a few days he might not be an Alpha, but he would still protect his people.
Which were now my people.
We just might win this war yet.
17
Remy
“Damn.”
It was the only thing I could say as I looked around the busy construction site. Dozens of men and women worked simultaneously on three houses at the opening of the new neighborhood. By the looks of things, these houses would be complete by the end of tomorrow, not next week.
Katy grinned at me. “Pretty cool, right?”
“I can’t believe you did this,” I admitted, taking in the two-story single family homes. The houses were slightly different variations of the same model.
“We did it,” she corrected, waving a hand at Ryder and Larkin. “Ryder got us double the help.”
“Addie had the cafe bring food up for everyone,” Larkin added, pointing to Skye’s mom.
I glanced over at the empty lot where a makeshift tent had been erected. Addie stood in the middle of it, making sure the food and drinks were ready for anyone who wanted them. She smiled at us and gave a small wave before turning back to the staff she had brought and giving them more orders.
“How are we handling the housing situation?” I asked Katy, giving her my attention again.
“Will and Michael have been going over the financials,” she answered. “These three houses were already purchased by people who lived in town but wanted to upgrade. They’ve agreed to let us rent their current houses for new pack members once they move into these houses. The pack has plenty of money to cover the costs of the rentals until a more permanent arrangement can be made.”
“Some people still want to go back to Brooks Ridge after this is over,” Ryder commented, folding his tattooed arms across his chest. The silver of his lip ring glinted in the late afternoon sun. “It’s mostly the older generation who spent their lives on the ridge. It’s where they want to be to finish their lives.”
“I won’t force anyone to stay here,” I told him. “As soon as it’s safe, we’ll help anyone who wants to relocate back to their former pack lands.”
“Dante is planning on talking to Luke’s beta when he arrives later tonight with the last group. They’ll have an idea of what we can contribute financially to the pack to offset costs while we’re here.”
“I’m not worried about that.”
I wasn’t. Michael had already explained the pack’s finances. Thanks to a lot of solid investments coupled with the long history of the pack, our accounts were heavily in the black. We could handle building another five neighborhood developments, including furnishing and providing the essential utilities for several years before the pack felt any kind of financial strain.
The Blackwater pack had been established almost two hundred years earlier, when the land was still fresh and untapped. The pack lands had several working gold, silver, and copper mines that provided ample money to this day.
“There’s one more thing,” Katy said quietly, jerking her head towards the table to her right. She moved towards it, waiting for me.
I glanced down at the map of the planned neighborhood. There was space for a hundred new houses and a couple of parks for kids.
Katy tapped a blank spot that looked like a cul-de-sac. “This.”
“Okay,” I said, not getting her point.
She exchanged a look with Larkin that made me slightly nervous.
“We think it’s time to build a new Alpha house,” Katy said, biting her lip.
I blinked. “You what?”
“Not just that,” Larkin added, coming up beside me, “but a space for you and Skye.”
“We talked about moving into the cabin,” I admitted. “But that was before all of this shit happened.”
“Which is great, but … Remy, the fact is, this pack is getting bigger,” she went on, twisting her hands nervously in front of her.
Ryder stepped up next to Katy, clearly already on board with their plan. “Even if some people go back to the ridge, a lot of people won’t. Most of the people like being down here where we have more access to things like a regular supply at the grocery store or medical care.”
“And,” Katy jumped in, “when Dad recovers, our house is going to be too small. If Dad is Alpha another, what? Twenty years? You and Skye will have a family at that point, and you’ll need a house.”
The idea of Skye and me having kids almost made me dizzy. There was a part of me that was excited as hell by the idea. Probably my wolf,