~Alyce/Faelyn~

I stepped into Mat and Cedric’s rooms, going through my mental checklist as I surveyed the main room, their king sized bed with matching nightstands, and the chest at the foot of the bed. The bed had been made up and ready to go with fresh sheets, comforter and pillows. I checked the chest, where extra sheets, blankets and pillows were stored.

I checked their closet, all of Mat’s stuff had been moved from the room he was in previously and put away. Plenty of room for Cedric’s stuff and more of Mat’s. I knew he would be needing to get more essentials, he had packed the bare minimums when we left Red Moon, or he would just steal Cedric’s. Likely both.

From there I moved to the sitting area, where the couch and chair had gone. I’d also put a small table between the two on the shared corner side and I’d scavenged a small coffee table from one of the storage rooms and added it to their seating area as well. A set of shelves and a lamp completed the main area.

I poked my head into one of the two side rooms, which housed the desk, some shelves, and a filing cabinet. The rooms were too small for much else other than an office storage or perhaps a nursery/child's room. So we had made one into the office and left the other for the guys to decide what they wanted to do with it.

I moved into their small kitchenette which consisted of a sink, small fridge, a single long counter and a couple wall cabinets. We had added a small double burner hot plate and a toaster oven so they could make simpler stuff for themselves if they wanted.

I double checked the drawers and cabinets, making sure they had basic utensils, dishes, and basic but quality cookware. When I was satisfied there I went to the bathroom, making sure they had towels, and supplies there. I hadn’t gotten soap or anything like that, but Mat’s had been moved over and I was sure Cedric would be bringing his own.

I was content that everything here was covered and we hadn’t forgotten anything, so I left and made my way down the hall to the stairs. I made a pit stop on the fourth floor to poke my head into Tristan’s office.

I cracked the door open, literally just poking my head in. I waited for him to look up and flashed him a smile, “Hey. I’m done upstairs, I’m heading to Jake and Faith’s now.”

Tristan grinned at me, “Alright love. We should be finished here in the next hour or so.”

I nodded and then looked at Brandon and gave him a wave. “Hi Brandon, I see you’re being put to work without Mattie here.”

“It’s true, our Alpha’s a regular task master. No rest for the wicked I suppose.”

“And you’re a drama queen, so it works.” I laughed and ducked out before anyone could retaliate and continued my way down the stairs.

From there I headed out the back door of the kitchen taking the short path over the house. I let myself in and looked around. We hadn’t done nearly as much with their place, but I knew Faith would want to make it her own on her own.

The loveseat, couch and recliner had found their home in the living room, along with the shelves and the coffee table. We had put the small desks and both the larger and smaller filing cabinets into the smaller of the two bedrooms.

The master bedroom was not particularly large and it didn’t have the walk-in closets that most pack house rooms and the larger family homes had; however, it fit the king size bed, nightstands, chest, and two dressers in the room with a decent amount of space left over to maneuver around the room.

Next up was the bathroom, again like with Mat and Cedric I simply made sure that the towels, bath mats, shower curtain, shelving, etc. had been put in place. Nothing they had brought with them had been moved over yet, as it would be impossible to do without raising their suspicions and I did not want to ruin the surprise.

It was much the same in the kitchen. Checking that utensils, dishes, cookware and supplies had all been stocked. I also checked the freezer and fridge to make sure it had been stocked. Jake and Faith tended to prefer to cook for themselves for breakfast and lunch rather than eat at the pack house, and dinner was hit or miss on that as well.

With one final walk through I confirmed that everything was ready for this afternoon and slipped out of the house, taking the same path back towards the pack house as I linked Tristan. *I’m just leaving Jake and Faith’s house. I’ll be up there shortly.*

*Ok, see you shortly Half-Pint.*

I stopped half way there, side tracked watching a group of younger pups from roughly 2-4 years old were playing out in one of the fields where some playground equipment had been set up and fenced off for the daycare’s use.

I grinned, listening to their laughter echo across the breeze as they played. One of them caught me watching and waved. I waved back, which then drew the other children’s attention as they all rushed the fence to wave. I laughed softly as some of them yelled at me to come play. I glanced at my watch, it was only 10:00a, so I walked across the grass, heading for the play area.

~Tristan~

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    “We can probably start doing thi-” I stopped mid sentence as Alyce came across our mindlink.

    *I’m just leaving Jake and Faith’s house. I’ll be up there shortly.*

*Ok, see you shortly Half-Pint.*

Once the link was closed, Brandon was waiting patiently for me to finish my previous though, chuckling at my dropping everything to speak with Alyce, “What I was saying was if we do this at the beginning of each month, for the month previous this will be a short task timewise and we will catch any discrepancies early on.”

“I agree. Aly on her way I take it?”

“She said she was just leaving Faith and Jake’s house.” I glanced at the clock, “It’s only 10:00a, perhaps we can find something for her to help us with when she arrives.”

“Maybe she’ll bring us a snack.”

“Seriously? It’s not like she’s going to stop at the kitchen and cook something randomly.” I laughed at him.

“I mean… Can you blame a guy for hoping the best cook around brings snacks?”

“I suppose not, but I wouldn't hold your breath.”

“Alright, the finances are done. What else can we do in a couple hour time frame?”

“Pack email inbox?”

“If we can’t finish it, we can at least put a dent in it.”

I opened the inbox for the general pack email, usually this held emails that consisted of event invites, transfer inquiries, anything that wasn’t urgent or confidential in nature. I started working my way through them, printing them out so that we could sort them into piles by priority.

About the time we had printed and sorted all 50 or so emails, I realized it had been half an hour and Alyce still had not arrived. I set the stack of emails aside and glanced at the clock.

Brandon gave me an odd look. “What’s up Alpha?”

“It’s been 30 minutes and Alyce still isn’t here.”

“Snacks?” His voice was hopeful, and playful, trying to lighten my mood as I was quickly settling into worry.

“Unlikely. Reach out to the kitchen Omegas, see if she is there.”

He nodded and his eyes glazed over. I stood and went to the french doors that led to the office balcony, looking out across the path between the pack house and Jake and Faith’s house. Nothing seemed out of place, and no alarms had been sounded.

I took a deep breath to keep myself calm and reached out to her. *Aly? Where are you? Are you ok? It’s been 30 minutes.*

I looked across the fields, trying to give her time to respond in case she was down in the kitchen cooking or something. I needed a distraction, even if only for a short time. I spotted some of the day care kids out in the play area as Brandon came up to stand beside me, “She’s not in the kitchen, Alpha. No one has seen her since she left for Jake and Faith’s this morning. Shall I send out people to look for her?”

I opened my mouth to answer yes since she still hadn’t responded, but a familiar figure caught my attention in the play area. “Ye- Wait a minute…” I opened the doors, walking out onto the balcony, I glanced at Brandon and pointed towards the play group. “Do you see what I see?”

He came to stand beside me, “Is that Aly? I nearly mistook her for one of the teens that helps out there.”

I nodded and laughed. “It is. That hair is hard to miss, even at this distance.”

“That’s the only way I knew it might be her and not actually one of the helpers.” Brandon snickered.

“Why don’t we finish these emails later. I have a Luna to fetch. We’ll see you later to welcome Mat and Cedric home.”

“Sounds good. See you then, Alpha.”

We both headed out of the office, him heading off in one direction, while I headed down stairs and out the back.