Chapter 16 #2
“Traitor!” Onyx mutters to me before turning on his sweet voice. “Sorry, sister, I thought she would be comfortable away from Nibbles and with fewer people in the car.”
“She wasn’t, and you’re lucky I love you both,” Annie huffs.
“It’s meant to be a good day, a surprise for our girl, remember?” Rhodes reminds them.
I try really hard not to laugh. I can just imagine the internal war going on in Annie’s head right now.
“You ready?” Finnegan asks, his hands going to the side of my face to pull the covering off.
“I have no idea what I’m ready for. You know I’m not a fan of surprises, right?” I half joke. Kinda. I do like some surprises, but not all of them. I know nothing they surprise me with will be bad though, and for that reason, I am excited.
“Well, we all really hope you’re a fan of this one, Sun.” Finn takes off my eye mask.
All I see is pink for a long moment until I focus.
In front of me is a pink Land Rover parked right in front of Starlight Academy.
It has a massive pink bow on top, a reg plate with my name on it, and two black stars on the bumper.
It’s ridiculous, and the brightest pink I’ve ever seen.
I love it. Severi is leaning against the boot of it, holding a set of keys with a pink fluffy pom-pom attached.
He walks over and hands me the keys. “All for you, even fitted a dog barrier in the boot, and a cold boba tea is waiting too.”
I look at Onyx, knowing damn well he must have told them I love pink Land Rovers, from all that time ago when I joked about his shitty car.
He really must not have forgotten a single word I said.
I cover my mouth and burst into tears. Finnegan panics, pulling me to his chest, and Onyx rubs my back.
Annie gets worried, but Rhodes tells them all its happy tears.
“I’m happy, just shocked you would do this for me. ”
“Hey,” Finnegan tips my chin up, stroking my cheek.
“We promised a dream life, didn’t we? The perfect car in your mind is part of that dream.
There is nothing we wouldn’t do for you.
” I hide my head in his chest for a moment, the cold air helping calm my blazing cheeks down, and I rub the tears away.
“We wanted to get you your own car. Onyx said this is exactly what you’d like, even if it really is an interesting custom colour,” Hollis murmurs, touching my hand. “If you’d prefer—”
“It’s perfect,” I cut him off. “Thank you. I’m just overwhelmed by it…but I am happy.”
I look up at the academy and how it has changed.
Above the door is a new crest, one of a six-pointed star with a snake wrapped around it.
Other things have changed; more windows and pillars have been installed, and all the damage done has been fixed.
Warm light shines from every window. It looks cosy, inviting, and grand, and everything I’ve always loved about this place.
It feels like home and my mates knew it.
This place was the only home I’ve known, and I love them more for bringing me here.
I turn around, and tears burn my eyes as I look out over Starlight City.
One of the towers has scaffolding all the way around it, and it’s clearly being repaired.
Rather than just the grey, dusty city, there are a bunch of small lights in some of the towers that weren’t destroyed. “People are living in Starlight again?”
“We’re rebuilding Starlight,” Severi agrees. “You love this city, and we want you to be where you feel at home.”
“It has alphas now, too.” Alek steps forward. “I remember what you said about that vision of yours. You told us many times that you felt like this was home—not just that we were your home, but Starlight, the academy, all of it. This is our place to live, to help fix things and move on.”
“There’s a lot of pain here for all of us,” Onyx says, taking over gently.
“And it’s different now. But we can be better at it than my father was.
Better than anyone before us, don’t you think?
We can make it safe. People are moving back willingly.
They’re happy to be here and they trust us.
They trust you and know what you did to stop the Vian king.
They don’t think you’re a monster—or maybe they do and know we need a bit of monster in our new city to protect it.
Maybe someone who is going to hunt down anybody that breaks our laws, make sure people know they’re safe here.
That any murderers, anybody that hurts people, they don’t get to live in our city.
Not while they have you watching over it. Your Nexus watching over us.”
“We can move somewhere else if you don’t want this.
It is and has always been your choice. You had so many of your choices taken from you, and we never want to take another,” Rhodes gently adds.
I know he means that; they all do. If I turned around and said I couldn’t stay here, they would move me without question.
But they got it right. I watch Nibbles and Franklin play on the steps of the academy, chasing each other around, and I smile. This is our home; it always has been.
“Home. We are finally home,” I answer, and I see the relief in all their faces.
“We’re all moving in,” Annie adds, waving to her new mate beside her. “Us too. We are home when we are with our family.” Issan and Severi nod at each other. They have a lot to work on when it comes to a real sibling relationship, but Severi is trying and so is Issan.
“Just like old times…but I don’t think our mates are cool with us room sharing again,” I joke.
Finnegan coughs. “Fuck no.”
We all laugh. Issan nods at me. “I know quite a few Vian who are displaced in the world. Many of them do not want to live in the Vian city anymore because of the past and will forever distrust whoever wears the crown even if she is doing a good job. I’ve sent word out that they’d be welcome here if they want to come and they could bring their families.
It shouldn’t just be a Nexus city anymore.
It should be a supernatural city for everyone.
There should be no dividing of our races.
The division is what sent us to war and let my father rule for so long.
We should start over with better intentions. ”
We all look at each other and nod. I smile at Issan. “You would do well in politics. I’m surprised my aunt wanted you to leave.”
“She didn’t, but she knew I’d walk to the end of the earth for Annie. Where she is, is where I am too.” He looks at her as she stares up at him, and I smile at the love between them. After Kosma…I didn’t think she would get this. I’m so happy she does. Annie deserves the world.
“We’re alphas now.” Severi brushes dust off his jacket. “I prefer that title to prince. Seems like less responsibility.” He winks at me. “Now can we go in? We’ve been working our backsides off on this place. Do you want to come and see your home?”
“How long have you been working on it?” I question. How long have they been planning this? I thought it was just the offer to move back in here and the car…but it’s more.
“About three months, give or take. We took turns sleeping next to you so the rest of us could come out here and fix it at night.” Onyx pauses.
“These are what the runes are for—the new runes you noticed on my stomach. I’ve been practising them, getting them right, to put up barriers.
The entire city is now protected. I know who comes in and who goes out. ”
“So there’s no escaping you now.” I wink at him, tapping my wrist where a ghost of a rune still lies. I don’t need to tap it to annoy him now, not when he is usually at my side.
He laughs and offers me his hand. “You wouldn’t run…so no need.”
I tut. “I’ve made myself too predictable. I should run and make you hunt me down.”
His eyes heat. “I’d like that.”
Severi groans. “Guys, not right now.” Finnegan and Rhodes laugh as they walk forward. Alek takes my hand, tugging me along. Annie and Issan watch us go, leaving us to have this moment.
Hollis has already hoisted his son up onto his shoulders when we get to the steps.
Franklin claps and looks at me. “This is going to be our new home together! I’ve been wanting to tell you about this place forever.
They showed it to me a month ago, and I have been trying my hardest to not tell you.
They wanted to make sure I liked my room and what I wanted in it. ”
“I’m proud of you for keeping the secret, and I hope you made a big list of outlandish demands,” I enquire. His smile is bright, and he nods.
Hollis smiles at me, his eyes warm with love. “You’re a bad influence.”
“The worst,” I agree just as softly as he said it. When we were here last, I thought Hollis hated me; I thought we would never get this. Franklin was a surprise but a good one, and he fits right in with our bond group.
Alek runs over with Boba in the carrier from Annie’s car, and Boba’s screaming is echoing so loudly that even the waves of the sea cannot outdo her.
I stare at the sea for a second, knowing at some point I am going to let Hollis take me for a swim in it.
We have been working on swimming three times a week for months now, and I can do it.
The fear takes over sometimes, but Hollis is always there, and he is very good at positive reinforcement with his head between my legs. I soon forget I’m scared at all.
I crouch down as Rhodes brings the carrier closer, and Boba instantly quiets at the sound of my voice.
“There’s my beautiful princess. Sorry about the travelling, but this is your new home, and it’s much bigger than the apartment.
” I look inside to see her. She’s got pitch-black eyes and equally dark fur.
There isn’t a part of her that isn’t as dark as the night.
It’s exactly why I fell in love with her at the shelter in the city. “You’ll love it.”