Chapter 191

Almara’s Pov

“Before you say anything, there’s more,” Arthur says, his eyes excitedly searching mine though I have no idea what mine are conveying back.

Arthur bought this house? Beneath the complete shock and awestruck beauty of the house is the nagging question of why he didn’t talk to me about this first. The old Arthur certainly wouldn’t have and would have done exactly this to swoon me- and it would’ve worked.

The Arthur that’s developed over the last five years would have brought it up to me. We would’ve housed hunted as a team and been involved with all the decision-making, co-creating our next steps.

Arthur moves in haste out of the car. I slowly grip the door handle and push my way out. Gravel crunches underneath the pressing weight of my foot. I stand and turn to face the house, the house that we now own. Only now do I become aware of the towering mountains set behind the back of the house.

They stand powerfully, hints of their purple rocks poke through the distance among the hazy clouds that surround them. The first thing that pops into my mind is how beautiful they must look in a thunderstorm.

“C’mon, you’re going to love it!” Arthur shouts from already halfway up the driveway. I peel my eyes off the gorgeous backdrop and go to meet Arthur. He wraps his arm around my waist and we walk onward together.

I’m thankful for his support because between the lack of food and the shock of what Arthur just told me, I’m not sure I could walk on my own.

We come up to the large double-set front doors which are bordered in a classy black wood. The windows framing the doors are purposely blurry so we can’t see inside yet.

“Arthur, dear! Over here,” I hear a chirpy woman shout from behind us. We turn and see a professionally dressed woman stride up the long driveway in pointed black heels, a pencil black skirt, a white blouse, and thick square red-framed glasses sliding down her nose.

“That’s the realtor.”

“You must be Almara!” The woman says and eagerly takes my hand in hers, “You are just as beautiful as Arthur describes. Oh, am I running your guys’s moment? I can come back. Here I’ll turn around,” The woman says, talking a mile a minute it’s hard to come up.

She turns on her heels and then puts her right hand in the air, “I’m not paying attention, I promise. Pretend I’m not even here,”

Arthur just laughs. “It’s okay Roxy, we’re glad you’re here. We’re eager to see the inside,” Arthur gives me a slight nudge and I nod. I’m not sure if eager is the right word. I don’t know how I’m feeling, really.

“Oh, you are going to die!” Roxy exclaims, boring her eyes into mine. I suppose that’s one word to describe how I feel.

Roxy pulls a long golden key from her skirt pocket and unlocks the door. She’s talking about how the previous owners had just updated the knobs or something, but her words get muffled as the door swings open and I’m greeted by the sound of a chorus of angels, and now I really think that maybe I have died.

It’s stunning. This is completely different than every other house Arthur had picked out over a year ago when we first started looking. The house still has its rustic farm charm, but with a modern twist.

The first thing I notice is the grand fireplace stretching all the way up to the tall ceilings met with exposed wooden beams. I imagine a day of hiking and hunting in the winter and then cozying up next to the fireplace.

The realtor is still talking, but my eyes are too busy scanning every well-thought-of detail of the house. There’s steel pots and pans hanging from the ceiling in the kitchen, just above the butcher-block island. “What do you think, so far?” Arthur asks leaning close to my ear.

My mind is blank and I fumble for the words. Then I notice the brick oven and I numbly go over to trace my hand along the rough surface. “Is this real?” I hear myself asking, not sure if I’m referring to the brick oven, the house in general, or my reality.

“I think she likes it,” I hear Arthur say with a grin. It was in that moment that I came to the full-blown realization that we are going to live here. We own this house! No more sharing a bedroom with our young daughter. No more having to be quiet during sex so we don’t wake my parents.

No more living with my parents! Tears spring to my eyes and I quickly turn to face the oven again to gain my composure. Just then the doorbell rings.

“Ah, the other surprise,” Roxy says in a sing-song kind of way. I whip around to face Arthur.

“There’s more?” I ask, my eyes wide. Arthur gives a slight shrug, feigning ignorance.

“Come on in, she’s right here,” I hear Roxy say, though I keep my eyes fixed on Arthur who smiles knowingly. A woman soon enters the room. She has wild curly hair that’s too big for her otherwise small frame.

“Almara,” She says and extends her hand. “You have a beautiful home,” She says and I laugh because hearing those words sounds ridiculous, even if it is true. “Are you ready to make it even more beautiful?” She asks and I cock my head to the side.

Her confusion meets mine and we both slowly turn to look at Arthur for answers, who appears to be enjoying this way too much. “I haven’t told her yet,” Arthur says.

“Ah, I see,” The woman says and now I’m the only one on the outside still not knowing what’s going on.

“Would you like to tell her?” Arthur says to the woman and she turns back to face me, her smile warm.

“Mrs. Covington my name is Amanda Rains and your wonderful husband, and our great Alpha, has hired me to be your personal interior designer,” She explains and I;m pretty sure my mouth is hanging open.

“You mean,” I manage to say and look between Amanda and Arthur they both look at me and nod and I laugh again, covering my hand to my mouth. “But this house is already so beautiful, I don’t know what I could possibly do to improve it,” I say looking around the place.

“You just make it your own,” Amanda says with a simple shrug.

“No,” I say and shake my head. “I’ll make it ours,” I say looking at Arthur as I do. Arthur comes to stand next to me and wraps his arm around my waist.

“Perhaps you can start with the bedroom, the previous owners started to redo that room and then gave up,” I wrap my arms around his neck and squeeze him so tightly if he were anyone else but the Alpha I’d be convinced I was snapping their neck.

“Yes. Yes. One thousand times yes,” I tell him as if I’m agreeing to marry him all over again.

I’m so overjoyed that I can almost ignore the small voice in my head that questions if this means we’re going to fall back into the billionaire lifestyle but this time with the money made from my school idea.