Page 21 of His Treasured Mate

“The storm has passed. We're heading up to assess the damage. There could be some needing to stay in the shelters a bit longer.”

“I'm coming.”

I followed him out to the main room. People were still waking up. They all looked exhausted.

Thomas waited for me at the bottom of the steps and then the two of us took the lead heading up and out of the shelter.

Outside, the wind had died down and the rain had stopped. The sun was even beginning to peek out through the clouds, but my heart nearly stopped at my first look of the damage caused by the storm.

Trees were down and debris was everywhere. It was a mess.

My heart sank.

“Shit. This is worse than I thought,” Thomas confessed as he ran a hand through his hair.

We walked mostly in silence through Collier, taking inventory of the extensive damage. It was devastating to see. Tears pricked my eyes as we walked through downtown Collier.

Thomas must have sensed how upset I was because he slowed down and moved to my side, wrapping an arm around me.

“It's going to be okay,” he assured me.

I nodded. I had no words to speak. Me. Speechless. That wasn't a common occurrence. I always had something to say about everything, but this was too much.

“Let's check out the house and if it's okay then you should rest. We’ll bring the girls home too. Okay?”

“Thomas, I'm fine,” I tried to assure him.

“Slugger, we're just taking an assessment right now and making lists of the damage.”

“I need to know how bad it truly is.”

I wanted to beg him not to keep me in the dark. No matter how hard it was and how much it hurt, I needed to see it.

“Okay,” he conceded.

Linking our hands together, we walked side-by-side. There were others with us, too. Cole and Lizzy had notebooks to document everything. She would work with the insurance companies to get the money needed to rebuild or repair. Luke and Sydney were there too. Luke was going to oversee the construction where needed. Together we were going to rebuild our community.

As the day went on, people were out everywhere helping to clear debris and put temporary fixes into place where damage occurred.

A sob escaped me as I watched them all work together. This was more than a community, and it was more than friends and family coming together. This was Pack. My Pack. I had never felt prouder to be Pack Mother of Collier than in that moment, and I was overwhelmed by the emotions of it all.

“Slugger, are you okay?” Thomas asked.

“Yes. I'm just so proud of our Pack right now. We could be wallowing in despair but instead, look at them, Thomas. Everyone's pitching in. Those whose houses are fine are making meals and putting up those displaced. It's just really amazing to witness.”

“We're Pack. This is what we do for each other.”

“I know, but . . .” I sniffed. “It's just amazing to witness it all in action.”

We hadn't even checked on our home yet. It wasn't important.

The Alpha House was fully intact. Cora and Zach had taken the girls to stay with them there. Actually, they had all their grandkids, or at least the ones living in Collier, for a big cousins’ party with plans for a sleepover. Knowing my girls were safe and happy through this was a huge burden lifted from my shoulders.

“Since we increased the overall insurance coverage for everything in territory, this should be an easy claim. They aren't going to like it, but I will see to it that they pay and not shortchange us for anything,” Lizzy insisted.

“Honestly, as we're removing the debris, the actual damage is not as bad as we originally thought,” James insisted.

“He's right. It looks worse than it is,” Luke confirmed.