Page 97 of Holly Jolly Heat
She moved closer, and I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her against my chest. Through the bond, I felt her exhaustion, her relief, her love.
"Thank you," she murmured into my shirt. "For being my protector. Not just from physical threats, but from everything. For making me feel safe even when I was terrified. For believing I could do this when I didn't believe in myself."
"You've always been capable of this. You just needed to believe it."
"I'm starting to." She pulled back enough to look up at me. "Dex, I meant what I said in the stream. About our protocols, about Lucas's career coming first, about maintaining professional standards. I'm committed to doing this right."
"I know."
"But I'm also committed to us. To pack. To not sacrificing our bond to save my career." Her eyes were fierce. "If I have to choose, I choose pack. Every time. I need you to know that."
My chest tightened. "Michelle?—"
"I mean it. Tonight was about proving we can have both. But if the industry forces my hand, if I have to choose between career and pack?" She held my gaze. "I choose you. All of you. Without hesitation."
Through the bond, I felt her absolute certainty.
"You won't have to choose," I said firmly. "Because we proved tonight that both can work. That transparency and professionalism and pack bonds can coexist. You changed the conversation, Michelle. You made it possible."
"We made it possible. Together."
"Together," I agreed.
She stretched up and kissed me, deeper than the brief kiss in the kitchen, full of gratitude and love and relief.
When we finally pulled apart, she was smiling.
"Come inside," I said. "Your family wants to celebrate more. Lucas is telling embarrassing stories about me. Ro is actually laughing. You should be there."
"In a minute. I just need one more moment of quiet before I go back to chaos."
So we stood together on the porch, my omega wrapped in my arms, the cold Oregon night around us and the warm house at our backs.
She'd fought today. Had been brave when she was terrified. Had stood her ground and changed the industry.
And tomorrow, we'd do it all again. Would keep proving that pack and profession could coexist. Would keep fighting against anyone who threatened what we'd built.
But tonight, we'd celebrate.
Because tonight, we'd won.
And I'd watched my omega become the trailblazer she'd never wanted to be, but was always meant to be.
THIRTEEN
Michelle
I woke up to the best morning of my life.
Not because everything was perfect, my phone lovingly declared that I had 247 unread emails, three clients wanted emergency calls, and Matthew Malone had sent two more threatening messages overnight that Dex had flagged for documentation.
But because I woke up in a nest.
A real nest. The kind I'd been fighting my omega instincts about for years. The kind that said "pack" and "home" and "safe" in a way my carefully controlled bedroom never had.
We'd built it together last night after the celebration dinner wound down. Lucas had gathered every soft blanket in the house. Ro had arranged them with his artistic eye for composition. Dex had reinforced the structural integrity because of course he had. And I'd arranged and rearranged until the scents were perfectly mixed and my omega finally, finally settled.
Then we'd climbed in, all four of us, and slept tangled together in my childhood bedroom. With the door open, ofcourse. None of us were ready to risk my mother’s wrath, even if I was old enough to have kids of my own.
