Chapter 57: 57: Home Sweet Home

MELANIE

I’m heading to breakfast, hoping to snag a moment with my brother before he’s bombarded with questions and work. I know our father will soon have him tied up in the office, making it nearly impossible to have a heart-to-heart with my brother.

I’m practically dancing down the stairs into the kitchen, my ponytail bobbing behind me as I jump off the last step. Max is perched at the bar-height counter, my younger brother Jaydon beside him.

They’re whispering, probably thinking they’ll wake the house. It’s only about five-thirty in the morning, but I’ve always been an early bird.

I think it’s a habit from years of waking up for training. It’s Sunday though, and we get the day off.

“Hey,” I greet them, making my way around the center island to the refrigerator to grab some milk. I open the pantry and go in to find my cereal.

I have a soft spot for cinnamon toast crunch. It’s probably the only really sweet thing I allow myself.

The box is missing, and I know it was there yesterday. I had just opened it.

I step out of the pantry and look at my brothers. Max raises an eyebrow at me in question.

“Have you guys seen the box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch?” Max’s gaze flicks to Jaydon and then back to me.

I squint at my brothers and walk over to the trash can, pulling open the cabinet it’s tucked into. There’s an empty box of my favorite cereal in the can.

I shoot a glare at Jaydon, and if looks could kill, he’d be six feet under. “You seriously ate that entire box, Jaydon? I just opened that yesterday.”

Jaydon has the audacity to shrug and smirk at me before he says, “I’m a growing alpha male, you know. I need calories.”

“You little…,” I start, darting around the island toward my brother. He jumps up laughing and bolts out the backdoor, narrowly avoiding our father as he makes his escape.

I decide not to chase him, it’s not worth it. “I can see things don’t really change around here all that much,” Max says with a chuckle.

“It’s okay, Melanie, there’s another box in the back behind the big pots. I hid it for you when I saw him going for your cereal this morning.”

Oh, how I’ve missed my brother Max. He always has my back.

I head back to the pantry and find my hidden box and come out to make myself a bowl of cereal. Dad strolls in and takes Jaydon’s empty seat.

“Tomorrow, you have to resume training, Max. I was hoping you could observe and see how the pack has been doing with their fighting skills. I’m sure you learned a thing or two while you were gone.”

Our father pats him on the back as he grabs an apple from the fruit bowl. I roll my eyes at Max, which Dad thankfully doesn’t see.

“He just got back, Dad, can’t you give him a couple of days to adjust to the time change and being home? Some of us want to have time with him too, you know.”

Dad sighs and looks up at me. “Maybe, but there is work to be done.”

He glances over at Max, and I guess he must see the tired bags under his eyes. I know the time change is probably wreaking havoc on him right now.

“All right then, I’ll give you a few days, son, but just know that we’re all counting on you to step up more. It won’t be long before you’re the alpha of this pack.”

Dad stands and walks over to make himself some coffee. He grabs an extra cup for Mom and heads back upstairs.

He always brings Mom coffee in the morning. I sometimes think that’s why she’s so cheerful every morning.

“Thanks for that, sis. Do you want to hang out today? Maybe we can go for a run to the waterfall or something. I’ve missed Montana like you wouldn’t believe.”

Max stands and comes around the counter to give me a hug. “Will you be in the dining room later for family breakfast? We still do that on Sundays, right?”

We have a family tradition of having breakfast together on Sundays. It’s always at nine so that whoever wants to sleep in can do so.

I’m always up early though, which is why I have some cereal in the morning. Obviously, cereal is not enough to sustain our wolves with as hard as we train and work.

“I wouldn’t miss it,” I tell him. Max nods and then grabs coffee himself and heads back upstairs.

I can’t wait to go for a run later and talk to him outside of everyone’s earshot. I’m sure he wants to know everything that happened with Ginger.

I also would like to talk to him about going to Texas for my last internship, as well as Brock. It really is nice to have my best friend home again.

MAX

Melanie and I decide to race to the waterfall, our wolves happy to be seeing each other again. I leap over a fallen tree and zip past Melanie, laughing over our mind link the whole way.

“You don’t really think you can outrun me, do you?” As we near the waterfall, she’s hot on my heels.

She’s always been fast, both in human and wolf form. We drop our bags with our clothes and hit the water at the same time.

It’s a tie. How did that happen?

Melanie is now the one laughing over our mind link, as her wolf swims back to shore and picks up her bag in her teeth. Her wolf huffs at me and runs off behind a boulder to change.

Melanie quickly emerges in her swimsuit and tells me to go get changed. When I come back around the boulder, she’s already in the pool of water.

“You must have gotten out of practice, brother,” she laughs. “Ha ha,” I say as I splash her with water.

“You have the advantage now because I’m jet lagged. I’ll give you this one win, but it won’t happen again.”

At least I hope not, I think to myself. “So now that you have my attention, will you tell me what happened with Ginger?”

Melanie winces a little, as she begins her story. I had heard some of it, but not the details.

I find myself getting angry as she tells me how Ginger was nearly forced to marry some alpha heir, just so her stepfather could be the beta. I can’t imagine forcing anyone to marry who they didn’t want to.

She included how our father and the king had actually helped them and made it possible for her and Ginger to escape quickly without the need to see her stepfather or the alpha heir before doing so. This made me feel a little bit guilty that I hadn’t agreed to the king’s offer.

It appears he’s actually a pretty good guy and maybe I had it all wrong about him trying to trick me. My guilt doesn’t last long though, because the more Melanie tells me, the more I know that this is where I belong.

“I can’t wrap my head around it. Forced marriages haven’t been a thing for ages. It’s just… gross.”

I shake my head, trying to dispel the thought. We sit in silence for a moment before a conversation with Dad pops into my mind.

“Do you know what event Dad mentioned we’re hosting in January? He said something about it, but my brain was kind of foggy.” Melanie looks at me, surprised.

“The Summit, Max. You know it’s always in January now.”

The Summit used to be the Annual Alpha Conference, held in the spring. But over time, it evolved into The Summit, an event for both alphas and betas and their families.

It rotated between packs each year, giving everyone a chance to host. Our pack had never hosted The Summit.

With so many packs, it only came around every twenty-five years or so, and that was only with the larger packs. The smaller ones often didn’t have the space for such a large group.

I had completely forgotten about this event. Was it just a coincidence that it was happening right after I got back, or was it something more?

“Oh, right. I didn’t realize it was our turn to host,” I admit. “Well, technically it was our turn last year, but Dad passed it to a pack in California.”

He wanted you home for The Summit if we were hosting. But don’t tell him I told you.”

Melanie gives me a look that clearly says she’ll kill me if I spill the beans. I laugh.

“Your secret’s safe with me.” Melanie nods, then changes the subject.

“I wanted to talk to you about Brock. I’m turning twenty-one soon, and I have my last year of school and internships coming up.”

A pack in Texas said they’d host me. But I’m worried.

You know how much I want to be a pack doctor,” She looks at me, her gaze intense. I just nod.

She’s wanted this for as long as I can remember, never wanting to be anyone’s luna. “Anyway, I was thinking…” she starts but doesn’t get to finish.

The twins choose that moment to dive off a boulder into the pool. They come up laughing.

Selene is giggling so hard she’s practically crying, splashing water our way as she swims over. “Can’t believe we caught you guys off guard,” she teases.

“You’re losing your touch.” Jaydon chimes in, “That was us in stealth mode.”

I shake my head at their antics. They’ve grown up, sure, but they still act like kids.

I glance at Melanie and see a mischievous glint in her eyes. She gives me a subtle nod, and I smirk back.

Before Selene and Jaydon know what’s happening, we dunk them under the water. Our laughter echoes across the water as we swim back to shore, leaving the twins sputtering behind us.

“See you at home,” I call out, waving them off. We take off running, shifting into our wolf forms mid-leap.

Our swimwear is torn to shreds, but we can easily slip in through the back door in our wolf forms. This is something I never would have done in Italy.

But here, it feels right. ~Yeah, this is home sweet home.~