Page 221 of Juliet & Her Romeos

Because despite what Ambrose thinks, he was never the shadows that I should fear.

Together, we shine bright.

When I kiss Swan, I tell him all of this in the press of my lips and the way that our tongues dance like we’ve known each other for a lifetime and will for every lifetime.

Swan fumbles behind him, pressing something on his phone, which is lying on top of the piano.

All of a sudden, the happy, bouncy indie anthem “There She Goes” by The La’s bursts through built-in speakers throughout the room.

“Thereshegoes.” Swan reverentially brushes a curl behind my ear. My breath catches at the intensity of his gaze. His sweet and sharp scent of lemons and strawberries winds around me. “My Ash Queen.”

“My Feathers.”

Swan bares his canines, grabbing me around the waist and swinging me into the middle of the ballroom.

Swan grins. “I bring the party music.”

“Isn’t this Vito’s playlist?”

“Pfft, I’m still the party Beta.”

“The ego Beta.”

“ThegodlyBeta.”

I laugh, as Swan dips me, then pulls me close against his hard chest. My breathing becomes ragged. His hot breath is against my neck.

He dances with me like we’re just a normal couple in a club, despite the fact that neither of us have been inside one before.

“We’re truly like ordinary people now.” Swan’s beaming with joy. “This room looks like a fairy tale.”

Nothing’s perfect.

But this, right now…?

Being bonded to these men is my fairy tale come true.

I glance out of the window.

In the dark, I can make out the Romeo and Juliet marble statue, which Ambrose had moved from the academy.

I smile, softly.

The statue is Felix and Nova’s monument — to the bravery of two dancers who dared to break free and love.

They’re at peace now, and seeing that statue bringsmepeace.

Finally, in the arms of my protective pack, I can sleep.

Beyond it, I can make out the arched roof of the cottage, where Ambrose’s rescued Beta dad, along with Olivia’s other Betas and Omegas, now live.

Watching Ambrose meet them again, after years separated, was beautiful and painful.

When Ambrose showed his dad the ballroom and told him that he had the freedom to dance there whenever he wanted but also to become an instructor at the academy as well, his dad fell to his knees and wept.

Then he danced in this same space that Swan and I am now.

Except, it was like a sudden rebirth of his soul, a coming to life.

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