Chapter 28 #2
Dimitri and I decided that we were going to tell Adele the truth the day he was discharged from the hospital.
Her little “welcome back” party for Dimitri was cute.
She’d made sure I ordered his favorite foods, and even planned an itinerary with Sarah, which involved watching movies and eating.
When dinner was done, Sarah went home, and we sat with Adele in the living room to divulge the truth.
We’d been dancing around it for weeks. She knew Dimitri was important.
“Baby, we need to talk about something important,” I said, going to settle into the couch beside her. Dimitri sat on her other side, his hand finding mine across her small body. “About Dimitri.”
“I thought you said he was fine!” Adele’s eyes went wide. “Is he still sick?”
“No, sweetheart. Nothing like that.” I took a breath. “Do you remember how you asked me once why you don’t have a daddy like your friends do?”
She nodded slowly.
“Well, the truth is, you do have a daddy. You’ve always had one. He just…he couldn’t be with us for a while.”
“Why not?”
God, how did I explain this to a four-year-old?
“Because grown-ups make mistakes sometimes,” Dimitri said gently. “And I made a really big mistake that kept me away from you and your mommy. But I’m here now. And I’m never going away again.”
Adele looked between us, her little brow furrowed in confusion. “I don’t understand.”
“Adele,” I said softly, taking her hand. “Dimitri is your daddy. Your real daddy.”
She went very still. “Really?”
“Really,” Dimitri confirmed, his voice thick with emotion. “I’m your father. And I love you so much.”
For a long moment, Adele just stared at us. Processing. Trying to understand. Then, to my relief, her face broke into the biggest smile I’d ever seen.
“I have a daddy!” She launched herself at Dimitri, wrapping her small arms around his neck. “I have a real daddy!”
Dimitri caught her, holding her close, his eyes squeezed shut against tears. “You do, little dragon. You always did. I’m so sorry I wasn’t here sooner.”
“It’s okay. You’re here now.” Adele said, pulling back to look at him. “Does this mean you’ll come live with us? And we can be a real family?”
“If your mommy will have me,” Dimitri said, looking at me over Adele’s head.
“Always,” I whispered with a smile, wiping the tear that fell from my face.
Adele squealed with delight, bouncing between us. “You, me, Mommy, and Uncle Crane are going to be one big happy family!”
That night, we read Adele a bedtime story together, and when she’d finally fallen asleep, we slipped away from her room into mine.
“Oh, she’s such a yapper,” I said with a rather delightful smile. “I thought she was going be up till one a.m.”
Dimitri chuckled, but the laugh died down rather too quickly.
I frowned. “What?”
Dimitri shook his head. “I just—I don’t think I’ve ever felt this happy in my life. So at… peace. And it’s all because of you. You gave me the greatest joy in my entire life.”
His words sank in, and I smiled. “I couldn’t have done it alone. I mean it takes two to tango—if you know what I mean.” I winked, and Dimitri laughed.
“Speaking of Tango…” He crossed the room to me, wrapping an arm around my waist to pull me into him. I felt it then—the bulge in his pants.
“Kinda lost it when your cleavage flashed the moment you leaned over to tuck Adele in.” His face was serious. “You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”
“What? No.”
“I don’t believe you.”
I opened my mouth to counter, but Dimitri pressed his lips onto mine, swallowing my words with a rough kiss.
“Dimitri…” I gasped as he yanked my dress up around my hips, turned me around, and bent me over the bed.
“I love it when you moan my name. But you know what’s better?”
“Wh-what?” I stuttered as he rubbed his fingers along my pussy.
“When you scream my name.” Without warning, he inserted two fingers inside me, and it took everything in me, and the conscious thought that once again, we weren’t alone, not to scream.
Dimitri pumped his fingers in and out of me, the sound of my wetness filling the room.
“Fuck, Isabella…”
He groaned, impatience edged in his voice. And then he withdrew his fingers, unzipped his pants, and slid inside of me in one swift motion.
“Oh.” A satisfied moan escaped him. “I will never get used to this. You feel like heaven, Isabella.” He pushed deeper until he was buried to the hilt before he started to move.
No—pound. Dimitri pounded into me mercilessly, our bodies slapping against each other.
We had to muffle our moans so we didn’t wake Adele, and somehow that only heightened the intensity of the moment, like we were containing all our emotions in this small bubble where we were the only ones who existed.
“Dimitri,” I bent backwards, and he seized the opportunity to grab my breasts, circling my nipples.
A guttural groan tore from Dimitri’s throat. My orgasm raced through me with such intensity that Dimitri had to put a hand over my mouth to keep my screams at bay.
Right before my release, Dimitri buried his face in my neck and sank his teeth into me.
I knew what this was: Dimitri was claiming me, marking me as his Mate in the most intimate and passionate way.
I felt a bone-deep connection pulse through me as I flung my head back, giving him room to sink his teeth deeper into my skin.
It didn’t hurt one bit. It felt euphoric. Like the best feeling ever.
His thrusts grew harder. And that did it for me.
And then I exploded, a second orgasm racing through me with an intensity that made my entire being shake.
“You’re mine,” he whispered into my ear. “Mine only, Isabella.”
Seconds later, he followed, suppressing his groans as he spilled inside of me.
We were both panting heavily. And by the time the aftershocks had subsided, he spun me and wrapped his arms around me.
“I love you, Isabella,” he murmured. “No, scratch that—I’m crazy in love with you.”
I beamed weakly against his chest. “I love you, too, Dimitri.”
The wedding planning happened faster than I expected.
Partly because Dimitri was impatient. He said, “We’ve wasted five years already, I’m not waiting one more day than necessary.”
I hadn’t wanted anything grand. In fact, the planning had been for a simple wedding in the garden. But then Crane came along, pouring his resources into the wedding to make it grand.
“You deserve a fairy tale,” Crane said when I protested about the extravagance. “After everything you’ve been through, you deserve something beautiful.”
And so, the ceremony was set for two weeks later. Just enough time to arrange everything, but not so long that we’d drive ourselves crazy with anticipation.
The day of the wedding finally came. I stood in the bridal suite, staring at myself in the mirror, hardly recognizing the woman looking back.
The dress was ivory silk and lace, elegant and simple.
My hair was swept up, leaving my neck bare to show the Mate mark that had appeared there the last time Dimitri and I were together.
“You look beautiful,” Crane said from the doorway.
I turned to find him in a perfectly tailored suit, his expression soft with affection.
“Thank you. For everything. For being there when I had no one else. For protecting Adele. For—” My voice caught. “For being the family I needed when I had no one.”
Crane shrugged his shoulders. “Don’t mention it, Isabella,” he said, crossing to take my hands. “Now, I was sent here to inform you that it’s time for your walk down the aisle. Everyone’s waiting. And Dimitri…” Crane chuckled. “He’s been pacing so much I think he’s worn a groove in the floor.”
I let out a laugh, lacing my arm around Crane’s.
“Let’s go get you married,” he said.
The ceremony was held in the Garnia pack’s sacred grove—a beautiful clearing in the forest where pack unions had been celebrated for generations.
Hundreds of people had gathered, but all I could see was Dimitri.
He stood at the altar in a black suit with his Alpha’s badge on his chest. The moment I appeared, his eyes locked on me—filled with not just love, but admiration.
Adele led the way in her beautiful, pink floral dress, throwing flower petals along the way. The walk down the aisle was excruciatingly long when all I wanted was to run into his arms and kiss him. I was pretty sure he wanted the same thing, too.
When we finally reached the altar, Crane walked me down the aisle, and when we reached Dimitri, he placed my hand in Dimitri’s with a gentle smile.
“Take care of her,” Crane said quietly. “Or I’ll come for you myself.”
“Understood,” Dimitri replied seriously. “And thank you for protecting what’s most precious to me when I couldn’t.”
The ceremony itself was a blur. I heard the words—the traditional pack vows, the promises we made to each other. But all I could focus on was Dimitri. His hands holding mine. His voice strong and sure as he pledged himself to me. The way his eyes never left my face.
“By the power vested in me by the Ravencrest pack and the ancient laws that govern us,” Edmund said. “I pronounce you husband and wife. You can now—”
Dimitri kissed me before Edmund could even finish, pulling me close and claiming my mouth with a thoroughness that made the crowd cheer and whistle.
When we finally broke apart, breathless and smiling, Edmund cleared his throat.
“Garnia Pack,” Edmund called out, his voice carrying across the clearing, “I present to you your Alpha and his Luna. Your leaders.”
The pack responded with a howl that echoed through the forest. A recognition. An acceptance. And for the first time ever, I felt like I was home. Like I belonged here.
We turned to face them—the pack that had once rejected me. But I saw new faces among the old ones. Saw respect where there had been contempt. Saw acceptance where there had been hatred.
Adele bounced from her seat as the crowd stood, cheering. She ran toward us, grinning from ear to ear. “You’re married!” she announced. “That means we’re a real family now!”
“We always were, little dragon,” Dimitri said, scooping her up. “But now it’s official.”
He held her with one arm, his other around me, and we stood there—the three of us—facing the pack together.
A family. Bound by blood and love and the kind of bond that transcends politics and pack.
I looked at Dimitri, at Adele beaming, at the pack celebrating around us.
This was worth fighting for. Worth every scar, every tear, every moment of pain.
This was home.
And I was never letting it go again.
THE END