Chapter Sixty-seven — Trinity
CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN
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TRINITY
Aiden took off the blindfold, and I looked at him in shock. “What?”
The guys had told me we were going out. True to form, they’d given me a dress, heels, and jewelry. Noticeably leaving out hand chains. I felt self-conscious without them, even if everything else was gorgeous.
A pale violet dress that billowed out from my hips, criss-cross ruching over the bodice and crystalline shoulder straps made me feel more beautiful than I ever had in my life. And the shoes? Which sparkled more than a disco ball?
All of them had already made it clear I was getting fucked in nothing but those later.
“Why are we here?”
We stood at the entrance to The Grotto. Where we’d gone on our date. And I hated the menu.
Aiden shrugged. “I’m making the experience better.”
I narrowed my eyes. “You hijacked their menu, didn’t you?”
A wicked grin. “I did.”
“You’re impossible.”
“And you love that about me.”
The hostess showed us back to the very same table, with more chairs along with the cushioned alcove, the cool evening breeze sweeping in off the water.
The gilded menu sat on my plate, and it was filled with all my favorites.
Pasta, noodles, pizza, even a salad with chicken.
All of it had a fancy spin, but there was nothing I didn’t want to eat.
The only thing on the menu that hadn’t changed was the desserts.
“Thank you,” I said to him, and flowing it out to the rest of them through our bonds. “This is incredible.”
“About time all of us took you out on a date,” Brooks said. “We kind of did it all backwards.”
“It happened the way it needed to happen. I wouldn’t change it.”
Bastian leaned over from where he sat next to me and caught my lips with his. “Me either.”
Logan pushed back in his chair. “Before we order, we have something for you. A bonding gift.”
“What? Really?”
“Yes.”
I looked at Brooks, both of us thinking about the same moment. “I don’t need gifts for me to stay with you, you know.”
Theo laughed. “Considering we’re bonded for life, you’re already stuck with us, sweetheart. And we know. We also like giving you things, so might as well accept it.”
Rolling my eyes dramatically, I placed the back of my hand against my forehead. “Oh, no. Five super hot Alphas who love me and want to give me gifts? How awful. Whatever shall I do?”
Logan placed a rectangular velvet box down in front of me and kissed my hair. “You’ll be ours forever, wildfire. That’s what.”
“Open it now?”
“Now,” Bastian confirmed.
I lifted the cover on the box to find two beautiful hand chains. No, two sets. One was a net that draped over the back of the hand, every point of the web sparkling with a violet jewel. The other was a version of my favorites, with a string of marquise-shaped gems in the same purple.
Beneath them, nestled in the velvet, were matching locks which also sparkled with the stone. They were gorgeous. I reached out and drifted my fingers over them.
I opened my mouth to say something, but no words came. There was too much I wanted to say and not enough words to make it clear how much I loved them. How much better my life was now that they were mine, and I was theirs.
Logan laughed softly. “Having trouble speaking, wildfire?”
I shook my head. My throat wasn’t closing, and the words weren’t stuck, they just weren’t there. “I think I’m speechless.”
Bastian placed his hand palm up on the table. I took it. We both knew it wasn’t what I meant, but he kissed the back of my hand. “You never have to be again.”
I blinked back tears because there wasn’t a moment of this that I wanted to miss. “Thank you.”
We all rested in that breath of silence.
My father was pressing charges against Val, Matt, and Paige for a whole bunch of things, and with my pack’s encouragement, so was I. It would take a long time, but I felt good about the steps we were making.
Edgar had been right. Already there were job offers in my inbox from publications I never imagined would know my name.
Things were finally settling down, and I couldn’t wait to have some time where we lived life with nothing else in the way.
I looked back down at the jewelry in front of me. “I should have known this was your plan when you made me leave the house without them. Which set should I put on?”
“Whichever you want,” Aiden said. “Or one of each.”
“Yes. That. I want to look at both of them.”
Aiden and Bastian helped me put them on each hand, locking them to my wrists reverently. The tiny clicks were my favorite sound in the world. They meant I was safe and never alone.
“We did get you one more thing,” Logan said. “Mostly for fun, and yes, it was my idea.”
The second box they placed in front of me was a different shape, but still dark blue velvet. “What on earth—”
My laugh burst out so quickly that I slapped my hand over my mouth, and people still looked toward our table.
Inside the box sat a beautiful metal collar, studded with the same purple stones, complete with a little silver ring in the front.
And inside that one was a much smaller collar made of a softer material, still sparkling with stones, and a little tag that said Cinder.
Logan smiled into his water. “In case you want to match.”
“You’re all impossible. And I love you.”
“Not as much as we love you,” Brooks said.
“Debatable.”
He mouthed the word brat at me, with a pointed look. All I did was shrug. If he wanted to do something about it, he could when we got home.
“What are you going to order?” Aiden asked. “One of everything is an acceptable answer.”
He took the jewelry boxes from me and placed them back where they’d come from for safekeeping. “I don’t know yet.” I stared at the menu again. “But I know exactly what I’m getting for dessert. Violet ice cream.”
Aiden leaned in and brushed a kiss over his bite. “Don’t worry, violet, I’m pretty sure we’ll be getting six.”