Chapter 16 The Future
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
the future
CHEYENNE
“Office… living room… oh, this one would look killer above the bed,” Iver murmurs as I shuffle through the photos I snapped on our hike this morning in Westfield’s territory.
Coincidentally, our last three hikes have been on his pack’s land.
He’s been badgering me about moving in with him for the past week, showing off and talking up his hometown every chance he gets in an effort to convince me.
As if I needed convincing.
From the moment he suggested it, I knew I wanted to move in with him.
I almost said yes right then, but rationality prevailed, and I decided I should take some time to think it over rather than making a snap decision.
Everything between us has moved fast. When it’s right it’s right, but it hasn’t been easy to silence that little voice in the back of my head– the one still wondering whether this is all too good to be true.
Girls like me aren’t supposed to get happy endings, but here I am, living mine.
“You aren’t really gonna get all these framed, are you?” I question, pausing my scroll and arching a dubious brow.
“Of course I am,” Iver scoffs, taking the camera from my hands.
His thumb moves to the button, and he picks up where I left off, clicking through the photos.
“Every room in the packhouse needs a little piece of you. Feel free to redecorate however you want, so long as every space has a Cheyenne original.”
I snort a laugh, rolling my eyes like he’s being ridiculous, but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t make my heart skip a beat every time he compliments my photography.
Or every time he looks at me with those baby blues, or flashes me that sexy grin…
yeah, I’m a goner for this guy. So much perfection shouldn’t exist in one human being, but here he is, lying next to me and existing.
My gaze flickers over the muscular planes of his chest, drinking in every delicious inch of tan skin visible above the edge of my bedsheets. After our hike, I told him I was ready to move in.
He brought me home to pack.
While he attended to his Alpha duties, I boxed up my life, and then he showed up at my door and wasted no time in showing me just how happy he is that I’m moving in.
Not a bad sendoff for the ol’ cabin.
Iver suddenly switches the camera mode, turning it around in his hand and raising it higher above us, pressing the shutter.
“Iver!” I admonish, white spots dancing across my vision from the flash.
He lowers the camera, flipping back into display mode to view the photo he just took. “You’re not smiling,” he mumbles.
“Well you didn’t warn me,” I laugh, swatting his chest with the back of my hand.
Iver rolls to his side, nuzzling into my neck and tickling my ribs. I stifle a giggle as he lifts his arm and snaps another photo, quickly lowering the camera to check the screen again.
“That’s a framer,” he declares with a smug grin. “I’m thinking right on my desk…”
I give him a playful shove, pushing up and sliding out of bed.
A few weeks ago, I would’ve found this cheesy as hell.
I would’ve poked fun at anyone acting as sappy and loved-up as the two of us are right now, but cynicism is hard to come by when you find someone that loves you for exactly who you are.
Iver doesn’t even realize how much he’s done to mend the cracks he didn’t cause just by being him.
I probably owe Javi an apology for all the shit I gave him about the mate bond turning him into a sucker.
I’ve never been this damn happy. Even as I stoop to grab my clothes off the floor and start getting dressed, I can’t keep from smiling like a fool just thinking about what the future holds.
Moving into his packhouse is a big step, but it’s a necessary one if I’m going to be his Luna.
In sealing our bond, I became part of his pack.
From here on out, we’ll be leading them together, but it’s not the pack rank that excites me.
It’s the thought of waking up beside Iver every day for the rest of my life; of me being his and him being mine.
Tugging down the hem of my shirt, I turn to glance around the room, smoothing my hair as I shift my gaze to the blonde adonis still resting on my bed. “We should probably get going,” I say, tipping my head toward the door.
Iver pushes up on an elbow, his ab muscles flexing with the action. “Don’t you still have to pack?”
“Already did,” I shrug, grabbing my sunglasses off the dresser and pointing to the boxes lined up in front of my closet door.
His brows knit together as he glances toward them. “That’s seriously all you have?” he questions, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed as he sits up.
I shrug again, sliding my sunglasses onto the top of my head. “I’m a simple girl, Iver.”
He rises from the bed with a frown, stepping into his sweatpants and pulling them up his hips. Then he slips his t-shirt back on and crosses the room to me in a few quick strides, his hands landing on my waist. “I’m taking you shopping,” he declares, staring down at me intently.
I press a palm to his chest, his delicious scent filling my nose and making my belly flip. “Don’t you dare Pretty Woman me.”
Iver quirks a brow. “Are you insinuating you’re a call girl?”
“Ugh, you’re right, that was a horrible choice of metaphor,” I groan, dropping my hand.
He steps in closer, lowering his head until his lips brush mine. I lean into the kiss, accepting it, and he sinks a hand into the back of my hair, tongue sweeping against the seam of my lips.
We’re rudely interrupted by the sound of the front door swinging open, followed by the familiar thud of Javi’s footsteps.
Reluctantly, I pull back, breaking the kiss and glancing toward the doorway just as my best friend appears from the hall.
“What are you doing here?” I ask breathlessly, heat rising to my cheeks.
“I came to send you off,” he replies, wrinkling his nose as he glances past me to the rumpled bed. “Guess it’s a good thing my meeting with the pack enforcers ran long, eh?”
I avert my gaze, blush deepening as I duck under Ivers arm, grabbing my sneakers off the floor and moving to the edge of the bed to put them on. “Don’t act like you don’t have a healthy sex life,” I mumble.
“Oh, I know I do, I’m just glad you’ve got one now, too,” he chuckles, advancing into the room and offering Iver a fist-bump.
I just shake my head, huffing out a breath as I finish tying my laces.
This is what I get for being best friends with an Alpha male.
Pushing up from the bed, I step over to the closet, bending down for one of my boxes and hefting it up into my arms. “This way, boys,” I call out as I start for the door.
Iver and Javi pick up two boxes apiece– which is sadly all that remains– and follow me out of the cabin to Iver’s truck. He lowers the tailgate and we slide my boxes in, then he brushes his hands together after slamming it closed.
“You’re sure that’s everything?” he asks, still seemingly perplexed about my lack of belongings.
“Yes,” I sigh, waving him off as I turn to Javi. “Guess this is it, huh?”
A chuckle rumbles in his chest as he steps closer and drapes an arm over my shoulders, giving me a side-hug. “Don’t act like you’ll never see me again, you’re moving fifteen minutes away. Since when are you all girly and dramatic?”
I roll my eyes, elbowing him in the ribs. “Yeah? Well just for that, I’m gonna come back and visit you every day.”
“You better,” Javi laughs, slinging his arm around my neck and putting me in a headlock.
I giggle as I fight him off, shoving him away and combing my fingers through my disheveled hair as I dart a glance toward Iver.
Thankfully, he’s not jealous of or threatened by my relationship with Javi, like other men might be.
I’m glad, because this is how Javi and I have always been with each other– we tease like siblings, and it’s strictly platonic.
Besides, there’s only one man I’m head over heels for.
Iver twirls his keys around a finger, eyeing his truck. “We’ll need to get you a car,” he muses.
“Stop trying to buy me stuff,” I laugh, making a grab for the keys.
He catches my wrist as my hand closes around them, pulling me in close and pressing a kiss to my temple. “Just taking care of my mate.”
“Trust me, you have nothing to worry about,” Iver reassures as we work in tandem to prepare the half dozen charcuterie boards spread across the kitchen island, making terrible ‘flowers’ out of the prosciutto and arranging the cheese in ridiculous patterns.
We gave up on trying to match our boards to the sample picture pretty much right away, when I had to concede that he’s right– it’s harder than it looks.
These boards may not be pretty, but they’ll taste great, and that’s what really counts.
“I’m not worried,” I say, fanning out pieces of gruyere into the shape of a crescent moon.
Miraculously, my statement isn’t even a lie.
The thought of being in a room full of strangers would normally make me want to drink or hide away– both, if I’m being honest– but right now, I’m sober, and I’m shockingly calm. All thanks to the man beside me.
Iver has given me the confidence to face anything, even this little ‘meet and greet’ he set up to introduce me to the members of his pack.
He kept it casual, telling people they could stop by between noon and four if they wanted to meet me personally before we all come together for the full moon run this weekend.
I’m a little nervous, but I’m not worried. Not with Iver at my side.
“They’ve been dying to meet their Luna since the last full moon,” he says, wiping his hands off on a dish towel and stepping back to appraise his handiwork
I swear my pulse skips every time he calls me his Luna.
I can hardly wrap my head around the fact I have a fated mate, let alone that I’m going to be Luna to a pack.
I’ve spent the last two years shying away from any attention, making myself small in an attempt to hide my shame.
Now, I realize that in doing that, I was only giving Alpha Paul more power.
The bastard was still controlling my life from the grave.
Not anymore.
Iver helped me take back my power. He showed me that there’s so much worth living for, and I’m going to make every day count.
As I arrange the aged cheddar, my eyes catch on the edge of the scar adorning my left wrist, peeking from beneath my cuff bracelet. My heart squeezes as I glance back at Iver over my shoulder. To think I almost missed out on this. On him.
The sting of tears pricks behind my eyes, but I fight them back, focusing on remaining in the present as I place the last few pieces of cheese on the board. My past is exactly that; past. I’m focused on the future.
“Do you think we’ll have enough?” I ask, stepping back to join him in admiring our masterpieces.
“For sure,” he breathes, slipping an arm around my waist and pulling me into his side. “Who knows how many people will show up?”
A lot. The answer is a lot.
I swear every single person in the pack stops by to introduce themselves and offer their congratulations.
We run out of charcuterie after the first hour, but nobody complains about the lack of snacks.
Iver remains at my side as we greet his pack, holding my hand and offering his support whenever I start to feel suffocated.
He senses it every single time I tip toward social overload, rubbing gentle circles over the back of my palm while a sense of calm radiates through the mate bond.
It’s the only thing that holds me together, keeping me smiling until the last person leaves and only his family remains.
I’m exhausted. I fielded so many questions, got pulled in for so many hugs– I was not prepared for the amount of hugs I was going to get today, but by some miracle, I didn’t implode– and now my social batteries are completely drained.
Covering my yawn with a hand, I wave my other at the couple that just left as I watch them get in their car through the front window, warmth blooming in my chest when they smile back at me and return the wave enthusiastically.
The heat of Iver’s body envelops my back as he comes up behind me, looping his arms around my waist and nuzzling into the side of my neck. “Tired?”
“A little,” I admit, tilting my head to give him better access as he nips at the junction of my neck and shoulder, where I bear his mark.
He suddenly pulls back, lifting his head and turning to press a chaste kiss to my cheek. “Then we’d better go upstairs so you can get some sleep.”
I lean my head against his shoulder, glancing up at him with a smirk. “Well I’m not too tired for that.”
His arms tighten around my waist, his chest vibrating against my back with his low chuckle. “Time to get rid of our family, then.”
Our family. I spin around, glancing past Iver to take in the scene before us.
His mom and dad are picking up stray soda cans, Javi and Lo are at the sink washing off the charcuterie boards.
Tanner is slumped on the couch, texting on his phone, and Harper is coming to visit this weekend for the full moon run.
All Iver’s people are mine now, too. This… this is our family.
I always dreamed of finding my mate, but I also dreamed of having a family. I never thought either would happen for me, and now I literally have it all. It’s like a real-life fairytale.
“Nah,” I breathe, my lips curving into a smile as my eyes return to Iver’s. “Let’s hang out with our family a little longer.”