Page 80 of Holly Jolly Heat
"Isn’t that the definition of menace?"
But Michelle was smiling, and I could feel her happiness through the bond, nervous but genuine.
We settled in the kitchen with hot chocolate, and I watched my pack interact with Michelle's family. Lucas and Josh were discussing stream strategies. Dex and Bill were comparing recipes. Maya was interrogating Michelle about "how the kissing went" until Michelle threw a dish towel at her.
This was pack. Not just the four of us, but the family we were building around us.
"Ro." Michelle appeared beside me, her hand finding mine. "Thank you."
"For what?"
"For being patient. For seeing me clearly. For not giving up even when I was being impossible."
"You weren't impossible. You were scared. There's a difference." I squeezed her hand. "And I'd wait a lifetime for you, Michelle. We all would."
"I'm really glad you didn't have to wait that long."
"Me too."
She leaned against my shoulder, and I wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close.
Through the bond, I could feel her contentment. Her happiness. Her lingering fear, yes, but also her hope.
We still had challenges ahead, the professional side, going public, navigating the industry's response. But for right now, in this moment, we were just pack.
Complete.
Home.
And that was everything.
ELEVEN
Michelle
We made it approximately three hours as a bonded pack before everything went to hell.
Three blissful hours of lunch with my family, where I sat between Lucas and Ro while Dex helped Bill clean up, and Maya made increasingly inappropriate comments about pack dynamics that made me throw bread rolls at her. Three hours of casual touches and shared glances, of feeling my alphas' emotions through the burgeoning bond like a constant warm presence in the back of my mind.
Three hours of thinking maybe, just maybe, everything was going to be okay.
Then my phone rang.
I was at the dining table with my laptop, trying to catch up on the work I'd been neglecting while having emotional breakthroughs. Lucas was in the living room setting up for his afternoon stream, another cozy building session, his viewers eating up the Cedar Falls content. Ro was outside filming B-roll of the property in the afternoon light. Dex was doing his routine security checks that were probably unnecessary but made him feel useful.
Pack life. Domestic and perfect and exactly what I'd been terrified to want.
Until I saw the caller ID.
Matthew Malone. CEO of Velocity Media Management.
My stomach dropped. Matthew Malone didn't call to chat. Matthew Malone called when he smelled blood in the water.
I almost didn't answer. But ignoring Matthew Malone was never a good strategy, it just gave him more time to sharpen his knives.
"Michelle Rodriguez-Williams," I answered, keeping my voice professionally neutral.
"Michelle! Matthew Malone. I hope I'm not catching you at a bad time." His voice was warm, friendly, completely false.
