Chapter Seventy-Two
Grace
Music played and people danced in the main garden under the lights to the band Wes had wanted. We’d finished dinner in the ballroom, but there was still a candy bar, a grazing table, a whiskey fountain, a chocolate fountain, and a full bar, complete with custom cocktails out in the garden.
Hope was running around in circles as if chasing sunbeams. Someone had let her eat way too much candy.
“What are you doing, Hope?” I asked.
She giggled. “Just playing with the cat.”
“Have fun.” I didn’t see a cat, but she was at the right age for imaginary friends.
“You look so beautiful. Thank you for inviting us,” Marcos’ dad, Antonio, stood there with his mate, the police sergeant.
“Thank you so much for coming.” I noticed a lot of people watching Antonio throughout the night, probably wondering how we knew such a famous actor.
“Thank you for making sure my son does his homework,” Antonio added with a laugh. I’d been doing a lot of math tutoring this year.
Marcos, Hiro, Kilroy, Riley, Rose, and Mercy had an entire tray of cupcakes and were sitting in a garden alcove.
“I’m glad everything ended well,” Sergeant Hawthorne told me.
“Me, too.” If he hadn’t called Lexi, I may never have found Wes.
We talked a little longer, then I went to find Evan and Wes. They were on the dance floor. But Verity stood in the corner with a glass of champagne, looking wistful.
“How’s my sister?” I put my arm around her waist. “I think Hope has an imaginary friend.”
“Oh, she’s at that age. Hale’s imaginary friend was a pink vampire giraffe named Bobo.” Verity laughed. “I’m so happy to be here. Just tired, with finals coming up.”
It was more than that. With Adriana in jail, Verity had taken on far too much responsibility.
Pippa had also become insufferable, micromanaging Verity’s time and being generally unpleasant.
Not only had Verity pretty much stopped modeling, but Pippa had made her reschedule her much-needed visit to see Creed and me twice because they needed her to take care of the little ones.
Verity had even dropped a class at Pippa’s demand so she could do school pickup.
The only reason she’d even made it to my bachelorette party was because I’d involved all my girl siblings so that Pippa couldn’t find a reason to keep Verity away. I’d just hired a babysitter for Tru and Hope for parts of it so we could have some ‘big girl’ fun.
“Hey, as soon as classes end for the semester, you’ll get to come out here. If Pippa tries anything, I’ll punch her in the tits. Creed and I have this.” I grinned at her.
“I’m looking forward to it.” She smiled at me, but fatigue shone in her blue-green eyes.
Verity watched Evan and Wes dance by. Evan waved at me, and I waved back.
“You’ll find someone, Verity,” I said softly. “You are amazing, and you’ll meet someone who will sweep you off your feet and treat you how you deserve.”
My sister was incredible and absolutely wasted on her parents, who never thought she was good enough. Which was stupid. One day, Verity was going to tell them to fuck off, but even then, I’m not sure anyone other than Nate and Harry would truly realize what they lost.
“You think?” Her look went wistful. “I’m not the traditional alpha.”
I don’t know why she thought that. Sure, she liked pastels, manicures, and romance novels. But why was that even an issue?
“There’s someone waiting for you, Verity,” I assured. Of course, it would help if she could date. But her parents were against that, too.
Even Creed, who was flourishing at Compass BioTek, and had made some great friends he’d moved in with, hadn’t dated. His ‘date’ tonight was his friend Inara.
“Sister, this wedding is amazing.” Hale came over, in his suit, cowboy boots, and cowboy hat, and rested his arm on my head. “I mean, that other party was great, but this one is better.”
“It’s like you were looking at my pin boards,” Verity laughed. “I’ll just hire your wedding planner because this is pretty much my dream wedding. I’d like to get married in a garden. Though I might like a champagne fountain instead of whiskey.”
“That was Wes’ idea,” I told her. It had been quite popular.
Hale shook his head. “I love it.”
“When you meet your giant omega and get married, I’ll help you have the wedding of your dreams, Verity,” I promised.
“What about me?” Hale laughed.
“You too,” I agreed. Hale getting a mate? Well, one day he’d mature and find a pack, I’m sure. Some day.
“Hi.” Tru came over to me, Hope in tow. “Hopey is tired.”
“Oh, I’m sure you are.” Verity picked Hope up.
Tru hugged me. “This is so fun. I can’t wait to come back for math camp this year.”
“Me, too. I’m looking forward to it.” I hugged her back. It was all set.
“There you all are.” Nate joined us. His vest and tie had chemical equations on them.
“Hi, Professor. Are you having a good time?” I’d seen him and Harry on the dance floor. Zain, the alpha I didn’t know well, had been grumpy and in the corner with Pippa most of the night, but Verity’s bio-mom Esme had gotten him dancing a couple of times.
“Oh, we are. We’ll probably be leaving soon. Are you sure Mercy’s okay with you?” Nate frowned.
“She’s fine. We love having her over. We’ll see you tomorrow afternoon for lunch,” I promised.
Okay, so Wes, Evan, and I had a hotel for the night.
But Mercy was staying at the house with everyone else.
In the morning, Spencer was taking Mercy to the ice rink because she was trying out for the Rockland Raiders discovery team.
If she made it, she’d have to move to Rockland, but I had absolutely no issue with her living with us, or Creed, and spending her last year of high school here.
Would they object? Probably. Though this could be her way into the pro leagues.
Honestly, getting Mercy away from the parents was the best way to help her become a professional skate smash player. Because she was good. So good that the Rockland Raiders had invited her to try out for a program that was mostly university students and fed right into the pro leagues.
If only we could get Verity away from them. That would probably have to wait until she finished her PhD, and we could get her a really great job, far away from them. Hale seemed okay. Dare was going to study music in the fall. We’d take care of the others as needed.
If Tru didn’t just move herself into our house at some point.
The professor and I would most likely always have a bit of a weird relationship.
However, having a therapist that I could tell everything to without fear was helpful.
Pippa, Zain, and Esme would probably never like me, because they saw me as the person who destroyed their pack.
Not to mention, Pippa still held Solomon and Abel putting the professor in danger against me.
Harry and I got along well enough, though.
While I loved all my siblings fiercely, Verity and I had become close. She was the best sister I could have wanted. Not only had she brought so many of her special omega lilies, but she’d created my very own rose for me as a gift. Something she started working on the moment she met me.
I also hadn’t had a seizure in six months.
“Grace.” Spencer joined us. “Hi, everyone.” He offered me his arm. “My good doctor, they’re playing our song.”
“Excuse us.” I waved and let Spencer bring me onto the floor, where we glided across it.
“You look like you’re having a great time.”
“I am.” Everything had gone perfectly. The ceremony. The pack confirmation. The dinner. Our dances.
While it was just Wes, Evan, and me tonight, the day after tomorrow the six of us were leaving for a pack honeymoon, which included using our pack plane for a visit to my beach house, as well as some time at a fancy resort of Brennan’s. I couldn’t wait.
Riley would stay with the sister pack, since she had school. She absolutely adored the babies. Then, Verity would come visit, and we’d have an amazing time.
“My turn.” Jett tugged me away from Spencer as the music changed.
“Hi.” I danced steps with him that had once been strange but were now so familiar they were second nature.
Brennan had meant it when he said that Spencer and I were now the face of the pack. Spencer and I went to a lot of parties, galas, and science dinners. Also, the virtual super collider project was fully staffed and in progress.
“I love you so much, Babydoll, you know that?” Jett’s head got close to mine as we danced.
“I love you, too.” Last summer, I’d married him and Brennan in a very private ceremony in the gardens of Volkov’s home. It was perfect for the three of us.
Just like tonight had been perfect for Wes, Evan, and me.
“Brennan and I will probably leave right after you three do. Spencer will stay as long as Riley and Mercy want, then bring them home,” he said. “I think Brennan’s social battery is about done.”
He was sitting in the corner holding his niece and talking to Katie, Rami, and his dad.
“We’ll be leaving pretty soon. Hale and Dare have our exit planned. They say it’s not fireworks and I am afraid,” I laughed.
We finished our dance and went off to see Brennan.
I slid onto his lap, careful of the baby. “Hi.”
“Hey, Little Butterfly.” He gave me a little squeeze.
“Hello, my sweet baby,” I told my niece. “Hi, my sweet baby’s parents and my sweet baby’s grandpa.” I grinned at Katie and Rami, who looked exhausted but happy, and Brennan’s dad.
“Everything was so beautiful,” Rami said.
“It really was. I was sniffling during the pack confirmation,” Katie agreed.
“There you are, come on.” Evan hauled me off Brennan’s lap.
I kissed Brennan and Jett. “Love you.”
Where were we going? He, Wes, and I had already made the rounds, talking to everyone, thanking them for coming.
Wes waited for us on the dance floor and the song changed.
“What?” I looked up at him, the tune familiar but unexpected.
“I gave them the song, and they learned it,” Wes said, as he and Evan danced with me.
It was the song from my world I’d once played for him and joked that we should dance to it at our wedding.
Given we had a live band, we chose something else.
I could write out sheet music for Kari and Dare, but doing so for a band was beyond me.
It never occurred to me to see if they could learn it by ear.
“You do realize that Mercy and Riley have uploaded a lot of your music to the internet, right?” Evan laughed.
“That’s fine with me.” While I’d never told Mercy I was from another world, I wouldn’t be surprised if she knew. Verity didn’t know, but Creed did.
Under the moon and twinkling lights, the three of us danced. “This is the best wedding present ever.”
“Yeah?” Evan’s eyes sparkled.
“Yeah. I’ll show you both how much at the hotel.” I gave them each a kiss.
“This is exactly what you wanted, right?” Wes asked, a little anxious.
“It’s everything I could want.” I kissed him again. We even had a photo booth. I looked at both of them. “You are everything I could want.”
I never knew that I needed five husbands until I came here.
We danced together to a couple of songs, then finally left the dance floor for a drink.
Dare, dressed in his usual Victorian rake glory, came over to us. “We’re ready when you are. We’ve got the exit distraction all ready.”
“Thank you.” I gave him a hug.
“No, thank you, Grace.” Dare hugged me tight. “Thank you for being the sister we didn’t know we needed.”
We went and got some lemonade. Then I found Verity and gave her one last hug. “See you, soon.”
“I can’t wait,” she replied.
Creed joined us and hugged me. “See you tomorrow.”
Suddenly, the sky lit up. Not with fireworks, but little lights. What?
“Who ordered the drone show?” Wes looked up in awe.
“That’s Hale’s distraction,” Creed replied.
“Incredible.” I tugged on Wes and Evan’s hands. “Let’s go.”
The three of us went back to the main building, but stood there in the doorway, watching the elaborate show, where the drones made hearts and our names.
Evan and Wes quickly helped me change. Brennan and Jett would bring our stuff and the gifts back to the house.
We went out to the parking lot. Spencer, Jett, Brennan, Riley, and Mercy waited for us by our motorcycles.
I hugged Mercy. “Good luck tomorrow. Also, thank Hale for me. How did he even do it?”
“He probably traded drugs for it.” Mercy shrugged.
“What?” Brennan’s eyebrows rose.
“He invented a party drug that gets past the university athletic drug test,” Mercy replied. “The parents were so proud of him that they look the other way as long as he doesn’t get caught.”
“Wow,” Jett muttered.
Yeah, that summed up their parents–proud of the one making party drugs, and hard on the one creating happy flowers.
“See you tomorrow.” I hugged Riley. “Thanks for helping to make our party fun.”
“Always. Mom.” Riley grinned.
I hugged her tighter. “You’re the best kid I could ever want.”
“Hey, don’t ruin it by being a sap,” she sniffled.
“It’s my wedding, I’m allowed to be a sap,” I replied.
“See you tomorrow, my good doctor.” Spencer kissed me.
Yeah, I was really looking forward to this trip so I could spend some quality time with all of them individually–and together.
Jett pulled me to him. “Have fun, Babydoll.”
“I will.” I gave him a kiss.
Brennan wrapped his arms around me and sent me so much love. Until we bonded, I hadn’t realized how hard he loved. I loved my good boy with all my might in return.
Pulling him down, I kissed him, too.
“I love all of you so much,” I told them, as Evan kissed Brennan and then Jett.
“Wait, is Wes riding in the sidecar?” Brennan frowned.
I caught the tiniest bit of hurt in the bond. Usually, I took him for rides in the sidecar, often with a chicken.
“Yes. But I’ll give you a ride tomorrow. Promise.” I kissed him again, sending him lots of love.
Wes stuffed himself into the sidecar and put on his helmet.
I put mine on and got on my motorcycle. Evan had his helmet on and got on his bike.
We were staying at the same hotel that Spencer and I had stayed at.
Originally, we’d planned on staying here at the estate.
But there had been some setbacks, and it wasn’t ready for overnight guests.
I waved as we drove off into the night. My pack. My mates. My loves. My everything.
They were everything I’d ever wanted and needed.
Who said dreams didn’t come true? After all, mine did.
The End
Thank you so much for reading Dream Pack and joining me on Grace’s journey.