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Children dance freely to the music flowing through the streets, and I finally feel like I'm home with my family behind me, right in front of the house where my parents had planned to raise me. It's the most dazzling sight I've ever seen.
I truly have found a home in Ravenwood Heights and I don’t think I will ever leave here. This is where I will one day marry, hopefully in this very street with these same incredible fairy lights. One day, I might just raise a family of my own, though how that would actually work with four different guys … I don’t know. That’s a battle I can face way, way down the road.
I step up onto the little stage, which I’m pretty sure is just somebody’s dining table with a fancy black cloth draped over it, and take a few shaky steps toward the small podium. The DJ sees me and slowly fades the music down, announcing to the street that their leader is demanding their attention.
All eyes fall toward me and people slowly begin creeping in, plastering themselves right in front of my temporary stage. The microphone rests just in front of my lips, but I wait for the stragglers that are making their way in.
The boys stand to my right in the most gorgeous suits, making my mouth water like never before. I know that it was only this morning that I woke up with an aching pussy after giving myself to them over and over again last night, but something tells me that I’m going to be demanding an instant replay the second we’re behind closed doors.
Danika and Dominique stand in front of Carver, his arms encasing both of them as King’s little sister stands by his side, clutching onto his hand. Just seeing their faces as they stare up at me, idolizing me as though I’m supposed to be something special makes me want nothing more than to earn it, over and over again.
I don’t ever want to let my people down. I want them to be proud of me. I want them to go home at night and talk to their families about how my return to Ravenwood Heights has been one of the best things to happen to Dynasty, but more than that, I want to make my parents proud. I’m never going to get that validation, but I’ll never stop trying for it anyway.
All my favorite faces linger in the crowd, and happiness spreads through me as they stand proudly, finally accepting me as their leader. But today, I truly earned my position here and proved to the people of Dynasty that I will do whatever it takes to keep them safe. It's because of me that their children are able to run free through the streets without the fear of being taken.
Right now, not only do they accept me, but they follow me. They want me here; they want the change that I can promise them, and because of that, we can all see a much healthier and happier future for the generations to come. Corruption is a thing of the past.
A soft chant starts from the crowd and quickly picks up. “ELODIE. ELODIE. ELODIE.”
I can’t help but laugh, seeing the joy on all of their faces, but a part of me wishes they were chanting for Winter instead. Don’t get me wrong, the more I live with my new name, the more it grows on me. My parents gave me the name Elodie, heavy with their dreams and expectations of the life they never got to see. So even though I will always hold the name Elodie Ravenwood dear to me, it will never be who I truly am. I will always be Winter, the kid without a home, the girl with a chip on her shoulder and everything to prove. If going by Elodie means leaving those haunting years behind, I couldn't do it. I am who I am today because of those experiences. And I’m not going to lie, hearing the name Ellie slipping through Grayson’s lips gets me hotter than I ever have the right to be.
My gaze shifts over the chanting crowd and as I raise my hand to silence them, a familiar face stands out to me and I hold back tears.
Karleigh is everything to me, and when I called her this afternoon to finally tell her that I was alright and to explain everything that’s happened since the day I barged down her front door, she broke down in sobs, telling me just how proud she was. I had no choice but to invite her here tonight to finally get a real glimpse into my world, but in doing that, we had to organize a quick helicopter ride for her and her beautiful foster kids, and up until right now, I didn’t know if she had taken me up on the offer.
