Chapter 19
Eloise
The morning sun hit the Hive differently when you weren't hiding from it.
I woke up in Jack’s bed. Not curled in a ball of anxiety, not waiting for the other shoe to drop, but sprawled out like a starfish, taking up seventy percent of the mattress.
Jack was gone.
Panic flared for a microsecond—a conditioned reflex from the last week of hell—but then I heard the shower running down the hall.
I rolled over, burying my face in his pillow. It smelled of cedar, sleep, and us.
We had survived.
My father was suspended pending investigation.
Jack’s scholarship was safe. The Pack...
well, the Pack was still the Pack, but Rurik had gone suspiciously quiet after the news broke about the Dean’s corruption.
Apparently, even rival Alphas didn't want to get mixed up in a federal embezzlement probe.
I sat up, stretching. My body felt... good. Strong. The ache of Nationals was fading, replaced by a deep, humming contentment.
The door opened.
Jack walked in. He was wearing a towel low on his hips and nothing else. Steam rolled off his damp skin. His hair was wet and messy. His scar—the jagged line on his neck—looked less angry today.
He stopped when he saw me sitting up. A slow, lazy grin spread across his face.
"Morning, Champ," he rumbled.
"Morning, Wolf," I smiled back.
He walked over to the bed and leaned down, bracing his hands on either side of my hips. He kissed me—a taste of mint toothpaste and water.
"How’d you sleep?" he asked, his nose brushing mine.
"Like the dead. You?"
"Best sleep in years," he admitted. He stood up, dropping the towel without a shred of modesty. He started pulling on boxers. "Silas is making pancakes downstairs. He says it’s a 'Victory Feast.' I think he just wants to use up the industrial-sized bag of chocolate chips he bought."
"Chocolate chip pancakes?" I swung my legs out of bed. "I’m in."
"Wear my shirt," Jack tossed me a black t-shirt from the floor. "The guys are... rambunctious this morning. Miller tried to wrestle me for the remote."
"Did he win?"
"I picked him up and put him on top of the refrigerator," Jack smirked. "He’s still up there."
I laughed, pulling the shirt over my head. It came down to my knees.
"So," I said, walking over to him. I wrapped my arms around his waist from behind, resting my cheek on his bare back. "What’s the plan for today? We conquered the Dean. We conquered Nationals. What’s left?"
Jack turned in my arms. His expression sobered slightly.
"One last thing," he said. "The Pack Elders."
My stomach tightened. "The Council?"
"They’re meeting tonight," Jack said. "To discuss... us. The claiming. The knot. The breach of secrecy."
"Are they going to hurt you?" I asked, gripping his arms.
"No," Jack shook his head. "But they might try to separate us. Or exile me. They’re old school, Eloise. They think humans are a liability."
"Then we go together," I said firmly. "We talk to them. Together."
Jack looked at me. He searched my eyes, looking for fear.
"You’d do that?" he asked. "Face a room full of grumpy old wolves?"
"I faced my father," I shrugged. "Wolves are just dogs with better PR. Let’s go handle them."
Jack kissed my forehead.
"Okay. Tonight. But first... pancakes."
The day passed in a blur of domestic normalcy that felt revolutionary.
We ate pancakes with the team. Miller (after being retrieved from the fridge) asked me fifty questions about figure skating jumps. Silas tried to teach me how to hold a hockey stick ("No, not like a golf club, like a weapon!").
We walked across campus holding hands.
People stared. Phones came out. But nobody said a word. The "Scandal" had morphed into "Legend." We were the campus royalty now. The rebel couple.
I held my head high. I squeezed Jack’s hand.
Let them look, I thought. Let them see that we aren't hiding.
At sunset, Jack drove us to the outskirts of town.
We pulled up to an old community center that looked abandoned.
"This is the Council Hall?" I whispered.
"It’s low profile," Jack muttered, parking the truck. "Come on."
We walked inside. The basement level.
The room was dimly lit. A long table. Five elderly men and women sat there. They looked like librarians or retirees. But the energy in the room was suffocating.
Power. Ancient, heavy power.
They all looked up when we entered. Ten eyes—some human, some glowing faintly—locked onto us.
"Jackson Sterling," the man in the center said. His voice was like dry leaves. "And the human."
"Her name is Eloise," Jack said, his voice hard. He didn't bow. He didn't look down. He stood tall, keeping me tucked into his side.
"We know who she is," a woman on the left said. She had sharp features and silver hair. "The Dean’s daughter. The skater. The distraction."
"She’s my mate," Jack corrected. "And she’s not a distraction. She’s my strength."
"You broke the First Law," the center elder said. "You exposed our nature. There are videos, Jackson. Rumors. 'Werewolf Romance.' It’s a spectacle."
"It’s a rumor," Jack countered. "Humans love rumors. They think it’s a metaphor. Nobody actually believes I turn into a canine. They just think I’m... intense."
"And the knot?" the silver-haired woman asked, looking pointedly at my stomach. "You risked a hybrid pregnancy. That is forbidden."
"It was an accident," Jack said, his grip on my waist tightening. "And it won't happen again until we’re ready. But I won't apologize for claiming her. The bond chose her."
"The bond is chaos," the elder spat. "We demand order."
"Order nearly got me killed," Jack stepped forward. "Order let Rurik threaten our territory for months because our Alpha was too sick to fight. Order let a human Dean blackmail me."
He looked around the table.
"I’m taking over," Jack announced.
The room went silent.
"Excuse me?" the elder blinked.
"My father is stepping down," Jack said. "He’s starting treatment. He needs to rest. I am the Alpha now."
"You are too young," the woman scoffed. "You are reckless."
"I am strong," Jack growled, his eyes flashing gold. "And I have a mate who is stronger. We protected this pack when the Council was hiding in the basement. We faced down the threats. We survived."
He looked at me.
"Tell them, Mouse."
I stepped forward. My heart was hammering, but my voice didn't shake.
"I know your secret," I said clearly. "I know about the shifts. The biology. The territory. And I’m not running away. I’m not selling you out to TMZ. I’m standing with him."
I looked the center elder in the eye.
"Jack is the best leader you have. He cares about every single member of this pack. He sacrificed his own happiness to save his father. If you push him away... if you exile him... you lose your future."
The elders exchanged glances. They smelled the truth on me. They smelled the bond on Jack.
The center elder sighed.
"If you take the Alpha role," he said slowly, "you are responsible for the secrecy. If one more leak happens... if one more video surfaces..."
"I’ll handle it," Jack promised.
"And the girl?" the woman asked. "She must be inducted. Sworn in. If she breaks the silence, the penalty is..."
"She knows the penalty," Jack cut her off. "Death. I know. But she won't break it. She’s one of us now."
The elders nodded slowly.
"Very well," the center elder said. "Alpha Sterling."
Jack let out a breath. He nodded once.
"Thank you."
He turned us around and marched us out of the room.
We walked back to the truck in silence.
Once we were inside, Jack slumped against the steering wheel.
"Holy shit," he breathed.
"You just... became the Alpha?" I asked, wide-eyed. "Just like that?"
"I’ve been the Alpha for a long time, Eloise," he said, turning to look at me. "I just finally admitted it."
He reached out and stroked my cheek.
"And you," he smiled. "You yelled at the Council. You’re insane."
"I’m protective," I corrected.
"You’re perfect."
He started the truck.
"Where to, Alpha?" I asked.
He looked at me with a heat that melted the winter chill.
"The Den," he said. "We have a celebration to finish."
The Den was warm. The fire was already lit (Silas, again, anticipating needs).
Jack locked the door. He turned to me.
There was no hesitation this time. No fear. No "we shouldn't."
He picked me up and carried me to the bedroom.
He laid me down on the bed—the bed we had slept in apart, the bed we had avoided.
He stripped off his clothes with an efficiency that made my mouth dry.
Then he undressed me. Slowly. Reverently.
"You’re mine," he whispered, kissing every inch of skin he revealed. "No more hiding. No more lies."
"Yours," I agreed, pulling him down to me.
The sex was... different.
It wasn't the frantic, desperate reclaiming of the ice rink. It wasn't the tentative, careful first time.
It was joyful.
It was slow, deep, and confident.
Jack took his time. He explored my body like he had all the time in the world. He teased me, made me laugh, made me beg.
"Tell me you love me," he demanded, hovering over me, his eyes glowing gold with happiness.
"I love you," I gasped. "I love you, you big, bossy wolf."
"That’s Alpha to you," he grinned, thrusting deep.
"Oh god," I moaned. "Alpha."
He laughed—a rumble of pure delight—and kissed me hard.
When the release came, it was blinding. Total.
We lay in the afterglow, tangled together, sweating and smiling.
"So," I whispered, tracing the scar on his chest. "We’re really doing this? You, me, the pack, the skating?"
"We’re doing it," he promised. "We’ll figure out the logistics. You skate in the morning, I patrol at night. We meet in the middle for pizza."
"Sounds like a plan."
"And the apartment," he added. "I put a deposit down today."
I sat up on my elbows. "You did?"
"Yep. Two bedrooms. Fireplace. And a balcony for the dog."
"We don't have a dog yet."
"We will," he kissed my nose. "Give it a week."
I lay back down, resting my head on his chest.
"I’m happy, Jack," I whispered. "It’s weird. I’m used to being stressed. Or scared. But I’m just... happy."
"Get used to it," he said, wrapping his arms around me tight. "Because I’m not letting you go. Ever."
I closed my eyes.
The wind howled outside the cabin, whipping through the pines. But inside, it was warm. The fire crackled. Jack’s heart beat steady and strong under my ear.
We had fought the world, and we had won.
And the best part?
It was just the beginning.