To all the shifters it was an obvious display that would let all the males present know she was off-limits.
Keeping his hand resting there, he motioned to the women, one at a time. “Franki, Mika.”
Mika inclined her head.
Franki smiled, “I’m good with a hammer and saw.”
Jake tapped his chest, “I’m Jake. We will put those skills to use.”
Blair gave him an appreciative look. “This is Torrey and her daughter Kasia.”
Torrey pulled Kasia to stand in front of her.
“I can help paint,” Kasia said.
“We have a lot of trim to do.” Jake gave her a thumbs up.
Blair pointed to Nichelle, then Annamarie. “Here we have Nichelle,” he glanced at Jake, “who will set you straight with a verbal lashing like you have never heard.”
Jake placed his hand over his heart and patted it. “She’s on my team for all future disagreements.”
Nichelle grinned at him.
“And this is Annamarie.” He watched her smile and turned to see it was Gary she was looking at.
“And what’s your name?” She all but purred at Gary.
“Annamarie,” Blair warned softly.
Huffing out a breath, she glanced at him. “Sorry, but he is cute.” She added quietly.
Jake chuckled as Gary’s face went red. “His name is Gary,” he told her, then grinned at the blushing man.
Clearing his throat, Blair motioned to the remaining two, “This is Cortney and her sunshine, Daisie.” He winked at Daisie.
Cortney nodded, “thank you for all the work you’re doing. We’ll pitch in wherever we can.”
Daisie walked away from her mother and over to Noah, who was standing off to the side. She held out her hand. “Hi. I’m Daisie, what’s your name?”
Noah hesitated for a moment and then took her hand. “Noah.”
Daisie nodded, then turned his hand over. “You should be very careful when using tools. That’s what my mom used to tell my dad.”
Noah tilted his head, “good advice. I’ll keep it in mind.”
“Can we get a hand moving Jay inside?” Devin watched Shaelan get out of the van after checking him over.
Noah, Jake, and Gary went over and took a corner of the stretcher. Jake looked down at Jay and did a terrible job of keeping the shock off his face when he saw him. Glancing over at Blair briefly, one look conveyed his thoughts, and ‘holy fuck’ summed it up.
“We did a room downstairs with lots of windows.” Jake gave Jay a quick smile, “there’s a small patio just outside it for when you’re feeling better too.”