𝐆𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐚́𝐧 || 𝐉𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐨𝐥

Chapter 31

They waved Minghao and the omegas off after breakfast the next morning, and Seungcheol turned to the rest of the alphas.

“I guess we should get to work.”

He showed them up to the attic.

“Junhui and I have been clearing it out over the past few weeks, when we’ve had time.”

Thorn circled the floor, ducking into each of the rooms, checking the beams, the walls, and the floors.

“Looks solid enough.”

“Back when this was a packhouse, I’m pretty sure the attic was lived in. But it’s been storage for as long as I can remember.”

“Won’t be hard to spruce it up. You’ve already got the.electrics, the plumbing. We’ll just make sure everything’s up to spec.”

“Yep,” Cole said. “Safety first where kids are concerned.”

They got started, dedicating the first few hours to the practical stuff. Once they were sure they had working lights, heat, and water, they moved on to decorating.

Junhui turned out to be skilled at painting, so they left him and Cole to it while he and Thorn started assembling the furniture.

“Made the cribs myself,” Thorn said. “I’ve had some practice.”

“I’m sure you have. You miss them?”

“Oh, yeah. I’ve only been away from them a handful of times. Daniel and the kids are staying at the packhouse while I’m gone. It’s hard being parted from them, and it’s tough being away from the pack, especially for a Sentinel.”

Sentinels were like the watchers of the pack, as far as Seungcheol understood it. They guarded the perimeter and were constantly on alert for danger. Being away from the pack must have been doubly tough for Thorn.

“How do you manage it?”

“It isn’t easy, but I know from experience that I can usually handle a few days before my instincts start screaming at me. Plus, Soonyoung and the others are careful. They know how to watch each other’s backs.”

“The perks of being ex-military, huh?”

“Something like that.”

Seungcheol and Soonyoung’s pack had something in common there, at least.

“How do you guys handle things with all those kids? We can barely manage to wrangle two kittens.”

Thorn laughed and handed Seungcheol a screwdriver.

“The key is having plenty of pairs of hands and lots of eyes watching.”

“Well, damn it. I was really hoping you weren’t going to say that.”

With four adults about to be outnumbered by five kids, Seungcheol already suspected they were in trouble. He said as much to Thorn.

“Don’t worry. Soonyoung and Oliver have been talking about that. In the short term, once the babies arrive, we’ll do what we can to help out. Medium-term, though, you’re going to need to think about recruitment.”

Seungcheol blew out a breath. “How does that work? Do we advertise? Throw an open house?”

Thorn grinned at his suggestions but gave a serious answer. “All that’ll do is draw in the crazies and maybe even bring the military down on your head. My guess is, your pack mates are people you’ve already met. Others like Minghao, who you’ve already started forming bonds with. All you have to do is call them home.”