Chapter 0379

Sunday morning saw our friends depart after breakfast. Seraphina and Evelyn couldn't stop gushing about the garden, already placing orders for the upcoming harvest. The market idea was gaining traction - Victoria and Cassandra were sketching plans for an open-air stall on our developing main street.

The hens Grace, Lillian, and Donovan brought in seemed content in their new coop. We'd assigned some responsible teens to care for them daily. Thirty hens to start, but knowing Lillian, she'd already be calculating how many more we'd need. Any surplus eggs would become another revenue stream for the pack.

Monday brought Donovan and his construction crew. We'd restructured the pack into rotating six-hour shifts to maintain operations while rebuilding. Leopold and I spent Sunday afternoon reorganizing teams - construction crews alternating with patrols and pack duties. Even non-shifters had roles now.

Leopold insisted on patrol rotations despite being human. His Alpha instincts proved invaluable - he'd spotted three perimeter breaches already. Meanwhile, I'd put him in charge of training our non-shifting members in archery and knife-throwing. After the hunter attacks, we weren't taking any chances.

Donovan and I handled morning combat drills for the main pack, while Leopold joined me afternoons for advanced warrior training. By nightfall, I barely had energy to pull my mate close before collapsing into exhausted sleep.

Two weeks of relentless work saw progress. Five houses stood completed except for final touches. Using my first paycheck from Sebastian, I'd bought paint - letting each family choose their colors. Some purchased their own, personalizing their spaces further. The pack's exhaustion couldn't dampen the palpable excitement that had lingered since our inauguration.

With the demolition complete, Donovan's crew turned to the hospital. Seraphina oversaw every detail - designing treatment areas for everything from childbirth to long-term care. Her medical expertise shaped the entire layout.

I reviewed finances before our trip to Blackthorn to meet Oberon. The Fae King had been documenting Guardian history for centuries - yes, centuries. The ancient monarch's knowledge could prove invaluable.

Sebastian's payment plan worked perfectly. By staggering supply orders, we'd nearly repaid the loan already. More pack members proposed business ideas daily - a promising sign for our future.

On departure day, Isolde and I double-checked preparations. Our hunters supplemented Grace's grocery haul - eggs now a breakfast staple thanks to her hens. Rosalind had begun preserving harvested fruit into jams, while Seraphina stocked the hospital with her earnings.

Lillian used her wages to buy fabric - Isabella had sewn her, Felicity, and Leopold much-needed new clothes. Everywhere I looked, the pack was stitching itself together tighter than Isabella's finest quilts.