Page 96 of Holly Jolly Heat
"If he tries anything else, we need a paper trail. Send it to me."
Michelle did, and I immediately backed it up to secure storage.
"Matthew Malone can try whatever he wants," I said. "We beat him once. We'll beat him again."
"Together," Ro added.
"As pack," Lucas finished.
Through the bond, I felt Michelle's exhaustion, her relief, her lingering fear, but also her hope.
She'd done it. We'd done it.
Janet appeared in the doorway with champagne. "I'm assuming from the emotions I'm sensing that it went well?"
"The ethics committee closed the inquiry," Michelle said, her voice slightly dazed. "The industry response so far is overwhelmingly positive. We... we actually pulled this off."
"Of course you did. Because you're brilliant and you had your pack beside you." Janet started pouring champagne into glasses Bill had brought. "To Michelle. Who changed the industry and protected her pack and refused to let fear win."
"To Michelle," we echoed, raising our glasses.
She looked at us, her pack, her family, all celebrating her courage, and I watched through the bond as her fear finally, fully transformed into something else.
Pride. In herself. In what she'd accomplished. In what we'd accomplished together.
"Thank you," she said quietly. "All of you. For standing with me. For believing this could work. For not letting me give up when I was scared."
"Always," I said simply.
Because that was pack. Standing together. Fighting together. Winning together.
And tonight, we'd won.
Two hours later, after celebration dinner and family chaos and approximately seven thousand text messages, I found Michelle on the back porch.
She was wrapped in the blanket I'd given her as a courting gift, looking out at the snow-dusted yard, her breath pluming in the cold air.
I joined her silently, and for a moment we just stood together.
"You should be inside celebrating," I finally said.
"I needed air. Space to process." She glanced at me. "How are you doing? I've been so focused on my own panic that I haven't checked on you."
"I'm fine."
"Dex. Really."
I considered the question. How was I?
"Proud," I admitted. "Of you. Of how you handled tonight. Of your courage." I paused. "And relieved. I knew you were capable, but watching you actually do it? Watching you stand your ground and refuse to back down? That was something else."
"I was terrified."
"I know. I felt it through the bond. But you did it anyway."
"Because I had you all beside me. Because I knew you were monitoring for threats, Ro was controlling the visual narrative, Lucas was supporting me on camera." She turned to face me fully. "Because I knew my pack had my back."
"Always."
