Chapter 33 #2
The aroma of grilled meat mingled with smoke floated under the deepening sky.
I let it wash over me, trying to shove down the sense of doom that had followed me since we’d brought Juliet home from Costa Rica.
She was my world, the wild heart I couldn’t live without, but trouble stuck to Iron Valor like glue.
I knew better than to underestimate what we were dealing with.
My jaw clenched as I moved across the lawn.
Everywhere I looked, pack members were wrapped up in the freedom we’d fought to protect.
Groups stood in clusters with food and drinks, smiling and alive under the fall sun.
Someone let out a whoop as a beer spilled, and I caught myself almost smiling at the sound.
My gaze landed on Juliet again. Her golden hair fell like a halo around her shoulders in the light.
She was the same storm that hit me the day we met at that bus station, and my soul burned to keep her even while I braced for the next gust of wind.
I made my way over, determined to hold her like I could keep the whole damn world at bay.
Her eyes lifted as I neared, that untamed spirit blazing from her in waves.
“Was starting to think you weren’t gonna make it back to the party,” she said, hands resting on her hips like she’d been waiting just for me.
“Wouldn’t miss it,” I replied. I pulled her into me, drowning in the rightness of it. Her laugh spilled through the night again, and I drank it in like a man starved.
We swayed slow to the muted music, her warmth flooding through me. I held her like a lifeline, and she molded against me, fierce and mine in a way that still shocked me breathless. Her scent of ginger and sugar wrapped around me, drowning out everything else.
I knew there was a storm coming, but life was like that. We’d face the storms as they came, and we’d stand strong. “Juliet,” I said, and there was a warning in it I didn’t want to put there.
She looked up at me, all defiance and certainty. “What is it, Bronc? You've got that dark look in your eyes.”
My words stuck in my throat. Couldn’t bring myself to break her confidence. Not yet. “You an’ me, we got this. No matter what’s coming, yeah?”
Her laugh stopped short in her throat, and her eyes grew serious, deep like the Indian summer sky. She felt the weight of it as much as I did.
“What are you so afraid of?” she asked, words quiet between us, cutting through all the noise.
“Just thinking about what’s ahead. I got a feeling trouble is coming, and I just want you to be on your toes.”
“I’ll be ready.”
I could feel the confidence of her words flow through our bond. She was trying to convince us both. Her fire had me wanting to believe it, too. My hand moved to her back, pulling her closer, like holding her tight enough would erase all the other threats from our world.
Our bodies kept time beneath the twinkling lights, moving as one, pushing the worst possibilities to the edges of my mind.
Her confidence poured into me, and I let myself get lost in it for one fleeting moment.
My gaze drifted over her shoulder, finding the rest of the pack caught up in their celebration.
Menace and Sawyer danced close together, lost in their own orbit.
They looked young and damn near happy, and it gave me a sliver of hope that this could work.
Maybe we could all make it through without anyone getting hurt.
Sawyer’s past haunted her the same way Juliet’s had, and I wondered if Menace would hold on as tight when the rest of it caught up with them.
I hoped she wasn’t bringing more trouble to our doorstep.
Juliet caught my glance, followed it over to the two of them. “They look happy,” she said, resting her head against my chest.
“For now. Wonder how long it’ll last.”
“You’re awfully pessimistic tonight, Bronc.” Her voice was teasing, but I could feel the worry behind it. She knew how these things could go. She’d lived it firsthand.
“They gonna be a pair?” I asked. My lips brushed her ear, voice low and rough.
“They are if Menace has anything to say about it.” She gave a soft laugh, and I could feel her breath against my neck, could feel the certainty that she had in them.
“You like her?” I asked, knowing how much hung on that answer.
“I think she’s more like me than we realize. She’s stronger than you think.”
Her words twisted in me, cutting with the sharp edge of truth.
“Y’all should have a girl’s night or something.” I wanted her to agree, wanted her to see the possibility of danger the same way I did.
She stilled, and for a moment, I thought I’d gone too far. But then she looked up at me again, eyes sparkling in the light. “Maybe we will,” she said. Her hand traced a path across my shoulder.
“Couldn’t do this without you, girl,” I said. And I meant it, every goddamn word. She kept me sane and insane all at once.
The evening was turning dark, the stars out bright and fierce against the night. She was in my arms, everything I never knew I needed, everything that terrified me to my core. I pulled back slightly, just enough to look her in the eyes again, to tell her the thing I needed her to hear.
“Brace yourself,” I said, my voice rough with the gravity of it all. “I love you, Juliet. Don’t forget it.”
Her hands were in my hair, and she was fierce and alive and mine. “I’m never forgetting that.”
She drew me back into her, and we moved in a slow circle, the music and lights spinning around. I didn’t know what the future would bring, but this moment, this connection—it made everything else worth it.
And for now, that was enough.
She gave me a little wink as she stepped away, pulling me along. “Hey, my wolf wants to come out and play.” Then she started to run as she tossed over her shoulder laughing, “Catch me if you can old man.”
“Just wait, Little Wolf. Your Alpha is hot on your heels.”