31. Epilogue - Sebastian
The opening night performance of Don Giovanni —the second opening night performance of Don Giovanni —was coming to a close as Sebastian took his bow.
The cheers of “bravo!” warmed his heart as he gazed out into the sea of patrons, many of them on their feet.
The members of the Bayonne Circle were once again right down front, but his eyes went straight to the box where Pavel and Justin sat.
Or had been sitting. They were on their feet now, Pavel clapping wildly with his arms stretched out in front of him, and Justin cheering with his fists above his head, a huge grin on his face.
His eyes welled up with tears, and he blinked them away as he bowed once again.
The night was about more than his debut. To him, it was a celebration of his mates and how far they had come. Tonight, when all was done, they would all slide into the same bed, in the condo they shared on the Upper West Side.
Sebastian moved to join the line for the group bow, letting the cheers wash over him, taking in how very lucky he was. How many people got to have the career of their dreams as well as two great loves?
And he did love his men. He would tell them tonight.
It had not been an easy road. Even after Veronica’s death, Sebastian’s mother had tried to push her will on him.
She wanted him to be the next Eldest, to take over when she stepped down, but he’d categorically refused.
He wanted no part of it. He was building a new life, and it didn’t involve leading the Bayonne Circle.
Still, she was here tonight, and she was smiling and clapping. Even though she’d nearly choked when Sebastian had suggested Wolf take over the Circle after her. She’d stared at him like he’d had a psychotic break. He would take her presence here tonight as a win.
When he reached his dressing room, strangely, the first to knock on his door was not Justin or Pavel. It was his brother.
Dressed in an unassuming light blue button-down shirt and chinos, Wolf wore a sheepish expression when Sebastian opened the door.
“I, uh… Congratulations.” Gone was Wolf’s customary sneer. His tone was almost contrite. Sebastian was confused. What had changed in the last week to cause this shift? Wolf had been as sullen as ever a day ago.
“Thank you?” Sebastian sat down to finish taking off his makeup. Wolf let the door close behind him, but stayed standing in front of it, not moving into the room.
“You’re welcome. Um. I’m sorry.”
Putting down the makeup wipe, Sebastian turned and stared at his brother. “For what? ”
Wolf’s square shoulders tensed, looking even more uncomfortable, if possible.
“Linda asked me to take over as Eldest. She wants to retire next year.” Wolf pressed his lips together before continuing. “She said it was your idea.”
Sebastian blinked, needing a moment to catch up. She actually took his advice ? That was the most unexpected of all outcomes.
“Are you going to do it?” Sebastian asked, after pushing away his shock.
“I don’t know…” Wolf finally moved, pulling out an empty chair in front of the vanity and collapsing into it. “I don’t have any talent for spellwork. How can I lead the Circle when I’m not a witch?”
Smiling, Sebastian reached over and patted his brother on the shoulder.
“Personally, I think that’s a strength. The Circle needs to be shaken up, no matter how much it enrages our mother. Besides, if you find a nice witch to mate with, that would solve a bunch of your problems.”
Wolf rolled his eyes, but the corners of his lips curled upwards into a hint of a smile. “I know that I’ve been kind of, well, an asshole, sometimes?—”
“You have nothing to apologize for,” Sebastian said, cutting him off. “Our childhood was tough, and the last few years have been tougher. And I’ll help as much as I can. I just can’t live in that house. Or near our mother. Or in New Jersey.”
Wolf opened his mouth to respond when the door to the dressing room burst open, and Justin rolled in like a whirlwind, jumping into Sebastian’s lap and pressing their lips together. The kiss was warm and long, vibrating with unexpressed emotion.
Sebastian finally broke it to breathe, looking down at the blonde man and his crooked grin. “What was that for?”
“Oh, all the things. I’m so proud of you!” Justin turned back toward the door, but Wolf had slipped out. “Was that…”
“Mmhmm,” Sebastian said. “We can talk about it later. Besides, I think someone still owes me a kiss.”
Pavel let out a long, deep chuckle that made Sebastian’s balls tingle. The gargoyle was going to kill him one day with his hotness.
Stepping over to his mates, Pavel wrapped his arms around them both, giving Sebastian a somewhat less intense but still delicious kiss. Sebastian looked up afterward to see all three of them in the mirror. Justin was sitting in his lap, and Pavel stood behind, watching over them.
It was perfect.
“I love you both, you know.” Sebastian worked to keep the tremor out of his voice. They needed to understand how much he cared for them.
“We know!” Justin buried his head in Sebastian’s neck, kissing him on his mating mark, sending bolts of electricity through his body. “We love you, too!”
Pavel bent over and kissed Sebastian on the top of the head.
“I love you both very much. But we’re not going to have sex in Sebastian’s dressing room.
We have an opening night party to get to.
We have to celebrate that we got all the way through this performance without being attacked by evil time-witches. ”
Sebastian laughed loudly at Pavel’s words. Justin sighed, still disappointed at the thwarting of his sexy plans, but then jumped off Sebastian’s lap and grabbed his hand, pulling him toward the door.
“Come on! Everyone’s waiting, and they love you almost as much as we do.”
Thank you so much for reading The Maestro’s Mates! If you liked it, please leave a review. Your reviews are the best marketing an indie author has.
If you are interested reading Oscar and Trent’s HEA, you can find it in The Baritone’s Rival , and if you’d like to hear about how Freddie and Anthony met, you can find that story in The Tenor’s Shadow .