“I have a cleaning service that comes once a week,” Bel said.
“Then let us handle it. That’s one less person coming into your home.”
“But—”
“And think about all the data you could collect. The science experiments you could run. You haven’t even measured how quickly Wyatt can shift from human to wolf.”
Bel chewed on his bottom lip. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah, as long as you don’t ever try to dissect us.”
Bel’s hand clamped down on his wrist and squeezed. “Never.”
River turned his arm and threaded his fingers through Bel’s before the vampire could pull his hand completely away. “Then Wyatt and I are at your disposal. Satisfy your curiosity.”
Bel’s eyes jumped over to Wyatt, and he swallowed hard. River nearly laughed in triumph. This he could work with. They needed time to figure things out. Bel fit with them like he was born to be in their pack. A neighbor. A friend. Maybe even something like family.
And with time, maybe River would finally learn to trust the vampire. To trust the swirling chaos of emotions in his chest.
“Okay, then. I guess we’re…roommates,” Bel said in a slightly strained voice.
Closing his eyes, River rested his head against Bel’s shoulder. “Good.”
One way or another, he and Wyatt were one step closer to having a home.
7
Bel hadn’t thought trying to get River and Wyatt into the car would be such a difficult task. They’d been staying in his house for just over a week, but both wolves were sticking very close. Once a night, they’d step out for a quick run in wolf form, but otherwise, the door wasn’t being opened for anything other than deliveries.
And there had been a lot of deliveries.
Mostly food.
Lots of food.
Dear God, they were like bottomless pits. Bel had secretly started writing down their food consumption just to try to estimate their metabolic rate. It was astounding.
Not that he minded feeding them at all.
Actually, watching them eat was fast becoming his favorite part of the day. There was something about their joy in rediscovering old favorites and trying new things that filled Bel with the purest wonder and happiness. Sitting around the table, they would laugh, tease, and tell stories.
Bel had thought he’d never feel comfortable sharing his space with someone, but after so short a time, he now couldn’t imagine Wyatt and River not there filling the rooms with their shouts and laughter.
The only other delivery to appear at the house was a small clothing delivery, and that Bel had to practically strong-arm them into ordering.
Tonight, that was going to change. Two grown men could not survive on a couple of pairs of sweat pants and a handful of plain T-shirts. His mother would be horrified that Bel hadn’t taken the situation into hand sooner, but he’d been trying to give Wyatt and River time to adjust to living with him.
Wyatt seemed to be acclimating to Bel’s home the easiest, though he found it necessary to make rounds through the house once every three hours to check all the windows and doors. Bel tried to explain that everything was on a security system that would warn of any breach. He wasn’t sure if this was Wyatt trying to prove he would keep Bel safe or his own feelings of insecurity about the house.
River was still acting like he was an unwanted guest whenever Bel entered the room. Too often, he’d jump up from wherever he was sitting and offer to get Bel something or to clean something even though the house was spotless. Nothing Bel said would get him to relax.
It hurt all the more to hear River’s laughter ringing out through the house when the two wolves were together. They didn’t make Bel feel unwanted, necessarily. Just that Bel’s presence made River uncomfortable.
This was all Brett and the MacPhersons’ fault. He wished he could raise Brett from the dead so he could kill the man all over again.
“Where are we going on this errand?” Wyatt asked from the passenger seat.
“Yeah, I thought we were going to divide up the household chores tonight,” River chimed in from the back seat of Bel’s plush sedan.
Bel relaxed in his seat and smiled at River in the rearview mirror. “We can do that now, if you’d like. It’ll take us a few minutes to reach our destination.”
“Fine. Wyatt gets the dusting because he’s the tallest. He can reach all the high places,” River quickly said.
Wyatt snorted. “Sure, you get the vacuuming because you’re the shortest.”
“What? How does that make sense?” River shouted.
“You’re closest to the carpet.”
A loud bark of laughter left Bel before he could catch it. He slapped one hand over his mouth while River groaned.
“Oh, har. Har. Har. You get the dishes, then.” Bel looked up at River, amused by his grumbly tone, and smiled when the younger wolf winked at him in the mirror.
“How about we take turns on the dishes? Whoever doesn’t cook gets to clean the kitchen,” Wyatt suggested.
“That’s fair,” River conceded.
“I’ll help too,” Bel threw in. Wyatt started to argue, but he was already shaking his head. “I’ve started eating what you’re both cooking. It’s only fair that I help clean up.”
River made a noise from the back seat. “Bel, eating three french fries off Wyatt’s plate and me talking you into trying a single ravioli off my fork doesn’t constitute eating.”
Okay, so maybe that was the other part of eating with them that was so enjoyable. They both pushed until he tried little bites of food from their plates. He liked that they cared, liked the feeling that he belonged with them. Most people would probably see it as pathetic, and maybe it was, but he didn’t care. No one else had to know.
“What’s left? Laundry and grocery shopping,” Bel asked.
“River?”
The young wolf sighed heavily, sinking a bit in his seat. “Yeah, I’ll grab the grocery shopping if it means I don’t have to fold clothes.” Which wasn’t a bad deal for River, since all their grocery shopping was done via an app on Bel’s phone.
“That’s fine. I’ll do the laundry,” Wyatt agreed. He paused and scratched his jaw. “We forgot something.”
“What’s that?”
“Bathrooms.”
Just as Bel brought the car to a halt at a red light, River unbuckled his seat belt and grabbed the back of Bel’s seat, pulling himself forward so he was directly between the vampire and wolf. “Bel, I will do anything you want if you will just keep your cleaning lady to take care of the bathrooms. Please, Bel, anything you ask. Anything at all.”
Bel’s body shook with laughter, and even Wyatt looked like he was struggling to not laugh.
“Is that your line in the sand? Bathrooms?”
River made a scoffing noise. “Isn’t it everyone’s?”
“That is true,” Wyatt agreed.
“Plus, you have like five bathrooms, and three of them are huge!”
“I’ll keep the cleaning service for the bathrooms if you put your belt back on,” Bel said with a broad smile.
River hooted happily as he settled in his seat and pulled his belt into place. Both wolves said they healed quickly, but Bel was not willing to put that to the test if they were in an accident.