Kenneth’s khakis and flannel were a little big on me, but they were better than the trunks Corey had given me. Those might as well have been toxic as far as I was concerned. As I tightened my belt I kicked them across the floor to Juan.

“You said you wanted to burn them?” I asked him. He picked them up, holding them just on his pinky finger.

“I think we should,” he smiled. “Come on.”

I followed him out of the room, down the hall and into the living room where an omega was playing with his son.

“Hello!” he said as we entered.

“Bailey, this is Kenneth,” Juan said, making the introduction. “Kenneth, Bailey.”

“Hi, there,” he smiled.

“Kenneth is mated to Preston, our pack leader,” Juan explained. “So, I guess that makes him the queen?”

“A big ol’ queen,” Kenneth laughed. “This is my son, Schuyler. Can you wave, Schuyler?”

Schuyler wasn’t shy, and waved eagerly at me. I smiled and waved back.

“Be back in a bit,” Juan said. “We’re on a mission.”

“Oooh, exciting,” Kenneth replied. “Can we come? It’s a bit of a slow morning.”

“I don’t see why not,” Juan shrugged, heading out the front door. He held it open for me and as I stepped outside, I finally got a full view of the farm.

Fields stretched out on all sides of us, with big tubes all over the place that I could only assume were for water. There were plants growing of all kinds. I saw tomatoes, zucchini and other things I couldn’t identify. There was a cluster of greenhouses and piles of dirt and fertilizer as well.

“Come on,” Juan said, tugging on my sleeve. He led me around to the side of the house where there was a fire pit surrounded by a few homemade wooden benches. Someone had obviously used it last night, as a few embers still smoldered beneath the ash. “Hand me the gas can, Kenneth.”

“Oooh,” Kenneth remarked as Juan tossed the pair of trunks into the pit. He took the gas can from Kenneth and doused them. Instantly, they shot up in flames.

“Yes, yes!” I cackled, rubbing my hands together like an old witch from a movie. “Burn! Burn!”

“Jesus, Juan,” Kenneth chuckled. “You sure this one’s got all his marbles?”

I laughed as Juan wrapped his arm around me. “Trust me, if you knew the story behind all of this, you’d understand.”

“Well, you’ll have to fill me in then!”

“Later,” Juan replied, leading me back to the house. “I’m starving.”

“Juan tells me you like to cook?” I asked Kenneth as we walked away from the burning set of swim trunks.

“I do,” he nodded. “I’m not that great, but I’m learning. Why? You want me to make you guys something?”

“Bailey here likes to cook too,” Juan chimed in, holding the door for us.

“Oh, yeah?” Kenneth asked with a smile. “That’s great. We should do a nice big meal for the entire pack sometime soon once you are settled in.”

“That would be great!” I replied as we made our way into the kitchen. It was small, but they had a stocked pantry and fridge with tons of fresh ingredients from the farm.

“Do you like breakfast omelets?” I asked Juan, who had taken his seat at the table.

“Love them,” he smiled.

“Great,” I replied, getting to work on the eggs. “Kenneth, can you peel a potato for me?”

“Am I the sous-chef now?” he asked.

“I can do it if you want!” I replied quickly. It was my first day here; I really didn’t want to step on any toes.

“I’m just playing around,” he laughed. “One or two potatoes?”

“Oh, okay! Phew! One should be fine.”

We got to work together and I instantly felt right at home working with Kenneth while my mate watched me from the table. We blanched and fried up small pieces of potato, then added some peppers, cilantro and some bacon they’d picked up from a local farm that raised animals nearby. After that, I added a little cheese and the eggs and did it all without burning a single thing.

The largest portion went to Juan, of course. Kenneth had already eaten so I took the leftovers. The look on Juan’s face as he took the first bite was priceless. He loved it, and I felt like a thousand golden butterflies were fluttering around in my stomach.

“Good?” I asked him. It was rhetorical, of course, but I wanted to hear him say it.

“I picked a winner,” he replied with a wink.

“Seems that way,” Kenneth chimed in from the sink where he was already starting to wash up.

“Let me help you with that!” I said, starting to get up. But he held out his hand and shook his head.

“No, no,” he told me. “You eat with your mate. I got this. It’s your first day here, we can’t have you doing the dishes just yet.”

“I will help out though,” I told him firmly.

“I believe you,” he smiled.

“This is damn tasty,” Juan remarked, taking another bite. Just then, the front door swung open and a tall alpha with curly black hair stepped in. He was wearing a dusty flannel shirt, work pants and a pair of boots.

“Preston,” Juan nodded. “You fall in the loam or something?”

Preston chuckled. He was pretty dirty. “Oh, you know. Working, working.” He turned to me. “And who’s this?”

“This,” Juan began, getting up from his seat and coming over to me. “Is Bailey. He’s my fated-mate. We met yesterday.”

“Seems our pack is blessed,” Preston smiled, taking a hand out of his glove and extending it to me. I took it and shook it. He was strong and his hands were covered in calluses. “Welcome. I hope you feel right at home here.”

“Thank you.”

“Juan, we’ve got a small shipment for your folks,” Preston added. “You wanna bring them down? Maybe introduce them to your new mate?”

Juan grinned and threw his arm around me. “That sounds like a great idea.”