Page 91 of Depraved
Fluffy appears off to the side in my line of sight, and I’ve never seen a wolf look so smug.
I ignore her as I tell him, “I never once dreamed of this life … but I also never dreamed I could be this insanely happy.”
Black’s eyes shine with unspoken emotions as he leans up and puts a hand in my hair. He kisses me fiercely before pulling back just enough to whisper against my lips, “Thank you for choosing me.”
“Always,” I tell him. And I mean it. I will always choose him and Jonah. Forever. “You do suck at the wooing part of things, though. Might want to read up on that.”
“Alphas don’t woo.”
“This one’s gonna need to,” I tell him. “Because betas …oh,they know how to woo.” I might be stretching the truth here a little bit, but whatever. It’s for a good cause. My spoiled future. “You don’t want to be outdone, do you?” I wink playfully as I see Black’s expression grow fierce, that competitive alpha streak coming to life.
“Oh, I’m gonna woo the shit out of you, woman.”
I laugh. “I can’t wait to see you try.” This will either be really good, or really bad. Either way, it will be fun.
Black pulls me in for another long kiss, and things have the potential to go in a very naughty direction, but Jonah ruins the moment by waking, stretching, and yawning loudly and announcing, “I have to piss.”
I pull back from the kiss and start to giggle, and I can’t stop. Black ultimately slides me off his lap and gets up, following Jonah out of the room as I laugh myself into hysterics because, of course, Black and I can’t have one uninterrupted romantic moment.
The moon goddess wouldn’t allow it.
The rest of the day passes quickly as we prepare for the ceremony to open the new pack house. Energy is high, and the elites are practically bouncing off the walls, ready to have a new place to start their pack hunts, and also eager to introduce Jonah around to their friends.
Pluto ran his mouth before he left town, and everyone knows about Jonah’s newfound ability to monster out. He has had to fend off daily fight requests from alphas and betas alike. The elites want to train with him. Betas want him to trainthem—hoping his magic will rub off on them. He indulges them sometimes, but he’s been busy working on construction equipment for the most part—learning how to repair bulldozers and backhoes while we get the pack house rebuilt better than ever.
Black—after his office (which he destroyed while he thought he was going to give me up to marry Jonah) was repaired—has been flying back-and-forth to the southern annex to iron out the pack merger some more. Without Thomas and most of his Dark Night wolves around to stir up trouble, most of the other wolves have acquiesced to the new shifter world order.
Meanwhile, I’ve been preparing for this ceremony.
I’m more than a little nervous. Class presentations have never been my thing, so a few thousand shifters all at once? Well, the idea of speaking to all of them has me wearing trails into the hall carpet as I practice my speech for the millionth time.
Finally, as the sun is setting, it’s time to go.
Matthew drives all of us, and even though he’s human, Black gave him permission to stay for the dedication. Partly, I think, because I might puke, and none of the alphas or their precious new beta elite are going to want to clean that up.
Still, the old man has a smug grin as he holds the limo door open and takes my hand.
“Why are you so excited?”
“Well, first of all, Warcraft is coming tonight, so he’s officially mended. And, secondly, because I bet those elites like a grand that you’ll get through your speech without a hitch.” His tone turns as serious as Liam Neesan’s inTaken. “Donotlet me down.”
I shake my head at him, unintimidated by his antics. “I’m tempted to trip and land on my face just so you lose the cash. It would get you back for all that wedding bullshit.”
“That wedding bullshit turned into an excellent pack party night, I’ll have you know. It was too late to cancel the catering after you went into heat, so everyone else had a wonderful time.”
“Good for them.”
“Except for the cake. You picked a shitty cake.”
I shrugged. “What can I say? I’m petty, and I thought it would punish Black and his sweet tooth.”
He sighs and shakes his head.
My focus turns from him to the shiny new building in front of us, the new pack house. It’s three stories and even bigger and grander than the last one and looks like it belongs on the cover of a skiing magazine or Restoration Hardware.
The sight of it fills me with pride because I know the pack has been working their asses off to get it ready. Over six hundred shifters have contributed in some way, shape, or form to building it. It’s been a unifying project for the pack, a cathartic one for those who lost somebody. And it’s a symbol of our resilience. The Lobos do not give up.
I pull open the double doors at the entrance and step into the massive, log-cabin-style main room. A three-story river rock fireplace looms at the far end, with a stage set next to it for tonight’s speeches.
