Page 124 of Heroes & Hitmen
Archer blinks. Then, slowly, a smile spreads across his face. “No shit?”
“Yup,” Ares confirms smugly, planting himself beside me on the couch and slinging an arm over my shoulders. “We sealed the bond last night and everything. We’re out of the Alpha’s crosshairs, so our plan is to stay here until my contract ends, then come back to Stillwater in the spring.”
“Damn,” Archer breathes, rising so fast that the picture on the screen jolts wildly. “Give me a sec.”
The picture continues to wobble, joined by the muffled sound of voices as he hustles into another room. A moment later, the frame shifts again, now showing a cozy living room where a whole group is gathered. Ares points out his parents Reid and Serena, both sporting warm smiles, his sister Andie who can barely contain her excitement, and his sibling’s mates, Nash and Meredith. They all crowd around, saying some version ofhiorwelcome to the familyorwe’ve heard so much about you, the warmth in their voices hitting me in a place I didn’t even know was hollow.
For the next few minutes, I’m bombarded with questions– nothing invasive, just the kind that let me know they’re excited and curious and ready to claim me as one of their own. Serena tells me she can’t wait to host a family dinner with all her kids and theirmates. Reid gives a subtle nod like I’ve passed some silent test. Nash and Archer joke about betting money on when Ares would finally settle down. Meredith asks about my favorite books, already trying to rope me into her local book club, and Andie says she can’t wait to take me out dancing.
I just sit there, smiling and laughing and trying not to cry.
By the time the call ends, my chest feels warm and stretched wide open. I pass the phone back to Ares carefully, like it’s something sacred, and he nudges my foot with his.
“You okay?”
I nod, unable to say much more. Because for the first time in a long time, I don’t just feel claimed.
I feelwanted.
I didn’t just find a mate, I found a family.
And the best part?
This is only the beginning.
CHAPTER 39
Ares
Ten Months Later
Graduation ceremonies area special kind of torture, and that’s not just my opinion– it’s science. Thousands of people crammed into an auditorium for hours on end, sweating through formalwear, clinging to program pamphlets like they’re lifelines, all while trapped on plastic folding chairs listening to names mispronounced over a spotty PA system. It’s a full-blown endurance trial, and I should know– I’ve been trapped in this seat for what feels like a hundred years. My knees are cramped, one leg is asleep, and I’ve lost feeling in my left ass cheek.
I’ve been counting the names like a prisoner marking the days on a cell wall. There are, conservatively, six million graduates, but only one that matters.
I scan the program for the fifth– okay, maybe eighth– time, eyes snagging on the only name on the page I give a damn about. I run a finger over the ink, thinking about everything it took to get her here– late nights, early mornings, the small matter of a public mate challenge that’ll be whispered about in pack gossip circles for decades. Not to mention surviving my relentless campaign to convince her to add some protein to her diet rather than just loading up on sugar all the time. I mean, we still disagree on that one, but I’ve won a few battles.
I feel like I’ve earned this seat.
The air is hot, thick with the electric hum of pride and anxiety.A thousand families hold their breath in anticipation, some of them shifters like us, tucked quietly among the humans. I recognize a few Chicago pack members scattered throughout the crowd, seamlessly blending in.
In the rows of graduates, Miley’s dark blonde hair catches my eye, styled in soft, shiny curls with a white satin bow tied beneath the edge of her cap. Elegant. Effortless.That’s my mate.
The dean sounds like he’s lost his will to live as he drones through the list, stumbling over every fifth name, but the audience perks up like clockwork each time they hear one of their own. Every outburst is a little firework of pride– a dad whistling like he’s at a hockey game, a mom sobbing into her phone screen. It makes me grin, because when they get tohername? I’m gonna blow the damn roof off this place.
She made me promise not to make a scene, which is cute. She knows damn well I’m gonna do it anyway. There’s no universe where I’ll be anything but the loudest asshole in the room when they announce my girl.
Sitting here gives me too much time to think. Not about the graduation ceremony itself, but aboutus. About everything we’ve clawed our way through to get here.
It’s been almost a year since we blew up the plan and stuck the landing. Ten months of Miley cramming to finish her degree, me playing nice while working for her father. We don’t see Gage much, which is honestly ideal. We’ve managed to slip by under his radar, just the way we like it.
We still live in the same apartment in the Tower where the lies started and the truth took over. We get regular visits from Miley’s sisters, and Will drops by from time to time to regale us with stories about the women he’s scorned. But mostly, it’s just us, in our own little world high above the city.
It’s not all sunshine and sex. We argue. We piss each other off. But most days, we’re solid, and that’s what counts. Most days, she lets me make her breakfast, and I let her pretend she isn’t slowly turning me into a morning person.
The dean finally hits the R’s, and I snap to attention.Here we go.
Miley took my last name when we got married a few months back. Most mated pairs in her pack do the whole human marriage thing to blend in, so I figured why the hell not? I made a whole thing of it– a sparkly ring, a surprise proposal on the beach,champagne, the works. Then we were at the courthouse the following week, changing her name from Beckett to Raines. And yeah, it’s just ink on paper. Butfuck, hearing it aloud? It never gets old.
