Chapter Twenty-Two
HAVEN
One Month Later
The Wedding
The mirror doesn’t lie, but sometimes I wish it would.
Staring at my reflection, I barely recognize the woman looking back at me.
The white dress flows like liquid silk from my waist, fading into the softest baby blue at the hem.
The bodice is intricate lace that catches the morning light.
Delicate patterns of feathers and flowers that speak to who I was, who I am, and who I’m becoming.
The same feathered texture cascades down the blue portion of the skirt, blooming outward in a way that makes me feel… feminine.
Beautiful, even.
It’s so far from my usual leather outfits that for a moment, I feel like I’m playing dress-up in someone else’s life.
But that’s precisely the point.
“You look stunning,” Bea whispers from behind me, her hands gentle as she adjusts the delicate arm straps. “Alpha’s going to lose his damn mind when he sees you.”
“That’s the plan,” I murmur, smoothing my palms over the fabric. The blue reminds me of my Blue Jay days, but softer somehow. Less weapon, more woman. “I want him to see that I can be both, you know? The assassin he fell in love with and the Old Lady he’s marrying.”
Clover appears beside me in the mirror, her own bridesmaid dress a complementary shade of dusty blue. “Haven, you’ve always been both. The only difference is now you’re letting yourself be beautiful instead of just badass.”
A month.
It’s been exactly one month since we brought down Javier’s empire, since we watched his Cartel crumble piece by piece like a house of cards.
One month since every corrupt official, every bought CEO, every dirty cop on his payroll got dragged into the light and prosecuted.
The trials are still ongoing, but justice is finally being served.
Warden Garver was cleared of all wrongdoing.
Thank God he’d kept all the evidence that he’d been fighting corruption from the inside all along.
So that when the Cartel tried to take him down, there was no way Garver was going to take the hit.
And Alpha wasn’t going to let his friend go down without swinging like mad fucking fury either.
His prison is being refitted with the best security money can buy, and those tunnels beneath the facility that once housed horrors are now being converted into wellness retreats for the prisoners.
Bea’s idea, naturally.
Leave it to her to turn a place of nightmares into healing.
Even Rhonda got some measure of justice.
When they captured her trying to flee during the prison riot, we all thought she was merely another Cartel puppet.
However, the truth was far worse, yet also better.
Javier had been blackmailing her, holding her sister hostage in another facility, forcing Rhonda to be his informant.
She was never willing.
She was enslaved.
The club showed her mercy. They let the courts handle her case instead of our usual brand of justice.
“Are you nervous?” Sadie asks, appearing in the mirror behind me with Poppy at her side.
I consider the question as I watch Poppy in the reflection. She looks so grown up in her junior bridesmaid dress, her blonde hair pinned back with small white flowers. There’s still that edge to her, there always will be, but she’s healing slowly.
We both are.
“Not nervous,” I say finally. “Excited. Ready.”
And I am.
After everything we’ve been through, everything we’ve survived, this feels like the reward at the end of a significant ordeal.
Alpha and I have earned this moment, this peace, this happiness.
“The guys are already out there,” Bea reports, peeking through the window. “Dutch is at the altar, trying to look official in his suit. He keeps tugging at his tie like it’s trying to strangle him.”
We all laugh at that.
Dutch officiating at our wedding was Alpha’s idea. He wanted this to be a real Defiance affair, and he wanted a brother to marry us, not some stranger. And Dutch, despite his grumbling about ‘fancy wedding bullshit,’ was honored to do it.
“Theo and Lock made it,” Clover adds, smoothing down her dress. “I saw them talking with Loki by the bar setup. And Montana’s mom looks so happy to be here on day release. Warden Garver’s keeping close to her, making sure everything goes smoothly.”
Valerie.
God, seeing her at the clubhouse, free and smiling, still makes my chest tight with emotion. What that woman had endured in Javier’s prison. But she’s here. She’s alive. She’s watching us celebrate love instead of war.
“Time to go,” Bea announces, and my heart starts beating faster.
This is it.
This is really happening.
We file out of the room in order, Sadie first, then Bea, then Poppy with her basket of blue and white petals. Clover, my matron of honor, gives me one last smile before taking her place in line.
“Breathe,” I whisper to myself. “Just breathe.”
The music starts, something soft and acoustic that Alpha picked, and through the open doors of the clubhouse, our family is gathered on the lawn.
Everyone is here.
Every single person who matters.
My heart catches when I spot Maverick at the end of the aisle, waiting to walk me down. My brother. My family. The man who has had my back since day one, even when I didn’t deserve it.
“Ready, sis?” he asks, offering me his arm.
“More than ready.”
We step outside, and the late afternoon sun hits the white fabric of my dress, making it shimmer. A soft gasp rises from the crowd, but I only have eyes for one person.
Alpha.
He’s standing at the altar in a perfectly fitted black suit, black shirt, black tie, and those tattoos peeking out on his hands beneath his sleeves are doing something to me right now.
Loki is beside him as best man, and when his eyes find mine, his entire face transforms. His mouth drops open slightly, his eyes go wide, and for a second, he stops.
Like the world tilted on its axis, and he needs a moment to find his balance.
Even from here, I see his Adam’s apple bob as he swallows hard.
When he said he wanted to do the whole traditional wedding thing, I thought he was being a dick, but now, seeing the way he’s looking at me, the way I’m definitely staring at him, I get it now.
Maverick squeezes my arm. “Jesus, look at him,” he murmurs. “That’s the look of a man who knows he’s about to marry his perfect match.”
Step by step, we make our way down the aisle. There are familiar faces on both sides, but my focus keeps returning to Alpha, to the way he’s watching me like I’m the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen.
When we reach the altar, Maverick lifts my hand to his lips, kisses it gently, then places it in Alpha’s waiting palm. “Take care of her,” Maverick says, but he’s smiling.
Alpha chuckles, tilting his head. “You giving me the same speech you gave, Phoenix? Really, Mav?” he replies.
Maverick shrugs, but his smile is genuine while everyone chuckles.
“You may be my president, but I protect my sisters fiercely, even if this one can kick both our asses. So, take care of her…” His voice is rough with emotion, and I can’t help but reach out, clasping my little brother’s hand in thanks.
Alpha grins, dipping his head in response. “I have a feeling this one is going to be doing all the protecting, but you have my word, Mav. Everything I do in this world is for Haven and Poppy.”
My heart swells as Maverick steps back, and I finally get a good look at Alpha up close. His eyes are bright, almost glassy, and there’s a smile playing at the corners of his mouth that’s part amazement, part pure joy.
“Hi,” I whisper, my hands finding his, my thumbs teasing the back of his hand.
“Hi yourself,” he whispers. “Jesus, Haven. You look—”
“Stunning?” Dutch’s voice booms across the gathering. “Yeah, we all noticed. Now, can we get this show on the road before I start crying? I’ve got a fucking manly reputation to maintain.”
Laughter ripples through the crowd, breaking some of the emotional tension.
“You ready to do this, Pres?” he asks.
And Alpha grins widely. “Oh, fuck, yeah.”
Dutch chuckles. “All right then, let’s get this show on the road…” Dutch begins, his voice taking on an unexpectedly reverent tone. “We are gathered here, in the Defiance clubhouse, to watch two people who technically were destined to kill each other, beat the odds, and fall in love instead.”
We all laugh, and I smile at Alpha lovingly, thanking everything inside me that I didn’t follow through on my mission all those years ago.
“For those of you who don’t know, Haven was hired to infiltrate the club and assassinate Alpha…” I turn toward everyone, grimacing as Alpha shrugs in response. “But I guess what actually happened was that Alpha assassinated Haven’s plan and killed her with his charm.”
Everyone oohs and ahhs.
Alpha rolls his eyes at Dutch. “Smooth, brother… real smooth.”
Dutch chuckles. “I was working on that one all night.”
I lean in closer. “You nailed it, Dutch.”
He grins before he continues, “Though their meeting was by chance, their love was natural. Their destiny was in stone the moment they met. Because there was always a third member to their relationship pulling them together.”
Both Alpha and I glance over our shoulder to look at Poppy, the three of us smiling, and I reach out for her hand, taking it in mine.
“Life has a very funny way of working things out. If Haven wasn’t sent to Alpha, we may never have known that Poppy was alive, so as I said, Alpha and Haven were destiny in the making.
And their love has only continued to blossom.
Even through trials and tribulations, this couple has stood the test of time, and I know this marriage, this family is going to flourish. ”
My eyes water as I turn to Dutch, smiling at him. “Thanks, Dutch.”
He dips his head. “Haven and Alpha have written their own vows…” Dutch continues, “Because apparently, they don’t trust me to speak for them. Though clearly, I have just shown how fucking capable I am.”