Page 66 of Pack End Game

They all look at me.

I turn my gaze back to the looming building.

This beautiful property is here waiting patiently for the pack's touch to turn this into our home.

Our future.

Or at least waiting to become the next chapter in the saga of me dragging the pack to see increasingly questionable real estate listings.

Either way, I know with perfect certainty that I don't care that this used to be a senior living facility.

My heart yearns to get inside.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Spencer

The smell hits first.

An odd combination of hospital-grade disinfectant and dust. Two things I don't feel like I should be able to smell at the same time, but here we are.

None of us quite understood what Mia needed from a house to feel comfortable, but I know none of us imagined something like this. There's an abandoned walker in the entryway, and a few feet beyond that lies a glass reception window with a handwritten sign informing guests they must sign in at the desk.

Hiding my reaction feels impossible. My nose wrinkles and my brow creases. Zak makes the same face I do. Freddie outright gags.

Mia, on the other hand, walks further into the building as if being summoned by a siren's song.

"Oh, I love this," she gushes.

I'm speechless.

She clasps her hands together and takes her time, lovingly taking in every detail of the entryway. She genuinely looks like a woman finding her dream home on one of those house-hunting reality TV shows.

"This wallpaper is stunning." She runs her hand over the dark purple and light gray striped wall.

There's no denying the irony that the walls are decorated in the Sloths' team colors. Fate is definitely having a laugh at my expense right about now.

Rufus lingers near the entry, keys still in hand, wearing the shocked, open-mouth expression of someone who already didn't expect the tour to last this long.

She glances back at us and takes in our lack of shared enthusiasm. "Are you worried about the slight odor? Because that will totally fade during a remodel."

"Slight odor?" Freddie echoes in a hysterically high pitch. "Baby, that's not just an odor, that's a stench."

She faces him. "It's temporary. Rufus said the building has been closed for over a year. Once everything is cleaned up and renovated, you'll never remember the house smelling like anything other than our pack."

I'm both impressed and alarmed by her certainty.

She's talking about this place like it's already a done deal.

The wallpaper that Mia loves continues into the hallway, taunting me with its presence. The beige floors are real tile, not linoleum. Doors line the length of the long hallway, each one painted a different color of the rainbow. The building is massive.

We walk all the way down the hall until it opens up into what appears to have been a recreation room. Outdated floral chairs are scattered all around, but the dark wood tables appear to be in good shape. A grand piano sits abandoned in the corner, causing Freddie's eyes to light up.

He's a pretty good dancer, but there's otherwise not an ounce of rhythm or musical talent in his body.

He beelines straight to the piano, plopping down and hitting the keys with zeal despite the painful first notes, making it obvious the piano needs a good tuning.

Mia turns a slow circle, hugging her arms around herself to try to contain the excitement bubbling out of her. "Don't you feel it?"