Page 69 of The Awakened Wolf

The song changed to something faster and Sebastian picked up the pace, spinning me out with a smile. I whooped as I reached the end of our grasp and whirled back, hopping backward with the quick steps of the dance. We sashayed past Blaze, who’d been released as part of Sebastian’s Beta blitz. What surprised me and had me jigging my way back as quickly as I could, was a glimpse of Yara chatting with him, her eyes clear and gleaming, her mind now fully restored.

“Sooooo,” I said in Sebastian’s ear. “Would it be weird for your mother to re-mate with the male to whom I was betrothed at your mating ceremony with Kiana?” It took insane restraint to make it through that question without cracking the fluff up, but I lost it when Sebastian pulled a face.

“Yes,” he said, “that would be weird. But…”

I stopped laughing and raised an eyebrow. “Yes?”

“As long as she’s happy, and his pups keep her too busy to beg us for grandpups.”

“She already has dozens of grandpups.”

He laughed at this, though my joke had more truth than even he could imagine. My D-I-Y litter of human-borns needed quite a lot of attention in their adolescence. And because we shared the mind-meld, they could demand that attention when push came to shove. At least they were behaving themselves at the ceremony today. Maybe enlisting more of Yara’s help was a good idea…

“Regardless,” Sebastian said, “I’m down.”

“You’re down?” I said, smiling. “You’re so sexy when you talk 21st century to me.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s 20th century, hon,” Evan said, as he approached, holding a blushing Atlas’ hand. He turned to Sebastian, releasing Atlas long enough to fold my husband into half a bro-hug, replete with back-smacking.

Husband.

I would never get tired of saying or hearing that forbidden word.

I bit back a laugh as Sebastian and Evan pretended to wrestle, laughing and joking with Atlas like real brothers or best friends… best men, I thought, curling my toes in delight. It still felt as if this couldn’t be happening—I couldn’t be living the fairy tale movie ending that humans always got.

My eyes drifted back to Yara, and I corrected myself. This fairy tale had a few sobering dashes of reality. The absence of Max, in particular, was palpable. And though I tried to ignore it, the ghost of my sister’s wolf seemed to nip at my heels. I didn’t know if I’d ever be guilt-free about how things had turned out, even though our sacrifices—mine and Kiana’s—had been by choice.

Still, she seemed to be finding her way. If I gave her empathy, something I’d become more adept at since our reconciliation, I could admit that she’d never shied away from a challenge. Perhaps exploring a life that would be one hundred percent her own was the greatest adventure she could have.

As the dance ended, my gaze drifted to Kiana, who was standing by one of the buffet tables, being chatted up by Kenzo.

“For Leto’s sake,” Sebastian said, annoyed. “I love him to death, but when is K going to give up?”

“Should we go rescue her?” I said.

He nodded, turning to leave the dance floor, keeping my hand in his. I squeezed it and he squeezed back. It was probably silly, this little signal we’d worked out for ourselves. We could talk to each other without words. We could feel each other across a room, or a city, or if we leaned into it, across hundreds of miles. Why would we need this unspoken I love you? Because we weren’t just two wolves who were fated, we were two humans who chose each other. So we tell each other like humans.

Before we could get to Kiana, Aunt Moira swooped in. I couldn’t hear what she said, but Kenzo reacted as a fly would to a cloud of pesticide, swirling our way as he made his escape.

“It’s crazy that Moira and Kiana are the exact same kind of scary hot without being related,” he said, shooting a glare at the former over his shoulder.

“Blood’s not much, brother,” Sebastian said. “After all, you god Dad’s terrible sense of humor.”

At this, Kenzo lunged for Sebastian, attempting to get him in a headlock, and I left them to it, joining Kiana and Moira by the buffet. As I approached, I saw a look of pain ghost over Moira’s face and my heart squeezed. She claimed the documentary was all about the money, same as the show, but I saw the pain in her eyes and the hope. That something of my mother could return to her life.

I opened my mouth, thinking to say something about how much her presence meant to me, when Moira stepped forward and cleared her throat. “Congratulations, Elyse,” she said curtly, turning to Kiana. “Think about it, okay?”

Kiana nodded, her eyes darting away from mine, and Moira walked away.

“What was that about?” I said, smiling.

“Nothing. It’s not important to talk about today,” Kiana said.

“Seriously,” I said. “You can tell me anything.”

Kiana bit her perfect matte red lip. She’d chosen a lovely lilac sheath dress that softened her toned form. She sighed. “I guess there are no secrets between us anymore. She offered me the same thing she offered you, Elyse.”

My mouth dropped open. “You? In Hollywood?” My mind raced, imagining my sister, who’d never watched a movie, trying to make her way in Hollywood. With her overconfidence and fierce surety. Her keen eye and no-nonsense way of handling things…

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