“Hey Nix, would you…” She gestures to the dance floor where her wife of three hours is dancing with the first (and only) man she has ever loved.
Nix doesn’t waste a second before taking her hand and tucking it into the crook of his elbow.
Jamie pats him on the back, and when Nix looks back at his mate, the sentimental alpha already has tears in his eyes. Nix must be wearing a matching love-struck expression when Winnie snorts and bumps him.
Thankfully, she lets it slide.
There’s a brief tangle of limbs and laughter as they both hesitate—each instinctively yielding, both too used to letting someone else lead. But aftera few shuffled steps and a near toe-crush, they find the rhythm.
“You look surprised,” Winnie teases, eyes bright with mischief as she falls into step with him. “Walking me down the aisle didn’t give you any warning?”
He had been surprised—and incredibly honored—when she asked him to walk her down the aisle this week. He and the pack had arriveden massefor their annual trek to Florida, her wedding timed perfectly so all fourteen of them could attend, kids and chaos included.
If you’d asked him before that, he would’ve guessed she’d pick her brother for the first dance. For that sacred walk down the aisle.
The young beta has recovered entirely from his experience and is working with Ignatius at The Guild. It turns out, having someone sucking your soul dry for seven years triggers some latent magic when it grows back. Nothing major, but Ansel is thrilled to be using his new skills to help the Novices learn. It’s a silver lining on a horrific experience, and Nix can’t imagine what Ansel would have been like without the magic he loves so much.
Nix does a lot of thinking about destiny when he thinks about Ansel Chappelle.
“Well, since that night in Ansel’s hospital room, you’ve been like a Dad to me. You know?”
“Hey, I’m not that much older than you. Be nice.”
She chuckles, and Nix feels his heart twinge. She’s always been beautiful—but today, she’s radiant in a way that doesn’t feel like makeup or lighting.
“Hey,” she says, voice teasing, “get that look off your face, mister. I just reapplied this mascara.”
Then, softer, her hand tightening just slightly on his arm: “I know you’re not old. But I wanted to tell you…er, show you—how you’ve changed my life.”
Nix doesn’t know what to say. He hadn’t done more than offer her little family shelter and introduce her to the Stavros family almost eleven years ago. “You’re welcome, although I think you’ve changed our lives, too.”
She rolls her eyes, stopping on the dance floor so she can hold his cheeks in her hands. “Nix. Just let me tell you I love you,without all your humble bullshit, yeah?” She squeezes his cheeks, and Nix tries to blow them out to dislodge her, but instead, he just succeeds in making a weird fishy face and blowing a raspberry.
“Yeah, okay. But just this once. I rely on my humble bullshit to convince people I’m harmless.”
“Harmless? I doubt that.” She looks skeptical. “But, I’m serious. You changed everything for me and Ansel. So, yeah…thanks.” Her voice cracks at the end, and the normally tough-as-nails-woman lets a tear slide down her cheek.
“Hey, you just fixed your raccoon eyes. If you make me cry, Jamie is going to barge in here and ruin our father-daughter dance for real. No! Don’t make eye contact. He’ll see it as a reason he should butt in.”
“Yeah, but who will he be whisking away, me or you?” It’s a good question. Jamie loves Winnie. He has done so from the start. Treating her like the younger sister he’d never had. But also making sure the Chapelles had wanted for nothing. In truth, it’s Jamie who has changed their life.
“Do we want to find out, though?” Nix asks as he twirls her around toward the opposite side of the dance floor.
As they pass, Nix catches sight of Grayson at the bar, deep in conversation with Ansel. Both hold half-drained glasses, their postures relaxed but animated. Probably Guild business. Grayson’s scheduled to lecture and run two seminars at The Guild this week, showcasing his Plain-infused artwork to a new audience of prospective staff and students.
Outside the restroom, Finn is reluctantly holding court with at least four physicians Celeste had invited. It’s as if they’d been lying in wait for him, ready to pounce the moment he emerged, eager to dissect his latest Andrological research like it’s the evening’s real main event.
He listens, nodding as if this happens all the time. It does.
Leo had magnanimously offered to take the kids and Rowan home, given the evening’s festivities were geared more to the over-eighteen crowd than the twelve-and-under, or those who can transform into a wolf.
Gideon and Luca are somewhere, and based on their glowing bonds, engaged in some risky, exhibitionist sexy times.
“No, this is my dance,” she says and hugs him closer. “I’ll be sure to tease him later and see if I can get him to shake it for a Long Road Home song. I have three in the queue.”
Nix laughs. There might be enough booze for the alpha to get up and sing something, too, if she asks nicely. Or if she can’t stop him…it’ll be a toss-up.
“You’re still happy,” she whispers—almost to herself. “Even after everything.”
