Book 8 Part 6

Book 8 Part 6
The images took a while to load and I leaned closer to Kiran as the first picture appeared. Kiran scrolled through the images of all three properties. Slade and I smiled at the same time and looked at each other. It was the last property available.

It was surrounded by natural groves of trees, almost like a forest and it was magnificent. It was secluded and the house was much too large for us, but the seclusion made it perfect. Our wolves would have space to run and the acreage of the property was perfect.
“I’ll take this one,” Kiran said as he looked at our faces and I smiled.
“Finance applications take a few days to be approved–” she began to say as she started typing again.
“That won’t be necessary. I’ll be settling the whole amount with a bank transfer,” Kiran said to her and I looked at him.
“Can we have a few minutes?” I asked her.
“Sure,” she said and left her desk as I turned towards him.
“Grandpa, what are you doing?” I asked him.
“Buying you a house,” he said. “I can see how much you both want this place.”
“You shouldn’t, I can pay for it and Kai won’t….” I said to him and my voice faltered at the end.
“I bought Kai’s first house and no matter what’s happened, you’re still my blood, Jericho, and I’m buying this house for you,” he said to me.
“So you know exactly what happened,” I said more to myself than to him.
“Yes, I know exactly what happened,” he said to me.
“And you don’t hate me?” I asked him.
“Why would I hate you? You made a mistake, a big one yes, but still a mistake. What your father’s doing… I don’t approve and I know he doesn’t hate you, he could never hate you no matter what you did,” Kiran said.
I didn’t believe him, but I didn’t say a word either. There was no arguing with Kiran Sinclair, about anything. He was going to buy this house for us, no matter what I said.
Kiran nodded to the woman and she came back to sit at her desk. They concluded their business while Slade and I stood outside. After another two hours, Kiran walked outside with a smile and handed the keys and the paperwork of the house to me.
“I don’t know what to say,” I said to him.
“There’s a season for every part of our lives. You might feel defeated right now but it won’t always be like this. He does love you, Jericho, and you’re about the same age he was when I threw him out of my house,” Kiran said to me.
“What?” I asked him. I didn’t know about that.
“It’s true, he went off on his own for four months and in time we fixed our relationship and so will you,” he said.
“You didn’t banish him from the pack,” I said to him.
“He banished you?” Kiran asked me in disbelief. Obviously, Kai hadn’t told him everything.
“He even took my name, I’m not allowed to use the St. Claire name anymore,” I said.
“Yeah, and then he burned their names onto Jake’s back,” Slade said.
“What an asshole,” Kiran muttered as Slade turned around to hide his laughter.
“I’m Jericho Cannon now, I’m nothing to him, it’s like I never even existed for him,” I said and looked down.
“Never look down, Jericho, you’re an Alpha and you’re a Sinclair, being a St. Claire is a load of bullshit anyway, you’ll always be a Sinclair. That means you take what you deserve, not what people feel you deserve. You are powerful, so use it,” Kiran said as he looked at me forcefully.
“Thanks, Grandpa,” I said and hugged him.
“Now I need to get home before your grandmother wakes up and wonders where I am. You can do this, I believe in you,” he said and looked around before disappearing from my view.
“He’s right you know, we’ll start our own pack if we have to,” Slade said as he slid into the driver’s seat and started the Jeep.
“He is right, I guess I just needed to hear that someone believed in me,” I said to Slade as he reversed and drove to our new house.
“Like I don’t count? Ouch, Jake,” he said and we laughed as we bumped our fists together.
“Sorry, you know I don’t mean it like that,” I said to Slade as he grinned at me.
“We should stop and buy some groceries and so forth,” Slade suggested.
We drove through town and stopped at the supermarket. Slade and I each grabbed a trolley and we quickly filled them and stood in line at the check-out. We spoke in our minds most of the time when we didn’t want to be overheard. 
We bought enough food for a few days, just so we had something in the house that we could eat and the fact that we’d splurged more on snack foods than actual food, wasn’t lost on me.
“We should get bikes,” Slade suddenly said out loud and I turned back to look at him.
“Why?” I asked him.
“Firstly, your name sake would approve of bikes and secondly, this place is small, it’s the best way to make an impression that’ll last,” Slade said.
“Do we want to make an impression in a small town like this?” I asked him.
“Obviously, man. How else will the girls notice us?” he said and I laughed.
“You’re getting the room furthest from mine,” I said.
“Whoa, wait, you’re the playboy not me,” he said and I glared at him and then smiled.
“I was,” I said.
“Oh, yeah, I remember. You grew up on the plane,” he said and ducked as I grabbed the bag of oranges.
“Asshole,” I said and chuckled.
I paid for the food and we loaded our purchases into the back of the Jeep. It was the first time I had bought groceries and I truly hoped that I wouldn’t make a mess of our lives. I didn’t want Kai to be right about me.