[Carmen]Rock and I had a little trouble getting out of the house in the morning. We were still working out our morning routine without Gemma and Austin to help with the animals and everything else. It was funny, but we got out of the house in time to get to work before the weekly meeting.He asked me to join the meeting because he had something to announce before going over the schedule for the spring projects and assignments. Rock led me into the meeting room and settled me in my chair.As they came in, all the guys greeted me. I smiled and returned their greeting. I was grateful that Orella told us hiring Gray and Cam would help keep the men from playing a nasty trick on me. There were little pranks here and there, but nothing as dangerous as what she had warned about.Seeing the boys talking to me and treating me like a big sister made the other men open themselves up to me more. I’d even helped some of them with relationship issues. It really felt like we were all friends and I loved that.“Alright, it looks like everyone’s here. So, first, I want to say good job to everyone on the work for the Master of the territory. It looks like we’ll be wrapping that project up in the next two months. This spring is a little light because we were able to get a couple of projects done early now that we have more people year-round.“That being said, I have a charity project I want to get done soon. It will require up to a month. This will be time you donate to the project. I can’t pay you for it, but I’m only asking a couple of hours a day from you to get this set up,” Rock said.I tilted my head. We hadn’t talked about a project like this. I didn’t know what he was getting at.“What’s the project?” Tripp asked.“There’s a warlock living in a house that’s held together by magic. It’s not safe, and he recently took in someone who was attacked by that creature that was killing homeless humans. I believe he intends to keep her there, and it’s not safe. We’re installing the manufactured home I was living in while we were building my house. I want to build a pad for it, set up a well and septic, and get it put in on his land for him,” Rock answered.With a small gasp, I clasped my hands over my heart. I knew Rock barely tolerated Rhett, and he didn’t like goblins, so he didn’t really like Dolly, but he was willing to help them out with this. He was so kind and sweet. I knew he was doing it for me, so I wouldn’t worry about her.“What do we do about electricity? I’m guessing he doesn’t have any if he’s that far off the grid,” Phipps, one of the other shifters, questioned.“I’ll take care of that. Plausible deniability. None of you need to know how I’m going to get them electricity.”“Why should we give up our time for some warlock?” Dell, one of the trolls, asked.“Because he’s giving up his time to help take care of the cult issue in town. It’s a threat to all of us and we’d be in debt to him. The fae, the free shifters, the rogues, even the pack would be in debt to him. If we did this, then the vampires and witches would be on their own to repay him, but we wouldn’t have to worry about it,” Rock replied.“Since I’m in a relationship with the Master of the territory… kind of… it could count as coming from him. I can probably get Victor to help with something. I have friends that are witches, but their leader is a bitch,” Gray added.Some men jeered when he said he was in a relationship with the Master of the territory. He was embarrassed, and I knew it. I was betting Victor and Echo had no idea Gray saw it like that. It was sweet of him to include Victor in how he saw their relationship. He didn’t just see it as sharing Echo.“There’s a patch of woods that is rumored to be cursed. All of us know it. We were all raised with the stories of disappearances. Tales of people going in and coming out exactly where they went in, even though they never turned, and the campers who were frightened away. That is where his home is.“I could feel the energy of his magic while I was there this weekend. I did a little research yesterday and found a perfect patch for laying down everything. It’s got a very narrow, disused road. Since this is a magically protected land, we should be safe to use all our abilities,” Rock explained.“That should make it a lot faster,” Dell said.“Yeah. I have the stuff we’ll need for the well and the septic. They’re older models that were left over from a job a couple of years ago. I don’t think he’ll mind, though,” Rock told them.The men were talking among themselves. They were talking about timeframes. Apparently, the abilities of trolls were a lot more than I knew. Others were chatting about their magics as well.“You know, if we could use all of our magic and push our other jobs off for a few days, we could have this done in about two days,” Tripp suggested.“I wouldn’t be paying you guys for those two days. That was why I was asking for time after work,” Rock replied.“If we aren’t in debt to a warlock anymore, then I think it’s worth it. Goddess only knows what he could demand. This is tens of thousands of dollars worth of work that he obviously has never had the chance to get. Queen Maeve would approve.”“I got it! Echo can move the house! She can use her magic to move it and that would cover the vampires’ part of it,” Gray added.“Can she move something that big?” I asked.“I don’t know…. We can start with the smaller things. I’ll call Echo to come and we’ll take her with us, then she can move the smaller pieces with her ability.”“If she can’t, I can call in some favors to get a truck and crane. It might be a few days, though,” Rock added.“I’ll start calling the people who were expecting the crews today and tomorrow,” Viola said. “I’ll go to the storage place and start cleaning the house.”“Sounds like we have a plan,” Rock said proudly. “Everyone, get your things together. If Echo can’t move the house, I’m going to have the ogres, orcs, and trolls work on clearing the trees from the sides of the road so the house will fit. Remember, it’s a single wide, so it won’t need a ton of room.”The meeting broke up and everyone started getting ready to go. Rock took me to our office, and I stopped moving while gripping his hand once we were in the door. He didn’t pull away, instead turning and taking my other hand.“What’s wrong, little wolf?” he asked.“Are you really doing this so we won’t owe him anything?”“Viola, can you make those calls from the lobby phone?”“Sure thing, boss,” she replied, and I heard her leave, closing the door behind her.Rock pulled me over to his desk, sat down, and pulled me into his lap. He caressed my face gently.“No. I’m doing this for you. I don’t want the goblin girl, but I can see how much you feel for her. It’s not that I don’t understand that she’s a child. I get it. She might be different. I’m doing this because of you and how much you care. If he’s going to take care of her, then we’re going to help him.“The manufactured home I used to live in had three bedrooms with two bathrooms that was modified to be tall enough that I could stand up straight. I used one of the rooms as an office and the other as a workshop. It’s not huge, but they’ll each have their own space, there will be running water, and I’m going to make sure they have electricity. It has a stove and a refrigerator. There’s a little laundry room, but no washer and dryer.“This is the most I could do to ensure the girl was taken care of. Will you stop worrying about her so much, now? She will have a safe and comfortable place to live with a powerful and slightly evil parent who actually seems to care for her.” Rock explained.“What about finding her family?” I asked. “If we don’t find them, she’ll need a place to stay. If we take care of it now, then we don’t have to try later. Trust me. I’m doing what I can to make you feel better about the girl’s situation.”I smiled and kissed him. This was more for me than for her, but she would benefit from it. My mate was better to me than I could ever imagine. I never thought he would do something like this. It would actually end up costing him because of the two days when none of his men would work at any of the places that were expecting them.“Can I come help?” I asked.“Could you actually go with Viola to help clean? When we start, it will be hectic and you might get hurt. I know you and Viola work well together, and she won’t have to do everything herself this way.”“You trust me to clean without someone to watch over me?”“Security measures are in place at the storage facility to prevent unauthorized access. No one would ever guess you were going there. Viola is a warrior, and I know she will help take care of any issues. Plus, you can do your half form now and I bet you and Blanche can kick some ass together,” Rock purred as he kissed along my jaw, down to my neck.“Not in the office,” I scolded half-heartedly.“My little wolf is so cruel,” he murmured as he maneuvered me to straddle him and started nibbling my neck.“Rock,” I sighed and tried pushing out of his arms.He held me tight and chuckled at my struggles as he continued nibbling at me. I gripped his shirt as he started moving his hips under me. Rock was certain that one day he would convince me to do something in the office. I was fine with fooling around a little, but I had firm boundaries.I leaned forward and bit down on where my mark was on his shoulder. Rock groaned. I grabbed one of his ears and pinched it, making him hiss.“I give. Stop!”Letting him go, I gave him a quick peck on the lips and climbed off of his lap. I leaned over him, pressing my forehead to his.“I’ll reward you tonight. Not before.”Rock growled but didn’t pull me back onto him. I loved that he desired me so much. He was always willing to respect my boundaries, even if he played like he wasn’t going to. Some people didn’t because they thought their mate wanted what they did, even if they said differently.We went back out to the lobby to split up rides and organize everything. The mood in the office was very excitable. Even Forrest was going to go help. I knew why the fae workers were excited. They were doing something for their queen, but everyone else seemed to be infected with the mood.Viola and I collected the cleaning stuff from the supply closet and Austin came to help, telling us he would help with the cleaning. The three of us could definitely get an empty manufactured home cleaned fairly quickly. After that, we’d head to the site and help with whatever we could. I couldn’t wait.